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.

Many of you know that I have done extensive training with Malidoma Somé and in my work with him have learned a lot about creating a space of fun and welcoming for the ancestors. When we do ritual, it’s usually in a very festive atmosphere. Good beverages, oftentimes a cigar, and always drumming!

I recently read an interview with Malidoma where he talks about spirituality and seriousness. Here is a small excerpt from the interview that I thought was very interesting, and definitely worth putting some thought into. Needless to say, these words of wisdom from Malidoma can come in handy in each of our lives!

Playful Spirits

Interviewer: Some people make an assumption, often unconsciously, that any spiritual practice worthwhile needs to be serious and somber. Can you speak to the role of play and fun and spontaneity in ritual work?

Malidoma: You must understand that the other world doesn’t know anything about seriousness. The issue at hand is that anytime I’ve had an encounter with the other world, and I mean that literally—we have little people in my culture that we call Kontomblé—every time you meet them, they’re playing around. They look like irresponsible people jumping around, finding you rather funny looking and serious. So it has led me to wonder: where do we inherit this solemn attitude, in fact, associated with the word “serious?” I tried to understand it by way of trying to find out whether there is an equivalent in Dagara of the word “serious”—there is none. There’s no word for “serious!” The closest word to it is literally translated as “red eye!” It’s funny! But this is as serious as it gets! Because “red eye” means you can’t close your eye, you’ve gotta keep it open, because you might miss out on something! So there is a direct connection between ritual and fun and also play. Where does it come from? We can see it in children whose world is all about play and the choreography of it. Why do we grow up and find this rather childish, as if childish is less important than solemn and serious? I really would try to do be more playful just to see whether in fact there is a greater chance of success than this seriousness.

The bottom line is the further away from the sacred a culture grows, the more serious and solemn they become. That simply suggests that the closer a community or a people get to the sacred, the more access to joy, playfulness, and a lot of laughter! So it’s up to us to choose. Modern culture seems to understand that. Even the corporate world understands that. That’s why they have such a time as “Happy Hour!” Every time, everyday between four and five is a happy hour where the drinks are cheaper, but it’s only between four and five. After that everybody’s back to seriousness—I’ve got a problem with that! The playfulness associated with work has been shrunk so much down to an artificial happy hour that you cannot even be playful or come close to happiness without the help of a couple of glasses of heavy duty liquors! That means the genies of laughter and happiness are becoming really thin, and we’re approaching the idea of laughter and joy from a serious deficit and that’s why we need the substitute of liquor in order to make that happen.

That being said, the fundamental piece is for us to look at ourselves from the perspective of the amount of joy that we’re willing to bring into our lives—how much of that is in there—and to raise the question that puts a balance between what we are able to achieve and the amount of joy that accompanies the initiative towards that achievement. Are our failures due to a rather pathologically seriousness given to life? Or are the things we fail to achieve associated with a deficit in joy due to too many repressions and repressed things within us that are blocking the channel of joy? These are pertinent questions that we should ask ourselves. We just can’t make a laconic statement saying, “Well there’s not enough joy; there’s not enough laughter; there’s not enough playfulness!” We have to associate that with our productivity, with our capacity to muster healing and transformation in our culture and see whether it is not the reason why we have an industry called “entertainment.” In other words, in order for you to laugh, somebody must be over there making a fool of himself so that you can giggle a couple of times! The point is that it’s revelatory of a deep apology that is keeping us away from each other, keeping us away from the healing power of joy and laughter. Anyway, I don’t want to be too serious about it! (laughs)

The Benefits of Random Laughter

Interviewer: Malidoma, as we come to the conclusion of our interview, is there anything you would like to share about what’s bringing you joy or passion or excitement currently in your work with spirit and with your teachings?

Malidoma: What I do brings me a deep sense of peace inside. The core of what I understand as joy is a deep inner peace, the kind that is really hard to put in words. It has less to do with random laughter and superficial socialization; it has to do with a deep sense of joy experienced whenever change in the right direction is seen in a person in whose life I have intervened. The truth is I derive tremendous pleasure in it, and I think that this is something that everybody should be entitled to. This is radically different from entertainment—I’m not entertained by that, I’m overjoyed by it! At the same time, I can sense the pull to grief and I take that as a sign that my heart is not closed, and that I derive joy! It is the contribution to the sense of peace, which for me is authentic.

I stay in this work, regardless of its turmoil and the fact that, as I said in the beginning of this session—that I hear more bad news than good news—but I stay in it simply because one healing at a time is proportional to a massive influx of joy and peace inside of me. This is something that I see being needed by most everybody in this field who end up taking what they’re doing too seriously and as such become a prisoner of very bad weather that they’ve chosen to lock themselves into. People say my lectures are too funny; that whenever I start teaching something, every minute I’ve got to add a little joke in it—I can’t help it! Just don’t take things too seriously! It is true we’re all in pain, but sometimes you laugh at pain, and pain gets panicked! You start looking at pain with the strange eye of the clown and the pain says, “Usually this is not how these people behave!” And then the pain wants to go somewhere else!

It is important to realize the healing aspect of this whole thing. For me, after gauntlets of 15 years in this work, I realize the best healing for me is humor, to stay within the field of humor. I think this is something that people should entertain. Let’s get together and crack ourselves up with all kinds of things, because in the end, it is this inexplicable sound coming out of our throat chakras that sends a message to all—that which wants us to look so weighed down by the bad news, that it can then enjoy watching us. The minute we’re cracking up in front of it, then we start creating tremendous discomfort in it. And that’s a show of our capacity to heal each other, as opposed to waiting for some kind of salvation agent to come down with a basket full of it to toss around—that doesn’t work. Or if it works, only a few benefit from it and the rest are left even hungrier than before. So for me this is what I’ve ended up embracing because my own salvation, my own well-being rests on that. And I hope it can expand sufficiently to affect as many people as possible. Contagious laughter is healthy!

Thank you, Malidoma, for your words of wisdom!

My friend Kathy Sampeck and I have been talking a lot about flutes lately. Native American-style flutes, bamboo flutes . . . for some reason, their beautiful sound and rich melodic tone have been tapping me on the shoulder as though I needed deeper connection with this energy.

During my last trip to the Washington, DC area, Kathy attended an event at which people were selling flutes. She bought one, brought it home, and begin playing. In just a few days she was very proficient, expressing beautiful melodies through this instrument.

When I arrived in Hawaii and reconnected with my friend John Dumas—who happens to make amazing flutes—I talk to him about the possibility of acquiring one of these majestic instruments. After a couple of performances with John, I realized that both a high register flute and a lower register flute in a harmonic key would be amazing for the new CD that I’m going to surprise you with soon!

Custom John Dumas Flutes

New instruments for my new CD

As John and I talked, we decided on the key that I preferred for the flutes and begin construction. Interestingly enough, after talking to Kathy, I found out that the flute John is building for me will harmonize perfectly with the flute that she acquired! I think there may be a new musician playing with my on the upcoming CD.

It’s amazing how things synchronize so perfectly in the world. Last night when John was over for an event we had here at the house, he presented me with these two flutes. They are so beautiful and sound amazing. And the most important thing is they are very easy to play.

So, I have some work to do! All day today—other than taking a break to post this blog—I have been practicing the flutes! I have not figured out how to play the flute and drums simultaneously, but I’m working on it. Now all is I need is a didgeridoo, and I can officially complete my one-man band! I think I have my hands full with these two new additions to my sound healing arsenal.

New Sound Healing Instruments for Upcoming Tour

I’m heading out for an East Coast tour as soon as I get home at the end of September. I will be in Washington, DC; Charlottesville, Virginia; Alexandria, Virginia; Berkeley Springs, West Virginia; and Bluemont, Virginia. Following those events, I’ll be in Miami, Cincinnati, and Seattle. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road. All the latest details about my upcoming schedule can be found at www.healingdrummer.com/schedule.

For those of you who are going to participate in some of my events or have booked private healing sessions, get ready! The island has charged up the drum! With the addition of the flutes, there are places we will be going where we have not gone before! A huge thanks to my brother John for creating these beautiful instruments, and great thanks to my friend Kathy for inspiring me to follow through with my desire to have my own  flute!

Handcrafted Indigenous Flutes by John Dumas

Custom John Dumas Flutes

If any of you are interested in ordering a flute from John, please contact me, or go to Johndumas.com to contact him directly. If you have been toying with the idea, now is your time to respond to the inspiration! These two flutes are made from Hanalei bamboo, found here on the island of Kauai. They are completely handcrafted and finished with a heating process that infuses the bamboo with beeswax for a very durable, yet indigenous, finish. As far as the tone, one word: fantastic! On my upcoming CD you will hear these very flutes and you can judge for yourself. In the meantime, visit John’s website.

I look forward to providing a new experience for those of you who are coming for private sessions. The addition of this vibration is peaceful, soothing, and powerful.

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!

This month I would like to focus attention on healing the Earth. Watching the devastation of the Gulf Coast here in the US brings strong awareness that as inhabitance of this planet we need to rally our forces and bring healing to the other beings that share this great earth with us. I hear all kinds of blame and see lots of finger pointing. OK already, lets find a solution! I have been drumming each day asking for the Ancestors to intervene in this dilemma. Please join me in this endeavor.

The thing I realized as I began the healing process is that the maladies that inhabit the Earth are often the maladies that inhabit our lives personally and culturally. If we look at the Gulf Coast  situation, we might ask ourselves, “What is leaking poison into my life that is hidden deep in the darkness of my ocean?” Even more specifically, where have I allowed greed (as we see with the oil companies) to override my integrity? My Core Values? Do you even have an idea of what your core values are? These are very important questions. I hope we are all headed for a revival of core values of love, honesty, integrity and impeccability. Not just talking, but acting in accordance with these values. There are many “spiritual leaders” or mentors that scream integrity and impeccability but are running their organizations contrary to what they teach. Walk your talk or change it. As we walk with true integrity and in alignment with our message we will experience great empowerment in all areas of our lives. The more focused and undisrupted our intentions are, the more powerfully we will experience what we desire to create in our lives. Be clear, Live clear, Create clear.

An exciting aspect of our Hawaii trip this September because in addition to earth healing we will experience the blessings of the ocean and the energies that reside there. You can find out more about this shamanic adventure at

Be well and remember to send healing to the Earth and focus this month on the Gulf Coast! Here are a couple of photos that help to make clear the situation

here is a diver from BP in the gulf verifying that there is indeed a problem.

Blesssings,

Toby

This is my favorite song my World Unity CD. It is dedicated to the peace makers. So enjoy the sounds and think of ways you can bring more peace and harmony to the world! As a famous musician once said, Give Peace a chance!

This is a piece from my World Unity CD. It’s a great one to listen to when you feel stuck or low energy.

There is a song called Waltzing Matilda, referred to as “the unofficial national anthem of Australia”. In it is the line, “Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong, Under the shade of a coolibah tree…

In the same way the coolibah tree was a place of rest and rejuvenation for the swagman, this song has the energy of rejuvenation for you!

This blog is the operations central for the HEALINGDRUMMER WORLD PEACE PARTY that will take place December 20th. For the past three years I have ended every event with a few minutes of DRUMMING FOR PEACE. What I mean by peace is summed up in the statement below. I’m not asking anyone to change their mind or agree with me in every way I only ask that we focus on our similarities so strongly that we have no time to fight about our differences! Check Back for details.

To honor this passionate cause I produced a CD called World Unity. The following are the words on the jacket. The song posted is Wake Up! It is my call for people WAKE UP to PEACE!!!

“This CD is dedicated to the Peacemakers of the world. It is for those who realize that we are held lovingly in the arms of the universe, and that since we are here not only to survive, but to THRIVE together, then we must begin to act with peace and harmony in all that we do. This is to act peace with the air, the water, the land, the animals, and with each and every one of our fellow humans. May we all find through this music the ability to focus on our similarities so strongly that we have no time to fight about our differences! WORLD UNITY is WORLD COMMUNITY”

Let’s make it happen!

It is with this intention I ask you all to join me in a wold wide campaign and join the HEALINGDRUMMER WORLD PEACE PARTY! Stay tuned and enjoy the music. I will post new tracks every 2 weeks!

Peace

When in Park City Michael Franti did a great song where he brought the kids in the crowd up on stage. Here is his video of the song. I encourage you all to support Michael’s music!! He is an Extraordinary Peacemaker!

I had two days at home between Hawaii and Jamaica! I had some amazing things happen in those two days. One was, I got to see my friend Jillian ski in the World Cup competition at Deer Valley my home ski area (see her picture below). The other is I got to see my peace advocate hero Michael Franti live in concert!!!! 

What a thrill. From 80 degrees in Hawaii to 4 degrees in Park City!!! I was freezing my butt off. Then the music started and Michael had about 10,000 of us dancing like crazy on Main Street! He was freezing up on stage and kept playing!! What an amazing man.

The thing that really impressed me about Michael Franti is the fact that after he attended a yoga class at my friend Lisa’s studio, he stayed and had tea with her and gave her and her husband and friends free passes to his show in Salt Lake City. 

I have admired Michael for some time and now finally got to see him. My goal is to meet him and play the HealingDrum with him and his band to further support the cause of peace in the world!!

Here is a couple of my Park City buddies I ran into at the concert! Keili and Jillian. 

Here I am with my friends left to right, Jamie, Rich, Marilyn and yours truly 

While on Kauai I realized the vibration of peace was so strong that I had to do something to express it publicly and acknowledge the energy that was transforming me. So… after talking to my good friend, Danny Hashimoto, we began to collaborate with some wonderful people on the island to celebrate PEACE. I want to thank Danny, Isa Maria, +Elijah and all who participated in making this event so wonderful. Here is a video of one small part of the event. I’ll continue to post more as I wade through the film!! Many Blessings and Peace to you, Toby

The sun continues to shine here in the islands and the adventures are wonderful. After the dolphins we headed for Queens Bath and Turtle Cove and swam with the sea turtles. This pool is amazing and as we snorkeled in the clear water of the pool Danny was making sure all was being documented with his brilliant photography. You can see him in the foreground with his camera. I hope you enjoy the wonder of this beautiful place. After swimming and hanging out on the lava rocks we headed for the cove. The water is sooo beautiful here.

Here is a photo of an unexpected treat. We were able to see this beautiful turtle nesting in a cave at the cove.

This is such a magical place!

I have been working on the new CD Peaceful Heart. Things are coming along well and inspiration is at every turn. One of the great inspirations on the island is Sleeping Giant. It is a sacred mountain that lies to the north about a 10-minute walk from the house. I have hiked up the great mountain almost every day. It takes an hour of persistent climbing to reach the summit and the view from on top is breathtaking!!!

Believe it or not I am standing on the top of the mountain as this picture was shot.

More soon! ALOHA!!!!