When I was a kid I thought that only men and guys were the only ones allowed to play the drums. In the many performances and bands I’ve seen, most of their drummers were men. As I was growing up I noticed that whenever I listen to songs, I always pay attention to the beat. It isn’t heard easily, but if I listen closely, I immediately catch the rhythm the songs is playing to. 

This led me to try to want to study the drums. I tried to go to Youtube to learn it on my own but to no avail. For one thing, watching drum lessons without applying it was pretty useless. For one thing, I did not have my own drum set yet. This is because I wanted to make sure I was committed to learning and playing the drums before I buy such an expensive instrument. The next thing I did was to enroll myself at a music school.

Anyway, when I started my classes, I was first introduced to the parts of a drum set. Of course, this is very important since you would have to know which drum to hit when you read the sheet music. A drum set has nine parts, namely, the cymbals, cymbal stand, floor tom, middle tom, high tom, snare drum, bass drum, hi-hat, and the hi-hat stand. After familiarizing myself with the kinds of drums and how they were arranged in the set, I was taught how to read sheet music for drums. The sheet music is similar to piano sheets; however, the symbols on the staff do not symbolize the notes. They symbolize the drum you have to hit in the drumset. This was difficult for me since I came from a piano background. I am used to reading sheet music and I can easily identify which note, flat, sharp, etc., to press. For drum sheet music, it is very different. For example, you see a quarter note on the third line of the staff. In piano, this means that you have to press “ti” and hold it for a second. On the drums, this means that you have to hit the snare drum. 

There are many kinds of notes for the drums and I spent a considerable amount of time just reviewing which drum they correspond to. Moreover, how you hit the drums varies depending on the kind of drum you are hitting. For example, my teacher taught me how to play the hi-hats. The hi-hats are the pair of cymbals that face each other horizontally. Playing the hi-hats was tricky because you can either play it by hitting a drumstick to it or stepping on the pedal. Another example would be playing the bass drum. Since the bass drum is the largest one at the very bottom, you hit it with a pedal and a similar drumstick would hit the actual drum. The drum set I was practicing in had only one pedal, but there are some sets which have two pedals. They simply allow either your left or your right to hit the bass drum. 

The next lesson for me was counting which in turn meant hitting the drums. When it comes to counting, it is somewhat similar to the piano. The basic measure was 4/4 time signature. Here, the staff had four quarter notes to complete four beats. This is very elementary so you wouldn’t have trouble understanding the counting. It’s like counting 1, 2, 3, 4 with equal pauses in between. We then went to counting mixed notes. Some went 1, 2, 3, and 4, and. Here, even the word “and” meant a beat. 

Both reading drum sheet music and counting were the two starter lessons the teacher taught me. It is important to master this because it can be confusing to know which drum to hit and the timing you will follow. For me, I had to practice mixed notes that had to hit different drums. I struggled a lot because timing is very crucial in playing the drums. The moment you lose count or your hands don’t pick up the rhythm, it is easy to get lost in a song. It was good still because my drum teacher who was a drummer was patient enough. He also gave demos of what I can possibly play with drums and this made me more motivated to study and practice. 

A lot of people see yoga as a spiritual practice. Once the word “yoga” is heard, visions of monks that are lost in their serene thoughts automatically flood the mind. In a way, this practice is highly beneficial when you want to achieve spiritual benefits. It takes you to the world beyond, so to speak.

But the modern times brought a whole new meaning for yoga and meditation. They are now viewed as psychological exercises that bring forth a lot of physical benefits. The once believed to be hippie acts of achieving transcendence had become stress- reduction techniques aimed for people who wants to improve their whole well- being.

Physical Benefits

Yoga and meditation fill the body with more energy. This is because every cell undergoes change once a level of concentration is achieved. Once this physiological change occurs, energy surges up as well as the feelings of peace, enthusiasm, and joy. It will also result to physical changes such as lowered blood pressure, and decreased tension- related pain like headaches, joint pains, and ulcers. The improved mood is attributed to the increased production of the happy hormone or serotonin. As the inner energy grows, the physical energy level goes up too and even the immune system is improved.

In addition to the common health benefits of yoga and meditation, many doctors have seen the potentials of using the techniques in managing life threatening diseases. They want to prove how molecular and genetic structures are changed when concentration is improved. So far, studies on the effects of meditation and yoga have seen the positive effects on improving the condition of those who are suffering from mental illnesses, as well as faster healing of those who just had undergone operations. Patients with heart diseases display higher tolerance to exercise. Because the immune system is enhanced, the natural cancer- killer cells in the body also increase and help against developing all kinds of cancer.

Women’s Health and Pregnancy

Women are particularly interested in practicing yoga and meditation techniques. One reason is that women seem to undergo a lot of life changes than man. Aside from the physical changes brought about by hormones, they also have to deal with emotional changes that go with their roles as daughters, wives, and mothers.

Psychologists would agree that with yoga and meditation, women have better chances of surviving the emotional turmoil especially in dealing with pregnancy. Daily meditation shows increased pain tolerance during childbirth. The events of pregnancy and childbirth can be quite a lot to take but with yoga, a woman can focus and make sense of every change that is happening around her making her composed, confident, and makes her perform her best in her new role.

Cardiovascular Benefits 

Among the studies made about the physical benefits of yoga and meditation, the most beneficial would be its effect on those who are suffering from cardiovascular disorders since heart ailments are among the top causes of death worldwide. By practicing yoga, high blood pressures of hypertensive patients are lowered significantly. Lipid profiles are improved too, and excessive blood sugar is reduced. This is why yoga and meditation are included in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Mental Fitness

People who experience mental difficulties can try yoga and meditation to alleviate their conditions. These techniques refresh the brain, making it sharper.  A sharp mind can make a person gain focus and help the body relax when faced against stressful situations. The conscious being expands which promotes better control of emotions. The brain is able to formulate solutions and feeling of anxiety instantly decreases, thus it will be easier to view and solve problems. All of these effects will contribute to achieve emotional steadiness and brings harmony between mind and body. When a person meditates, the mind leads the body towards a calm and harmonious state.

Being able to meditate means you are capable of tuning yourself with the rest of your body. You become more sensitive to its needs. Yoga soothes tension and anxiety, both physically and mentally. Practicing it, therefore, will have significant impacts on enhancing fitness. Individuals who practice yoga and meditation on top of regular exercise will have greater muscle strength, better endurance, more flexible, and achieve the best cardio- respiratory fitness.

You may have encountered people who are having difficulty with their body movements. And as a curious person, you may wonder what caused their difficulty or inability to move properly. Are they born with the disability to move normally? Did they get it from accident or any unexpected event? There could be many reasons. The same situation could happen to your friends and relatives. It could also happen to your parents, siblings or even yourself. Thus, it is important that you have basic knowledge about physiotherapy and how physiotherapists can help you. You’ll be surprised to know that even if you don’t have movement disabilities you can still seek the services of a physiotherapy to improve your health.

What are the Functions of a Physiotherapist? 

A physiotherapist is a healthcare professional that does assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of disabilities and diseases through physical means or methods. He is an expert in body functions and movements and closely works with the patients to assist them to overcome disorders in movement. Usually, movement disorders are acquired through injury or accident while others are just simply born with it. There are also cases that we can’t move properly because of other diseases. For example, a sprain in the foot may prevent us from walking normally. A respiratory infection may prevent us from having a good posture. There are many diseases not related to movement that can cause us to move with some level of difficulty.

When any of the above situations happens to you, it would be a practical and smart idea to seek the services of a highly credible physiotherapist. In Australia, you wouldn’t find any difficulty looking for reputable physiotherapy clinics. You can also easily find affordable physio in Prahran – Capital Physiotherapy for example. Below are the ways by which a physiotherapist can help you improve your health.

Helps You to Combat Obesity 

Obese people are usually recommended with a diet program that will lessen their consumption of bad fats and too much carbohydrates. In addition, they are also recommended with a set of exercise routines that they need to follow strictly. In coming up with the right exercise for them, meaning their heavy weight is considered, physiotherapists have a very important role. They are the ones who can determine what types of exercise can best work for them. A physiotherapy considers the impact of a certain exercise on the obese patient’s joints such as those in the knees. Carrying too much weights or running for so long will make the patients vulnerable to unbearable joint pains. With a physiotherapist around, he can make the obese patients’ goal of recovering from obesity successful.

Helps Relieve Your Chronic Pain 

There are numerous types of pain in our body that we get from swollen or damaged muscles and joints. For example, women who have osteoporosis may suffer from chronic pain due to compression of fractures in the spinal column. The pain can be relieved through physiotherapy. In A Danish study that involved women with osteoporosis has found out that regular sessions with a physiotherapist can greatly and significantly lessen the chronic pain. After only 10 weeks of undergoing physiotherapy program, the subjects were able to experience improvement in the quality of their life. This proves that there are health conditions that don’t necessitate conventional medications like purchasing and taking of tablets. Physiotherapy apparently is an alternative treatment and a less pain medication that effectively helps patients improve their health and life in general.

Helps Cure Your Back Pain 

Aside from osteoporosis or any problem in your backbones, you can also acquire back pain due to poor posture, arthritis, and muscle strain. A cold weather can also give you back pain. Carrying too heavy weights in the gym for longer periods may also give you pain in the back. These different sources of back pain require different methods of treatment. However, all of them have some commonalities in terms of the principles used to cure back pain.

Cleveland Clinic Canada Director of Exercise Physiology Paul VanWiechen has a great advice for people who suffer from back pains. He recommends a three-fold approach, which involves “re-patterning’ of the different muscles, strengthening of muscles to reduce recurrence of pain and to improve mobility, and management of weight to reduce joints stress. These approach involves a series of exercise that effectively works all of the muscles in a specific area of the body. This is to change coordination of these muscles to cure the pain. VanWiechen stressed that the lower back has about 24 muscles that work to keep the back functional and normal. These muscles need the recommended exercises to maintain their normal functions when suffering from pain. Focusing on few muscles, say 3 to 5 only, won’t have any significant effect.

With these, a physiotherapy is certainly necessary to improve your health and life if you’re suffering even from just minor back pain. No one is exempted from getting sick that is why acquiring medical treatment is always necessary. When pain is felt in the body, pain relievers can serve as temporary remedy. However, for long term cure and treatment, it is best to seek the help of a physiotherapist. Actually, physiotherapy is not only there to provide solution to body aches and pain, but also a method of prevention. Whether child, teenager or adult, engaging into physiotherapy is a good way to improve health.

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It would seem that man is going back to its prehistoric roots. Sounds surprising but this statement happens to be applicable in today’s modern era.

The search for the most sensible diet has led some groups of individuals to conclude that the answer might not actually lie in the technology-driven agricultural and food production processes. The notion may have come from the observation that diets in the modern age, no matter how sound they look on paper and how the theoretical foundations seem to suggest its unparalleled effectiveness, simply do not seem to work.

Hence, a great number of individuals are turning to the historical evolution of man himself to find the answers. Many believe they have finally found the key to unlocking the secret to a sensible diet – the Paleolithic, or simply Paleo, diet.

Understanding Human Pre-History

Aptly known as the Stone Age, man’s humble prehistoric beginnings started with the discovery of Home sapiens in Africa around 200,000 years ago and culminated with the writing of man’s historical developments around 195,000 years later with the invention of writing. This period roughly covers the Old Stone Age until the earliest parts of the Bronze Age.

This period of human pre-history covers more than 195,000 years of evolution spread across five different Eras. It should be noted however that the Homo sapiens is the anatomically ancient version of the modern man although there were other human-like beings in the form of the Neanderthals and Homo erectus. This can only mean that man’s prehistoric beginnings can never really be established with absolute certainty.

Basis for the Paleolithic Diet

Proponents of the Paleolithic diet or the Paleo diet forwards the idea that the modern man is genetically adapted to eat only those food items that are readily found in their local environment. The diet is anchored on the belief that the modern man’s digestive system and metabolic processes have not been able to evolve fast enough to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of food production and processing.

It is also believed that because the Homo sapiens is the prehistoric equivalent of the modern man and with close to 200,000 years between them, it is very unlikely that any significant evolutionary changes in the way man digests, processes, and utilizes the food that he eats will ever prepare him to handle the heavily processed food items that abounds in the modern world.

The hypothesis on evolutionary discordance suggests that many of the chronic diseases as well as degenerative health conditions that modern man faces every day, especially in Western civilizations, is brought about by a mismatch between the Stone Age genes of man and his modern-day adopted lifestyle.
As such, proponents of the Paleo diet recommend that modern day diets be as naturally close to the diets of Stone Age man as possible.

Critic to the Paleo Diet

Although on paper the Paleo diet seems foolproof, critics say that the diet is based on some loosely held assumptions on how prehistoric man would have eaten. Simply because it is pre-history, there is no way to ascertain the validity or truthfulness of these assumptions.

The Paleo Diet

The modern day reincarnation of prehistoric man’s Paleolithic diet can be summed up in just two words: high protein. The Paleo diet strongly advocates the use of lean proteins as well as appropriate servings of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats which can include nuts, fish oil, seeds, grass-fed meats, olive oil, and avocados.

Considered no-no’s are food items that are processed and food products that the Paleolithic man may have not been familiar with. These can include milk and milk-based products, grains, legumes, processed oils, alcohol, starches and refined sugars, and high-calorie processed food items.

Things you Need to Know about Paleo Diet

Here are some things you need to know about the Paleo diet should you be seriously considering of trying.

• Going on a Paleo diet means you will have to give up modern foods that include anything and everything that comes in a bag, box, or jar or anything that had been processed, even to a minimal extent.

• Going Paleo is all about taking on an entirely different lifestyle. You can think of yourself as a modern-day incarnation of Paleolithic man. The Paleo diet should not be viewed as a means to losing weight but rather as an integral part of leading a healthier life.

• It is technically impossible to follow the dietary patterns of prehistoric man. As such, it is more important to follow the general guideline of more lean proteins, healthy fats, and no processed foods.
Only time will tell if the Paleo diet is indeed the answer to the modern man’s quest for the most sensible diet. If that does happen, modern man might have learned something great from his Stone Age ancestor.

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Also read Tips for Starting a Healthy Lifestyle!