‘BiM’ stands for ‘Body in Music’ and is a body-oriented method using instrumental music. BiM comprises more than 35 different activities, each of which is explained in a series of BiM activity calendars. Hearing the music – an auditory experience – whilst simultaneously feeling the music – a tactile experience – makes the BiM a unique method.
'The BIM approach shows that connecting with people with disabilities requires no words.'
Patrick Meuldijk, Founder of the BIM workflow
The BiM method can be used in a targeted manner to foster well-being, development, or growth in areas such as emotional, social, cognitive and motor functioning, as well as sensory processing. It encompasses experiencing the body, establishing connection, stimulating communication, alertness, and relaxation, influencing behavior, waiting your turn, or simply sharing a beautiful moment of connection. The BiM method can also help alleviate issues related to sensory information processing.
The BiM method is also effective when developing musical skills, such as listening to music, distinguishing between timbres, identifying melodies or rhythms, developing musical preferences, and moving to the music. The BiM method is used with individuals with profound multiple disabilities, dementia (including Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s), or an acquired brain injury. The coherent structure of BiM activities also provides clarity to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) regarding what to expect next.
The BiM can be applied - either individually or in groups - in residential care, day centers, special needs children’s centers, special needs and mainstream education, or at home by carers, activity leaders, teachers, classroom assistants, music therapists, music teachers, speech and language therapists and, of course, parents.
The BiM course syllabus is structured around information on specific theories that provide practical insight and theoretical context whilst practicing the BiM activities. After Day 1 of the course, you will be able to apply the BiM activities in your work. There are no specific educational prerequisites for the BiM course. However, we do consider it important that you have an affinity with the target group.
‘Sometimes meaning lies in the little things: a touch at the right moment, a smile, a glimmer of recognition.’
Origins of BiM
The BiM method originated in special needs education, when special needs music teacher Patrick Meuldijk discovered that his pupils responded much more strongly to music that they not only heard, but could also physically experience. That experience set something in motion.
In the quest to find ways of making music resonate even more directly, the first experiential projects emerged. These developed into a form of experiential theatre, DOT Experiential Theatre. To make this form of sensory musical experience accessible to others, Patrick developed the BiM method. No complicated theories, but music combined with touch, smell, movement and structure. Patrick was a co-developer of the ‘Muziek Speciaal’ program and, later, the ‘ZOEM’ music method; both of which were designed to make his ideas more widely accessible.
Gradually, this practical experience developed into the BiM method as we know it today. A method that allows people, even those with the most profound disabilities, to feel seen, if only for a moment. Because it doesn’t always have to be about making giant leaps forward. Sometimes, meaning lies in something small: a touch at just the right moment, a smile, a glimmer of recognition.
This conviction is at the heart of everything we do. In the courses we run. In the materials we carefully curate. And in the participants we train, so that they, in turn, can pass it on to those who need it most. BiM is now known not only in the Netherlands, but also in Belgium, Germany, Cyprus and Sweden. Regardless of the location or culture, it’s all about genuine connection through music.
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