The director of KinderWorld Tracks, Nechama Robinson, spoke recently with Toby about his life and healing gifts. The following is the first in a three-part excerpt from this interview.
Says Nechama, “If ever an interview has taken me places I did not expect, it was this one with Toby Christensen, Healing Drummer. From corporate events to private healing sessions, Toby’s work is recognized by people in all walks of life.”
Toby Christensen, The Healing Drummer
Nechama Robinson:
Toby Christensen: My name is Toby Christensen, and people call me the “healing drummer.” Through my work in Burkina Faso, West Africa, I have developed a process of sound healing called sound attunement therapy. It uses sound energy from the drum as a mechanism to disrupt and reconfigure a person’s energy field so that the things that are not helpful in their lives can fall away, and the things they desire to create they can do so more easily. I travel around the United States and Canada doing private healing sessions, workshops, shamanic training, and interactive concerts. More information can be found at www.healingdrummer.com
Nechama: Sounds amazing! How long have you been doing this, and how did you get into it?
Toby: I have been doing this type of drum healing since about 2002. I had been on a trip to West Africa, and when I returned I started having zombie dreams! It was an interesting vision of zombies coming up out of the ground coming towards me, seeming as though I was going to be attacked by them. When they reached me, they laid down on their back. I stood over them and played djembe rhythms, and they were restored to full and complete health. They would jump up to shake my hand and run off!
After several nights of having this dream I called my African teacher. After hearing the reoccurring dream, [he] simply said this: The ancestors are showing you exactly what your life purpose is. Do exactly what you see in the dream! It was then that I began to pull my friends aside and ask if I could drum on them to see what they felt. As this occurred, life-changing things happened in their lives, and people began to call me for sessions.
At the time, I owned a chain of espresso bars and a restaurant—which over the next three or four years I sold. And I have been on the road doing the healing work and teaching since then.
Toby’s Clients
Nechama: What a remarkable story! Who are your clients?
Toby: I would say that my average client is middle income, middle class, college educated and open-minded.
Nechama: How do most of your clients hear about you?
Toby: The majority of [my] clients hear from me through word-of-mouth. Starting off with very grassroots marketing, the word began to spread from person to person. Then I was asked to speak at a medical conference at University of Portland a few years ago, which led to greater visibility. Then it is as though I somehow fell into the cosmic phone lines and people began to call! I began to travel, which led to more calls, and I am now on the road 300 days a year, bringing the healing drum too many places in the world.
In addition to this, I have had tremendous help from people in my community who have helped create my website, blogs, and marketing material, so that when people call I am prepared to offer them the programs that I teach and sessions that I facilitate. It is because of this community and their support that the work has expanded as quickly as it has.
Stayed tuned for part two of this interview. Thank you to Nechama Robinson, MA, director of KinderWorld Tracks.
Inquiries about Toby’s services can be made to info@healingdrummer.com. Keep in touch with Toby’s events at www.healingdrummer.com/schedule or sign up to receive Toby’s newsletter!
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