Join us for this movement and application session focusing on movement, breath work, stretch, and strength activities to enhance your stick and hand drumming abilities. We’ll work on the muscle groups you rely on to support drumming precision with activities designed to:
Reinforce and support ergonomics in drumming
Bring balance through intentional movements
Strengthen supporting muscle groups for greater endurance
Stretch supporting muscle groups
This workshop uniquely blends gentle fitness and movement with drumming so you can apply learnings about your body awareness to drumming in real time. The workshop includes drumming, movement, QiGong, breathwork, and closes with an immersive sound experience.
Bring a yoga mat or blanket to move on and a water bottle. Wear comfortable clothes and non-street gym shoes or grippy socks.
Disclosure: This workshop seeks to offer support and body awareness techniques to help align your body and reinforce how to safely support optimal movement while you play. Movement modifications are available and as with every movement program, please consult with your doctor on whether this program is right for you before registering.
About the Instructors
Allie Birdseye-Hannula is an ACE certified group fitness instructor and Behavior Change Coach with a passion for balancing music and wellness with fitness. As a percussionist and musician herself, Allie is no stranger to the unique value drumming has on each one of us in community. And while the repetitive nature of drumming can be powerful, the repetition can lead to musculoskeletal pain or injury if done incorrectly. Allie’s focus on coaching through preventative exercises designed to strengthen, stabilize, stretch and reconnect with supporting muscle groups helps offset muscle imbalances often seen in percussionists so you can leave feeling like your best self.
Sherry Strand, RN, CSP, is a holistic practitioner who brings more than four decades of nursing experience to her transformative mind–body healing work. With advanced training in holistic health studies and shamanic practices, Sherry blends ancient traditions with modern science to create deeply restorative experiences for her clients. A certified 200-hour ISTATherapeutic Sound Practitioner, Reiki Master Teacher, and HealthRhythms Facilitator, she integrates multiple energy-healing modalities into her sessions to promote balance, clarity, and whole-person wellness.
Sherry is also a skilled Tai Chi and QiGong instructor and an active member of the local arts and healing community, performing as a percussionist with Star of the North Concert Band and with drumHeart, a drum ensemble from the Women’s Drum Center. Her Stillwater studio serves as a welcoming space for private sessions and other local studios for group sessions that empower individuals to reconnect with their inner wisdom, reduce stress, and cultivate sustainable wellbeing. With her compassionate presence and comprehensive skill set, Sherry is recognized for guiding clients toward deeper harmony, resilience, and personal transformation. She is a member of American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), Minnesota Holistic Nurses Association (MinnHNA), International Association of Reiki Professionals (IARP), International Sound Therapy Association (ISTA), and Healing Beyond Borders (HBB). For more information, visit CreateWholeness.com.