“It is always a blessing to hear positive things about my work” says Toby

Toby Christensen, The Healing Drummer, is a recognized expert and innovator in the field of healing music. Toby uses sound energy from the drum to create a force that disrupts unhealthy patterns and then combines elemental rhythms to restore and realign the mind, body and spirit. Toby’s passion is to unlock the healing power and transformative energy of drumming with the individuals and communities he touches.

He currently travels extensively – sharing his work and shamanic wisdom and ultimately, creating enlightened communities that can carry the work forward. To date, he has reached thousands of people through his healing sessions, drumming circles, workshops and interactive concerts.

A recent interview…

In a recent interview Toby was asked about his work as it compares to others in the alternative field.  “So many people claim to have the end-all, the greatest energy, or the highest vibration energy field… What I find is if I hold the space for a person’s own healing energy to come to the forefront, they actually heal themselves. That’s why you’ll never hear me  call myself a ‘healer’”. Toby goes on to say that by putting the healing power in the hands of his clients,  they  become self empowered.  His goal than is to have his clients become independent of him rather than dependent on him. “When you teach people to access their own power they can assist others in connecting to their power, so on and so forth. What we end up with is empowered people. If we maintain dependency, we are no different than allopathic practitioners who are more interested in ongoing treatment rather than healing”

Here is what some have said after experiencing Toby’s work

“Though Toby never touches your body save with the waves of sound emanating from his drum, the sensation is extremely physical. The drumbeat seems to paralyze, then liquefy, then vaporize your flesh. And then it melts your bones. Toby carries around a sheaf of research studies on the healing properties of sound, and drumming in particular, especially for people suffering from chronic illnesses, but the proof is in the experience, as you feel the song of the djembe literally calling your body’s cells to fall in step with the heartbeat of the universe.”– Hillary Johnson, LA Times

“I’ve worked with some incredible healers in my life, but I would say this has to be one of the most powerful healing sessions I’ve ever experienced.” – David, New York, NY

“The experience that you opened for me on Wednesday morning was of such healing impact that I have continued to take it all in…you are certainly an angel who provides a path to a heaven of perfect healing. I can appreciate the hard work that you maintain to create this path for others in need. It was such a privilege to receive your healing talents this week. The drumming has opened areas in my mid body, as I feel an energy there that I have not felt for six months. Much healing is taking place physically and mentally. I feel renewed and ready to focus on rest and nutrition in a way that I have not been able to respond recently.” – Debra, Los Angeles, CA

“I closed my eyes and took a few deep, full breaths as the drumming began. As I listened to the sound of the drum, my perception began to change on its own. I began to feel the sound instead of just hearing it. The drumming beats became less individually distinguishable until they began to morph into a tribal-like, ceremonial pulse that I could feel in the marrow of my bones. I had a sense of continual change, somehow as if outside time. Gradually, or suddenly, I’m not sure whiperception faded as I shifted. First, I could feel every cell vibrate, then, I became the vibration. The healing drum and I were one—our pulses, our rhythm, our heartbeats were the same. I found myself in a state in which I no longer identified with my physical body. Instead, I felt a state of peace unlike I had ever experienced, as if an inner rheostat had been turned up and I was an expression of the brightest light.

Although my physical eyes remained closed, I looked up and found myself lying in the center of a circle of unfamiliar faces…or were they? I knew that this was a circle, a community that was called by the drum on my behalf. I felt powerfully and lovingly held as I watched them dance, chant, rattle, and wave their arms in purposeful motions. I knew that these were my people, and that they had come together with me to celebrate my initiation back to my indigenous Self. This was the moment I learned that it is, in fact true: ‘The sound of the drum is the tuning of the Soul.’” – Jill, Calgary, AB, Canada

In the coming months you can find Toby at places such as The Kripalu Center and Naropa University  as well as venues in the Bay Area, Seattle Washington, and throughout the East Coast. You can find additional information at www.healingdrummer.com