#223

Pub Choir. www.pubchoir.com.au.

If you haven’t heard of it, you have now and I’d encourage you to experience it… at least once.

2500 people in a ‘pub’, guided by the outstanding Astrid Jorgensen, creating art together.

One harmony, one lyric, one laugh at a time.

Some go because they love to sing.

More go because they love the experience.

Many go because they were invited… and then they invite others.

Whilst the ‘choir’ wouldn’t get through the first round of The Voice, it’s hard not to be infected by the energy of the experience.

Most people who go probably can’t sing well but surrounded by 2,500 others giving it a go, nobody cares anyway.

You’ve probably heard the saying:

“You become like the people you surround yourself with.”

Turns out, there’s science to that.

Social psychologist Dr. Nicholas Christakis’ research at Yale and Harvard found that emotions - from happiness to stress - ripple through social networks like invisible waves.

If your friend’s friend is happy, you’re statistically more likely to be happy, too.

There’s a literal molecule exchange of the moods, emotions and energy of those around us.

And in Pub Choir, it’s effortlessly contagious - not just emotionally, but biologically.

When people sing together, their breathing synchronises, their heart rates align, and their brains release oxytocin - the same hormone that bonds mothers to newborns.

Research from the University of Gothenburg found that choir singers’ heartbeats actually synchronise during group singing.

Other studies from Oxford University suggest singing with others releases endorphins that boost trust and connection faster than other group activities.

At a molecular level, our nervous systems are literally tuning to each other.

No one leaves Pub Choir with a record deal.

But everyone leaves elevated and full - bonded, buoyed, and belonging to a new found choir.

It’s living proof that harmony is less about perfect pitch and more about shared presence.

So, perhaps the whisper this week is less about ‘what’ you’re doing and more about ‘who’ you’re doing it with.

Reflection whispers:

> Who do you surround yourself with that lifts you? Drains you?

> Who helps you ‘sing’ when you’ve forgotten the words?

> Who raises your energy when you’ve gone a little flat?

> And who might need your harmony right now?

References:

- Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2008). The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(21), 2249–2258.

- Vickhoff, B., Malmgren, H., Åström, R., Nyberg, G., Ekström, S. R., Engwall, M., ... & Nilsson, M. (2013). Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 334.

- Pearce, E., Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2015). The ice-breaker effect: Singing mediates fast social bonding. Royal Society Open Science, 2(10), 150221.