"The Shamanic Drum" Audiobook Release

I am pleased to announce the release of my audiobook "The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming." Shamanic drumming is an ancient approach that uses rhythm to promote healing and self-expression. Based on my studies and personal shamanic experience, I present the first practical guide to applying this ancient healing art to our modern lives. Through a series of simple exercises and lessons, I teach the basic shamanic methods of drumming. The focus is on creating sacred space, journeying, power practice, power animals, drum therapy, drum circles and the therapeutic effects of drumming. Whether you are an accomplished percussionist or a total beginner, this user-friendly audiobook will help you harness the power of drumming. Recent studies demonstrate that drumming is a valuable treatment for stress, chronic pain, cancer, stroke, trauma, addictions, mental illness, emotional disorders and a wide range of physical disabilities. The benefits include relaxation, healing, more energy, greater mental clarity, enhanced creativity and deeper self-awareness. 

 

Conveniently listen to the book on your phone, computer, tablet or in the car. Available on Amazon and iTunes. I invite you to listen to the Introduction on YouTube.

Contents (1994 Revised Edition)
Introduction
Chapter 1 - The Role of the Drum
Chapter 2 - The Fundamentals of Shamanic Drumming
Chapter 3 - Power Practice
Chapter 4 - Drumbeat of the Rainbow Fire
Chapter 5 - Healing the Earth
Afterword
Appendix A - Drums
Appendix B - Journeys

Insight Timer: Best Free Meditation App

Insight Timer is a free smartphone app and online community with seven million meditators, making it the most active meditation community on the planet. The meditation app made Womens Health and Time magazine's list of best apps. Three thousand meditation teachers publish free guided meditations, music and talks on the app. With 15,000 free guided meditations you can meditate on Insight Timer for as long as you want without ever paying a cent. The app offers a variety of topics to choose from (stress, sleep, self-love, loss, forgiveness, etc.), along with personal customization, meditation Timer, and the ability to track your progress with your meditation practice. Download the Insight Timer app.

To support your shamanic journeys, I have published "Shamanic Journey Drumming with Callback" on Insight Timer. Shamanic drumming awakens your ability to commune with your inner self and retrieve information. You need only journey within to find answers to any question. For a journey to the Lower World, visualize an opening into the earth that you remember from sometime in your life. The entrance could be an animal burrow, hollow tree stump, cave and so on. When the journey begins, you'll go down the hole and a tunnel will appear. The tunnel often appears ribbed and may spiral around. This tunnel-like imagery is related to the central axis that links the three inner planes of consciousness. Enter the tunnel and you will emerge into the Lower World, the realm of power animals, spirit guides and ancestral spirits. When you hear the sound of the callback, begin your return journey. Try to retrace the same route back; otherwise you might have trouble remembering the details of your journey. Step-by-step instructions for making shamanic journeys are explained in my book, "The Shamanic Drum." Try a shamanic journey.

Vernal Equinox 2019

At the Vernal Equinox, we begin a new cycle on the Medicine Wheel of Life, entering the East -- home of the rising sun, morning, birth, beginnings, and the spring season. Spring arrives when the earth is tilted so that the sun is directly over the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the first day of spring is on or about March 21. This is the day of the Vernal Equinox. Vernal means spring; Equinox means equal night. Night and day are the same length, each lasting exactly twelve hours on this day. It is at this time when light and darkness are in balance. The forces of feminine and masculine energy, yin and yang, are also in balance at this time, providing a unique opportunity to tune in and find our inner balance, harmony, and alignment. The 2019 Vernal Equinox will occur on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 5:58 P.M. EDT.

Throughout human history, people in the northern parts of the world have celebrated the Rites of Spring, marking the end of earth's winter sleep and the start of spring when everything is reborn. Ancient cultures connected spring with the return of life to the earth. The return of spring in ancient times was of more consequence than it is to us today because winter food and fuel storages ended, inclement weather waned, and crops could be planted. Pagan customs such as lighting fires at sunrise for renewed life and protection of the crops still survive in South America as well as in Europe.

 

In China, the Vernal Equinox has always been celebrated as the time of new beginnings, of action, of planting seeds for future grains, and of tending gardens. Spring is a time of the earth's renewal, a rousing of nature after the cold sleep of winter. The life energy, symbolized by thunder, erupts from the depths in early spring to awaken the dormant seeds to new life. The yearly cycle begins in the spring when thunder quickens the renewal of life. Winter still has its grip on the land, but the days are lengthening and the light is growing stronger by the day. Spring is almost here... I hope we can be inspired by nature's reawakening to renew our own lives.