This earth ritual facilitates the release of not-yet-manifested energy and the birth of a new vision. Earth energy in this cosmology is about nurturing, abundance, welcoming, and home.

As you do this ritual, allow yourself to freely ask for the nurturing that you need in your life. Ask the great mother to provide the abundance needed, regardless of what that is: for some, the abundance is primarily financial, while for others abundance is love, community, friends, good health, or a sense of well-being.

Allow yourself to expand the definition of each of these intrinsic energies! Welcome yourself into your own life! Welcome your perceived successes and your perceived failures as wisdom-building, energizing, and fueling aspects of your life! Welcome yourself home to a place of welcoming, a place of nurturing, and a place of abundance!

Invite the Energy of the Earth

Begin the ritual by finding a place in your home where you feel safe, secure, and held. If this place does not exist where you live, it is a key that modifications need to be made in order to create this space. This would be ritual preparation. As you create this space, realize that the ritual has already begun.

Light a candle, preferably one golden or yellow in color. Call on the energy of earth—the energy of the great mother, the great nurturing one and provider of all things—to be present. Then, write in your journal or on a tablet the aspects of each of the intrinsic energies you would like to manifest. Really focus on the creation of what you desire as opposed to the things that are contrary to these intrinsic energies.

Each day this month sit with your list and meditate. Visualize each aspect materializing in your life. It is not your job to know how, it is only your job to focus on its completed state. As you tune your vibration to the manifestation of these things, you create the electromagnetic field that will begin to attract these things.

Focus & Trust

If you would like to energize your meditation in a more profound way, you can drum the energy of your creation into the list, sing the energy of your creation into your life, play your guitar, your flute, your violin . . . whatever it is that you enjoy, whatever activity fills your soul! Dance around the list vigorously, calling in the energy! This is a potent way to amp up the energy of creation! Most of all, have fun doing it.

Remember: what we focus on, we feed! By writing down the things you desire to create, you actually take them from the dream world, or the world of thought, and bring them into physical form in this dimension. This is the first step of manifestation.

Trust the ancestors that they hear you and are responding to your plea. Trust the earth, the great mother, knowing that she hears your voice and is creating the synchronicities “effortlessly and delightfully” to occur in your life.

The more joyful energy that you put into this, the more attractive it is for these things to be around you. May good fortune and the fulfillment of your dreams manifest for you!

This summer’s Advanced Shamanic Training Workshop was about combining the shamanic technique of drumming and journeying with the beautiful nature that was present on the island of Kauai.

First Time Drummer

The man on the left had never played before!

One afternoon, we went to a beautiful pavilion located right beside the ocean. There were lava rock cliffs just beyond the pavilion that made the drop down to the water take your breath away. We took our drums to the pavilion, called upon the power of the ocean to lead us in the rhythm, and began to play.

What I love about the djembe is that it brings the best out in people. There is something about the magic of the drum that reaches deep inside one’s soul, and brings to the surface the rhythm that is often stored deep within. Some of the people in the class were proficient drummers, while others were just starting. In fact, for some the workshop was their very first experience drumming.

We had two visitors from the United Kingdom: a Scottish couple that were delightful. The husband had never played a drum before, yet when the magic of the djembe touched his soul, he began to drum and kept perfect time with the rhythms that we were doing and engaged deeply in the magic of this powerful instrument. He began to drum, at first tentatively, but soon he began to engage with the drum more vigorously. His rhythm was beautiful: it was strong and powerful. It was beautiful to see the smile on his face . . . and the shock on his wife’s face as the rhythm began to take over!

Dancing with a Movie Star

As we drummed some of the people in the group decided that drumming wasn’t enough. The dancing then started! Tanis put down her drum and started dancing. This movement then began to inspire others, and as the sun set the energy of the drumming increased. Soon Danny joined in on the dance!

Danny dancing to the drums!

Danny had facilitated our hike to Makaleha falls earlier that day. He is a wonderful tour guide for any of you who are heading to the island. He has been a son of Hawaii for many years, born here, raised here, and he happens to be a bit of a movie star! When Danny was 10 years old, he was in the movie Blue Hawaii with the famous Elvis Presley. I actually rented the movie to verify his story.

It goes something like this: when Danny was 10 years old, he and his friend were at the Cocoa Palms Hotel. In it’s day, it was the place the rich and famous stayed during vacation. When Elvis Presley was filming Blue Hawaii, this was one of the primary places where filming took place.

Danny and his friend were playing at the Cocoa Palms and saw the film crews. They got the brilliant idea that they would like to be in the movies, so they ran home and put on their aloha shirts, then snuck into the filming area where they took position right beside the bridge where Elvis Presley was married to his wife in the movie. If you watch the wedding scene, as Elvis walks up to the small arched  bridge, on the left side of the bridge you will see a couple of boys: one with a blue shirt on—which is Danny—and one with a red shirt—which is his friend.

So we got to spend time with the movie star!

Drumming Inspiration

Dolphin woman Charlotte drumming.

Inspiring the fun dance done by Tanis and Danny, Elsa drummed her heart out that night. Not having much drumming experience, I was so pleased to listen to her gentle rhythms as she began to allow the power of the drum to resonate through her body. She was such an inspiration on this trip, and really held the space for magic to occur.

We also had the dolphin woman, Charlotte, with us. It was so interesting, because my friend Naoka  is really connected to the dolphins. When I met Charlotte a few years ago, she had dolphins tattooed all over her body! Needless to say, she and Naoka hit it off well. Charlotte had a blast that evening drumming to the ocean and holding the inspiring energy connecting the drum to the dance!

Stay tuned to read more about my fantastic Healing Drummer adventures this summer in Kauai!

As I browse through my photos of my summer experiences, fond memories fill my mind. I have been home for just a few days and miss the island terribly. On my last evening on Kauai we had a traditional going away party, typical of how I conclude each of the workshops that I facilitate. Or so I thought it would be typical!

Island Energy

What a way to end the Advanced Shamanic Training workshop!

We started off at the octagon, which is in the Kahuna Valley. The energy in the valley is potent. It is at the base of the Makaleha Mountains, and from the valley you can see thousand-foot waterfalls pouring down the sides of the steep cliffs above. It is like being guarded on all sides by old wise warriors. The feeling of safety and ancient wisdom fills the air.

After taking in some much-appreciated beach time, we met back at the house to prepare for the going away party. Thanks to the women staying with me, the house was clean! In a matter of moments, salads were prepared, and what is known as “Toby’s juicy chicken” was on the barbecue along with a couple of racks of ribs.

As usual, the fun began right away as the additional participants arrived. I was quite thankful to have John Dumas and his beautiful wife Kana there. We also had the pleasure that evening of having the kava master of the island attend: my friend Gary Mack showed up with a cooler full of kava, so we indulged in this traditional Polynesian drink as the food was cooking.

Polynesian Beverage Kava

Toby and Gary drinking kava.

Kava is a traditional Polynesian drink. What we were drinking that night came from the island of Vanuwatu. It’s an interesting drink, coming from a plant related to the pepper family. It has a sedative and anesthetic property. With a rich, earthy flavor, what you drink is made from the roots of the plant. The kava we were drinking that night was prepared on the island, then sun-dried untill it became a powder. This powder was then mixed with water, producing a wonderful-tasting kava drink straight from the land of its origin.

Great thanks to Gary for bringing this wonderful beverage to all of our gatherings, and for providing me with a personal supply that I am now enjoying very much in Park City!

Spirit of the Aloha

After the kava, the food was consumed vigorously. Once it was gone, the drums came out! John manned his didgeridoo and flutes, giving us a powerful healing melody. The drums followed this melody to create a magical effect in the room. As the drums echoed off the walls, those who were listening could not help but start moving. And as John wandered through the room, connecting with each person by vibrating the drone of his didgeridoo into each one’s heart, the joy of the island expanded (a result of this can easily be seen on the faces of Danny and Tanis in the photo as they hijacked the cacao while we were playing).

Danny and Tanis pre-sampling the dessert!

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. Everyone was sent home with the magic of the island in their hearts, the rhythm of the drum resonating in their souls, with the beautiful drone of the didgeridoo grounding them firmly with indigenous energy, and the beautiful melodies of the flute inspiring their joy.

It was wonderful experience for all, made more profound than ever by my dear friends who brought the spirit of aloha in the authentic Hawaiian way.

Terry Kingen playing the blues on the Epiphone Casino.

As my adventures on the island of Kauai unfolded, I had the pleasure of having a couple of friends visit from the mainland. Terry Kingen has been a great friend of mine since elementary school. Terry is one of the premier guitar players in the Seattle area, and has been teaching me blues guitar for the last couple of years. Anytime Terry and I get together, music is involved!

One evening, Terry and I decided to have a party. And whenever we have a party, drumming and guitar playing is always the primary theme! Several friends came over to join us that evening for a wonderful dinner. When we were all completely stuffed, we gave ourselves a short recovery time and then broke out the guitars.

Francesco Garripoli started singing some of his new songs, and Terry couldn’t resist laying down the lead. He started off playing my Epiphone Casino. Although I love guitars, I’m not a very good player. This particular guitar was a favorite of the late John Lennon. If you ever see a video of The Beatles’ last performance on the rooftop of Apple studio, you will see him playing a guitar just like this one. It is said that he liked it because it was lightweight and the hollow body allows it to be played as an acoustic guitar. Not to mention the P90 pickups make it sing beautifully when played  through an amplifier.

Musical Feast

Francesco rocking the Taylor guitar.

With Francesco laying down the rhythm guitar and Terry playing lead, there was only one thing missing: the  drum. So I pulled out my djembe and started playing. Song after song, Francesco sang the beautiful melodies that he’s been inspired with for the last year, Terry added the beautiful lead licks to spice up the songs, and I laid down the djembe. The energy continued to build from there.

We must have played for at least two hours! Francesco came up with amazing new material. In fact, the songs we played that night were later performed by our band, the Kauai Vibe Tribe, a few weeks later at The Trees Lounge in Kapaa.

When we eventually ran out of Francesco’s songs, we took a little break to replenish our energy with some coffee and ice cream! When you’re a hard-working musician, it’s important to eat right. Sugar and caffeine are two very important foods for good musicians. So, after consuming copious amounts of the local ice cream and a few cups of coffee, we were ready to start again!

The Djembe Drum

Toby taking a break from the djembe.

It’s amazing how good the ancient tribal African instrument, the djembe, can sound so good with modern guitars.

With that evening’s jam-session, it was almost as though the ancient and the modern had united. Whether we were playing folk songs written by Francesco, or tunes by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young—or in some cases, very unusual renditions of a Frank Zappa song—the djembe served well as the rhythm keeper.

I hate to say it, but the djembe even sounded good with some of the rockabilly and country songs that Terry sang. I must admit, it was challenging to play country music on the djembe—for me it’s hard to play country music, period. But Terry put his own spin on the music and made it sound just fine!

Toby Plays Guitar

For our second set, I was somehow convinced to play guitar. Actually, it didn’t take too much convincing: I love to play. And to take over the djembe and keep rhythm for us, we were joined by our friend Naoka.

Naoka on djembe.

This time the tone changed a bit. Being that my guitar skills are somewhat limited, Terry started a nice blues progression in the key of A, and encouraged me to lay down some of the lead patterns that he’s been teaching me.

I must admit that this was a little bit intimidating. Both Terry and Francesco are far more superior on the guitar than I am. But I had just the right amount of ice cream and just the right amount of coffee to be loose and ready to lay it down. And I had so much fun!

We played on and on. Sometimes, I would play rhythm and trade licks with Terry, and othertimes we would all play rhythm and add made-up, funny lyrics to the blues patterns. What a joy!

What’s Music Without Dancing?

As we jammed along on the blues, some of our other guests, my friends Robert Weir and Sherie Hayes, started dancing. This wasn’t just any kind of dancing. This was real dancing. Step-by-step, each one knew what the other was doing. Robert would spin Sherie under his arm and she would duck and emerge safely on the other side of him. We moved the chairs around to give them more room, as it was a delight to watch the masterful movements of these very skilled dancers.

Sherie with Toby on guitar.

I’m not sure for how long the dancing went on. Everyone ended up lost in the beauty of the energy that was being expressed that evening. But I’ll tell you this: it was one of the most amazing times that I’ve had on the island!

I’m incredibly fortunate to have Francesco, Naoka, Sherie, Robert, and Terry in my life. We played that night as late as we thought advisable as not to disturb the neighbors, and it was just perfect. My fingertips were very sore, since I don’t usually play the guitar for long periods of time, and it was time to experience the silence of the island under a beautiful starry sky.

Linda drumming at the Oceanside Pavilion.

This last month we had a rocking Healing Drummer Advanced Shamanic Training Workshop in Hawaii. Part of the magic we created included a couple of good drum jams by the ocean. It’s amazing how inspiring it is to drum to the rhythm of the waves and watch the sun dip behind the beautiful mountains as the rhythm resonates through the hills.

One particular night when we were drumming Linda really stepped up to the plate with some amazing skill and veracious beats! As she ripped off a great solo the way a soul rider surfs a wave, Rebecca joined right in and added the voice of her new drum to the mix. That’s when things really took off. We also had a couple join us all the way from the United Kingdom. I was truly amazed, as one of them had never played the drum before, yet caught on to the rhythms almost immediately!

There was so much magic in the air that evening I don’t even know how long we drummed. I just remember that the faces of the people across from me, 10 feet away, began to disappear in the darkness. It was then that we decided it was time to go.

Making a House a Home

An amazing thing about drumming together is the sense of community that forms in the group. Three of the workshop attendees were living at the house with me for ten days. Now, I normally live alone and really appreciate my alone time . However, there was not one moment that I regretted having these people stay with me. Their kindness and willingness to help around the house made it so nice, comfortable, and easy for me. It was truly a blessing.

The Wild Kauai Guys!

In addition, there was a cohesion that occurred with the group that I don’t think would’ve happened if we hadn’t spent so much time together. The people that stayed at the hotel just a few blocks away spent a lot of time at the house as well. We had some amazing get togethers that were completely spontaneous! We would get done with class graphs and beach time, and then out of the blue people would show up at the house with food and drinks, and the group party would erupt!

Oftentimes my friends Danny Hashimoto and John Dumas would stop by to add additional inspiration to the get together. With John on his didgeridoo and flutes, me on the drums, and Danny cooking up a mean dessert, the energy that we created drumming at the ocean spilled right into the house. Everybody was dancing and eating the wonderful creations that Danny brought. And one by one, after consuming copious amounts of raw cacao, people would lay down and get drummed on while John played over them with his didgeridoo.

Thankful for Experience

Besides her awesome voice, Rebecca can really drum!

Good food, good music, and awesome healing experiences were abundant! Many times what started out to be a simple drumming evening went long into the night and expanded to be an experience of magic and transformation!

It is with profound gratitude I acknowledge the magic of these people. Not just the ones I discussed in this posting, but all of the people who were present. Thank you all for the goodness that you bring to the world on a daily basis and for the happiness and joy you have brought to my life !

Mahalo! (“Thank you” in Hawaiian)

The element of nature is one that inspires personal transformation and guidance towards an authentic life. Nature rituals of renewal promote reflecting inwards and asking yourself questions of truth. The ritual I write about today involves personal energy, focus, and discovery.

Shift Your Perceptions

With this ritual I recommend that you spend some time in nature, peacefully and quietly. As you bring your awareness to the energy around you, look at the trees, shrubbery, and grass with a soft eye. Take note of how your perception changes as you allow your eyes to gaze softly at the energy around the objects of your attention.

Begin to focus in on that energy. I want you to focus and feel with all your senses the energy of that object, whether it’s a tree or even a body of water. The idea is to allow your perception to change as you feel into what you are putting your attention on.

Turn the focus of attention onto yourself. Feel into your body and ask your powerful awareness to help you focus in on your true nature. Consider all the things you do, all the things you say, and all the feelings you have about things in your life. Take the time to ask yourself this very important question: “Is this really who I am? Is this in alignment with my true nature?”

Release Negative Energy

Open yourself up to receive the answers. As the answers come, allow yourself to shed the things that are not in alignment with your true nature and begin to feed the things that are. How do you shed the things in your life that are not in alignment with your true nature? Here’s a simple process: Find an object in nature, such as a rock. Imagine in your mind the thing that you want to release in order for you to come into your authentic life. Blow it into the object as you focus on releasing the negative energy. Bury the object from nature in the ground, leaving behind the aspect of yourself that may not be authentic or not in alignment with who you are now.

Embrace Your Authenticity

After you perform this renewal ritual, I want you to keep awareness on how your actions and mannerisms, the way you speak, and your responses in situations that support those aspects of yourself that are in alignment with your true nature. You will begin to notice yourself coming more into your personal power and authenticity!

I hope you enjoy this ritual of personal transformation. Please share your experiences with me!

The final track on my sound healing album, Tribal Medicine, is “Celebration Dance.” The album features different healing energies with each track, and this one is one of which I’ve been getting a lot of positive reviews. The intention behind Tribal Medicine was to offer listeners an opportunity to heal their hearts and souls through the rhythmic power of the drum, and this is definitely achieved with “Celebration Dance!”

Celebration Dance

“Celebration Dance” is an up-tempo, fun, shake-it-loose type of song. We all need to lose ourselves in music like this—not just every once in a while but often! “Celebration Dance” is a song I encourage you to play while giving thanks. Its rhythms complement nicely the gratitude we express when the ancestors and spirits respond to our requests and bring to us the things for which we’ve asked.

As you know, I am always encouraging people to be thankful! As we focus on being grateful for what we have, we invite more good things to come our way. “Celebration Dance” is a song of proclamation that our lives are full of good things.

Over the past few weeks I’ve talked about each track on Tribal Medicine. This CD features healing rhythms that are intended to restore listeners’ hearts and souls as the sensations of the healing drum infuses the body. Each of the five tracks engage different energies that create different healing experiences.

This is due to the album’s strong roots with tribal connections. Listening to Tribal Medicine is like partaking in an ancient indigenous ceremony where the wisdom of African, Native American, and Eastern shamanic healing traditions take over the listeners’ body and restore health and vitality through the beating of the drums!

Tribal Medicine features me, Healing Drummer Toby Christensen, on djembe drum and percussion, and the talented Rebecca Holt on vocal toning. Skilled artist Carolina Woodrich shared her stunning original artwork for the album!

To purchase a copy of this healing rhythms CD, please visit my shop. I invite you to engage your body, mind, and soul with the powerful rhythms of Tribal Medicine. Enjoy!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharing with you inside looks at each track from my new CD Tribal Medicine. Tribal Medicine is one of my favorite albums to date. It offers listeners restorative healing rhythms to infuse their hearts and souls. Each track on the album features intoxicating drumming, various sounds, and specific intent that embodies different healing energies. By creating a varying, yet powerful, healing album like this, I’m proud to offer listeners a rejuvenating sound energy session.

I’ve talked about the energetic and spiritual rhythms of “Call of the Ancestors,” the indigenous conversation of “Tribal Spirits,” and the transforming healing energy of “Sacred Chant.” The next track I’d like to discuss is the he fourth from Tribal Medicine called “The One.” 

I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about this song. This is a soundtrack for being in the presence of the one who heals us all and who can guide us to overcome any obstacle. “The One” is about being in the presence of the Creator and accepting our life circumstances for what they are, no matter what they are.

“The One” is also a form of spiritual guidance that encourages us to ask for the eradication of things from our lives that are not helpful. It’s a great song by which to meditate and ask for peace in the place where we are carrying turmoil, for health and wellbeing in the place where we carry illness, and for abundance in the place where we carry emptiness.

Tribal Medicine offers listeners powerful inspiration through its tribal connections—as so many responses from people have indicated. This album as a whole resembles closely an ancient indigenous healing ceremony. All listeners have to do to experience the wisdom and powerful healing of African and Native American ancestors and shamans is bring positive intent, an open heart and mind, and close their eyes for the great escape of Tribal Medicine!

Tribal Medicine features me, Healing Drummer Toby Christensen, on djembe drum and percussion, and the talented Rebecca Holt on vocal toning. Skilled artist Carolina Woodrich shared her stunning original artwork for the album!

To purchase a copy of this healing rhythms CD, please visit my shop. I invite you to engage your body, mind, and soul with the powerful rhythms of Tribal Medicine. Enjoy!

What I love best about fire rituals is how they allow us to connect more deeply with our ancestors, our life’s inspirations, and our dreams. The element of fire represents a powerful transformative energy that drives change in our lives where we desire it most.

I’ve previously shared another fire ritual designed to help you bring your dreams into reality. This restorative fire ritual also “feeds” your dreams and desires, helping to bring them to materialization. It is a simple, but profoundly powerful practice.

Feeding Chakras with Fire Energy

Position yourself in front of a lit candle and focus intently on the flame. As you watch, express your ambitions, desires, and dreams. Let the fire feed the images in your mind as you hold your self, whole and complete, connected deeply to these dreams.

Reach forward with your hands cupped, fingers pointing towards each other. Reach over the fire flame and pull it to your body as though you are scooping the fire energy and bringing it to yourself. The process of bringing the fire energy into your system is about feeding your dreams and aspirations. This ritual involves three “scooping” processes that distribute this essential energy.

The first three “scoops” of fire energy you take will be fed to the second chakra, located just below the navel. Feeding this chakra helps support the action that needs to be taken in the ordinary world to support the dreams that you have in your heart and mind. The second three “scoops” of fire energy are for the heart. This feeding process symbolizes the good intentions in creating stream in your life. The last three “scoops” of energy go to your third eye, or sixth chakra. The feeding of the third eye is about feeding the thoughts that help create your dream and materialize it in your life.

Schedule Regular Visualization

I would recommend that you do this ritual regularly. At least once a week! The more you feed your dream, the more easily it will be created in your life. As you visualize the dream materializing, view it as though it already exists on the energy of your success and supported with the actions that you take.

I hope this ritual is helpful for you and helps you to reconnect more powerfully with your dreams. I dare you to create in your life the dream that you desire to live!

As always, let me know how this restorative ritual works for you!

We perform rituals involving nature and its gifts to help rebalance our lives, shift energies, and experience an overall positive transformation.

I’ve talked before about different restorative rituals, such as a transformative ritual using fire, a ritual of reflection using nature, a communication-based mineral ritual, an earth-based ritual to create a feeling of home, and an renewal ritual with water.

This water ritual is one in which we ask for the power of water to remove the obstacles from our lives that are standing in the way of us fulfilling our most profound destiny.

Identifying Obstacles in Your Life

Take a walk in nature and find some items that represent the obstacles, or perceived obstacles, in your life. Make sure they are things from nature that will not litter or pollute the local stream or river. An example of one item you can gather is a broken stick, perhaps representing broken dreams, or broken desires, or even broken relationships.

As you pick up each of the items that represent an obstacle, allow the thought of that obstacle to flow into the item, transferring it from you to it. This way, you do not have to carry the obstacle any longer; you can give it to the item from nature.

Collect as many of these things as you care to until you feel that you have identified and relieved yourself from as many “not helpful things” that you can think of.

Replace Obstacles with Empowerment

Take the items to a stream or river—something that flows, as moving water is the remover of obstacles! As you sit by the waterside, talk to the water and ask it to flow through your life, removing all obstacles that stand in the way of you coming into your most profound self.

When you’re done expressing your request, take the items you’ve collected nature and give them to the water. As you watch them flow with the current, imagine the power of water flowing through your life removing each of these things from you. Then spend some time refocusing your mind on this idea: “Since these obstacles are removed, what do I want to fill the space with that they occupied?”

As we release obstacles, we make room for empowered, proactive energies to take residence in our lives. These are the energies that propel us towards our most profound power and highest level of being.

I encourage you to tell me your experiences with this ritual! Feel free to contact me about your wonderful stories of flow and movement!

Nature carries the energy of magic transformation. It is about authenticity and living your “true nature.” This ritual is one of reflection, of going deep into your soul to discover more clearly who you really are. What is your authentic dream? Is what you’re doing right now in your life the thing that really suits you? Is the vocation that you currently invest thousands of hours a year in, in alignment with your true self? The answer I’m getting most of the time as I ask these questions is something like, “Hell no!”

Well, if that’s your answer this is the moment to change your life!

Energy of Magic and Transformation

This ritual involves connecting to nature and asking the spirits of nature to help us align with our true self. The ritual goes like this:

Take an object—or several objects—that represent the parts of yourself, your life, or your work that are not in alignment with your true nature. Take these objects to a place in nature and burry them at the base of a tree. As you do, call upon the spirits of nature, as they have the energy of magic and transformation to transform what these objects represent into the energy that is truly in alignment with you.

When you go back to your home, build a small altar to nature. This is comprised of a green cloth, some greenery—whether this is flowers you purchase at the store, or flowers to pick from your garden, or greenery from the trees around you, is that things that represent nature to you—and a few green candles. The shrine is “opened” by lighting the candles, and “closed” by blowing them out.

Ritual to Honor Your True Nature

Once your nature shrine is built, place some items on it that represent what you believe to be your true nature. Ask the spirits of nature to feed these aspects of your life and create the synchronicities to occur “effortlessly and delightfully” for you to come in to your true nature in all aspects of your life.

Each day of the month place a small glass of water on the shrine. This is important, as water feeds nature. Each morning, spend time at your shrine asking for your true nature to be supported. Pour the water from the previous day into a plant or at the base of a tree. Refill the glass, offer it to the shrine, and renew your commitment to honoring your true nature!

When I started this path I am on, I owned some coffee bars and a restaurant. I never dreamed I could do this work full-time. Through training, persistence, and following some suggestions from those who had done it before, I was able to let go of the job that was sucking the life out of me and step into doing what I love!

Trust and Confidence

Some of the most important aspects of our healing work at HealingDrummer are, one, properly training practitioners to bring healing to the world with authenticity and proper ethical conduct, and two, listen to those who come to us for healing. It is a very big responsibility be trusted with the openhearted vulnerability of one who has come for treatment. It has always been our intention to honor this trust in the most sacred way.

Our founder, Toby Christensen is the cornerstone of our teaching and healing protocol. He has studied with many indigenous and western teachers alike. Although always able to teach, not all of his teachers have been shall we say, good examples to follow in their personal and professional conduct. As Toby says, “sometimes when you become close friends with your teacher, you see things you wish you hadn’t.” Robert Bly once said, “a mentor will never have you over for dinner. That is a different kind of relationship”. I see the wisdom in this boundary. This is why it is so important to live impeccably. Rumors will surface from time to time as we have seen over the years, but unsubstantiated rumors dissolve quickly so we don’t spend much time on them when they surface.

What we like to focus on is bringing the healing energy to the world –
ENERGETIC TRANSFORMATION IS WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT AND IT COMES UNIQUELY THROUGH TOBY CHRISTENSEN AND THE HEALINGDRUM!!

Here is a great commentary we received:

Toby Christensen, the Healing Drummer, is filled with passion and the spirit.

He takes African Drumming and all it’s primitive power and combines it with the style of a Rock Star. It is a blend of the very old and the right now. Modern and primitive.

It helps to unleash my energy to awaken what has been asleep.

This is a wonderful sexy wounded man child who has found his place in the universe and thus his power.
And it is this weird thing. I mean a white shaman! A white guy with the African drum beating over me. And yet it worked. How, I don’t know and do I really care? I believe him because he believes it, because he earned it. His own journey

Something deep inside me understood and circumvented my brain and I quit smoking. There is true power here, not to be denied. And it worked. I felt better. But later I felt calm and somehow that I was operating at a new level.

Some part of us deep down knows this one works. We respond to the beat to the rhythm.