#160 - Living in Rhythm with Jorge Ochoa, OTR/L, from TamboRhythms

What does it mean to live life in rhythm? Rhythm is something that is all around us, it’s in seasons of the year, heartbeats of our bodies, modulations of our speech, it’s even in our breath. 

In today’s episode we get together with Jorge Ochoa to talk about his work as an Occupational Therapist and musician and how he has been able to combine them by establishing TamboRhythms. 

Jorge recounts the many ways that drumming benefits young children, from having a positive effect on one's mood to teaching social-emotional skills like sharing, impulse control, and improving attention span. He also shares deeply affecting stories of children with special needs responding to the drumming practice in surprising and beautiful ways. 

Jorge talks about the connective power of drumming and how it can help adults in a myriad of ways, from easing symptoms of depression and anxiety to supporting the emotional health of cancer patients. We learned so much from having Jorge on the show. We even had a mini jam session! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jorge's work as both an Occupational Therapist and drummer.
• Research-based program, HealthRHYTHMS Group Empowerment Drumming, and its ability to decrease stress at the DNA level and improve mood states.
• How TamboRhythms bridges the gap between Occupational Therapy and drumming.
• A story about a student who had a traumatic brain injury and how he used drumming as an aid to soothe her.
• Another story about how, through an inclusive drum practice, a child with autism exhibited very encouraging new behavior.
• Working with rhythm as an excellent way to teach social-emotional skills.
• How rhythm can help facilitate memory.
• How Jorge adapted his work to be virtual due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
• How Jorge’s work with drumming was able to help calm and soothe a friend going through cancer treatments.
• The ways drumming can benefit adults, including those who struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.
• How Jorge’s class focuses on connection, rather than pressure to perform.
• How drumming has helped Jorge in his life as a grounding experience.
• Jorge does a mini jam session with our hosts that you can join in on!

Be sure to check out the show notes on our blog at  Harkla.Co/Podcast.

Brought To You By Harkla

This podcast is brought to you by Harkla.  Our mission at Harkla is to help those with special needs live happy and healthy lives. We accomplish this through high-quality sensory products, child development courses, & The Harkla Sensory Club.

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

TamboRhythms
TamboRhythms on Twitter
TamboRhythms on Youtube
TamboRhythms on Facebook
TamboRhythms on Instagram
'60 BPM Relaxing Conga Drumming Video'
Harkla
All Things Sensory on Instagram
All Things Sensory on Facebook