drumming – Bliss and Drumming

A highlight of last year was being asked to appear on Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC. The 8G Band, the show’s house band, is led by Fred Armisen, and due to his busy schedule, they often ask drummers to fill in for a week. To be asked is a great honor.

I’ve come to see everything that happens in my life, big and small, as opportunity to use the tools I’ve gained through years of contemplative practice to watch the rollercoaster of my interior life. This was quite a ride.

When the message came to hold the dates for my appearance, and the possibility became a reality, I noticed that what rose in me first was excitement, a buzzy feeling of having accepted a challenge. Continue reading “Riding a Rollercoaster at 30 Rock”

I sit in the meditation hall, propped up with various blue beanbags, but this doesn’t stop the pain. It’s pretty much the same every time I sit. After some amount of time, my right hip develops a dull ache through the inner thigh, radiating to my big leg muscle and then down to the knee, up and over then down the inside of my shin and then to the group of nerves that pool beneath my inner ankle. I’m here to watch, not react. I am just a witness, a witness to pain, a witness to lack of pain. I’m to keep an equanimity towards either. Eventually, the point is to discover that this equanimity translates to every situation in my life. I have already seen it happen.

But as I sit here, the pain gets stronger. Just observe, just observe. It’s one of the three one-hour sits per day in which I’m to have a strong determination not to move a muscle. I’m putting my awareness at the top of my head and then following it down through my body to my toes and then back up. I’m observing the sensations on my body, good and bad, pain and no pain. Just observe, don’t react. Next time I come back to this thigh muscle the sensation may be totally different. Maybe next time it will be a throbbing, or shooting, or burning pain. Not this tight ache. Continue reading “Your Brain on Drums: The Practical Application of Meditation in Drumming”