How I Got Invited To Do A TEDx Talk

“Science of the Groove”

TEDx by Adam Gust, 2023

"Feeling Fluency enables us to harmonize intention and action. Drummers call this a groove."

Pitch Video and Application Question

 

My Idea Worth Spreading

If feeling were a language, would you be fluent? Current research in nervous system science is unlocking portals to optimal performance by increasing our felt understanding. Adam’s life experience and research light our internal path toward feeling fluency. 

Why It Is Important?

Drumming can save the world, as this process expresses the rhythms beating inside all of us, and speaks to our deepest human connections. Humanity is on the cusp of understanding the vast potential of fostering these connections through advances in neurophysiology, the science of nervous system function, and empowering the intersectional flow of intention and action.


Practicing neural exercises can synchronize what we think and do by engaging with our nervous system superhighway, the Vagus Nerve. The Vagus Nerve is a key component of our health, well-being, performance, and perception of time (do you hear that, drummers?). Drumming is the oldest and deepest expression of the emotional rhythms beating beneath our skin in our nervous system.


Drumming creates rhythmic coordination of intention and action. For drummers, this biological feedback loop between what we intend and what we do is called a groove. When we are able to stay in the groove, especially under duress, we act in harmony with our brain and body system to tune into the life-giving rhythms that shape our lived experiences.

Applied Science:

My research regarding the intersection of Drumming, Neurophysiology, Education, and Technology.

 

What are you best known for? What is your crowning achievement?

I am best known for being a professional drummer in Los Angeles, but for me, my crowning achievement is that I turned my worst day into my best.

I injured my hands in 2010 and spent years struggling with infuriating psychological and physical conflict. I learned to transform this struggle into the purposeful study of body-based trauma therapy, both for my own healing and to evangelize the immeasurable impact of nervous system function on our lived experience.

My story led to the development of my personal drumming pedagogy, Somatic Drummer. Somatic Drummer advocates for our nervous system, leading us toward harmony between our thoughts and feelings, intentions and actions, ourselves and others.

I have turned my worst day into the ‘why’ behind who I am today.

 

What other accomplishments would you like to share?

I have studied embodiment and trauma therapy for six years independently and with Somatic Experiencing International, the National Institute of Cognitive and Behavioral Medicine, Integral Transformative Practice, and I am the first Polyvagal-Informed professional drummer after certificate training with the Polyvagal Institute.

Breath is a foundational component of Neurophysiology which is why I completed my certification as a functional breath instructor from Oxygen Advantage, founded by master breath practitioner, Patrick McKeown.

In addition, I study video production tools to create my own media for education and digital storytelling. My story is interwoven in the growth of my video portfolio, inspiring me to become a better communicator in the years to come. I am humbled and grateful to the interdisciplinary leaders who have encouraged me to use multi-media to explore the intersection of drumming, wellness, education, and technology.

Francesca Maxime interviewing Dr. Shelly Harrell offers her insights into music and trauma. I felt inspired to create the drum video soundtrack:

 

What hobbies, causes and activities are you passionate about aside from your work?

To study Polyvagal Theory is to learn about the 500 million-year evolution of the nervous system. As a drummer, this retrospective led me to explore early teaching traditions of stick techniques. I found that I enjoy practicing the 600-year-old martial arts of Bojuko and Aikijo. Japanese Fighting Staff techniques are a neural exercise I use to improve my nervous system performance, drumming, and life.

 

I believe in an educational paradigm shift focusing on self-assessment tools over traditional external evaluation. Portfolio over resume. Progressive academic strategies like metacognition, growth mindset, social and emotional learning, and ungrading show empirical evidence of improvement in student learning outcomes and well-being.

Self-assessment through the lens of Polyvagal Theory:

Non-drumming activities that I like are making tortillas, watching the Dodgers, and loving on my dogs!

 
 

Share an example of something you created that you consider unique. Why do you think it is groundbreaking?

I connect rhythm, body, and mind in my pioneering Polyvagal-Informed drum program, Somatic Drummer. Based on neural exercises, my drum lessons teach feeling as a language. My learning model focuses on our emotional state as an “intervening variable” between intention and action by implementing groundbreaking nervous system research.

I have created the first drum studio lab designed for the clinical application of Polyvagal Theory. I record audio and video from drum performances, capturing detailed biometrics, movement, sound, rhythm, and timing. Performance review allows for empirical reflection and self-assessment by referencing multiple video angles, digital pro audio, and biological metrics in varying playback rates.

Polyvagal Theory informs this process and builds awareness of how emotions affect our physiology revealing predictable patterns in our drumming tendencies and vice versa. Our Vagus nerve is in charge of our internal clock, acting as an intervening variable between our intention and action, both on and away from the drums. (“One Nervous System” Porges 1993)

Communication between mind and body is foundational to building Vagus nerve efficiency. No other neural exercise is more representative of our internal rhythms and nervous system performance than drumming.    

 
 

What questions should we have asked, but didn’t?  

How tall are you?

I’m 6’8”. I used to feel awkwardly tall, and now I see how my stature serves me as a speaker with a vital and prescient message that is even bigger than me! 

But I like small things, too.

 

What inspires your work beyond the scope of your TEDx talk?

Feminist theory narrates the through-line in my work. Patriarchy reduces, categorizes, and evaluates us hierarchically, dictating our external value that often conflicts with our inner wisdom. Feminist theory offers an alternative to traditional gender roles which can diminish and separate us from ourselves and each other.

This throughline is evident in my appearance on the ReRooted Podcast.

ReRooted #52 Sample Clips Video with Drumming Soundtrack:

Full episode:

 

What are you hoping to achieve as a TEDx speaker?

I want to increase my capacity to teach and to learn, crossing barriers and designing relationships among diverse industries and disciplines with grace, compassion, and curiosity.

Special thanks to the TEDx University of Mississippi team for generously inviting me to speak at their 2023 event! It was truly an honored.

Sincerely,

Adam Gust