A gentle, held ritual traditionally offered to women moving through life transitions, whether that’s motherhood, menopause, grief, divorce, or other significant thresholds. It combines rocking, wrapping, and quiet ceremony to offer comfort and a sense of being tended to at a time of change.
Djembe
A goblet-shaped hand drum originating from West Africa, played with bare hands. Different in construction and tone from a frame drum, though the two share a common thread: the drum as a way of connecting people through rhythm.
A gathering where a group comes together to drum, usually guided, with no experience necessary. It’s less about musical skill and more about rhythm, presence, and the shared experience of playing together.
A simple, hand-held drum consisting of a skin stretched over a round wooden frame. Frame drums have been used in ceremony and ritual across many cultures for thousands of years, valued for their deep, grounding tone.
Gong bath
Sometimes used interchangeably with sound bath, a gong bath places particular focus on the deep, resonant tones of the gong, known for their especially powerful vibrational effect on the body and nervous system.
Grounding
The felt sense of being calm, settled, and present in your body, often the result of practices like sound baths or drumming that help quiet an overactive mind.
Held space / holding space
A way of describing what happens when someone creates a safe, supported environment for you to simply be, rather than have to perform, explain, or hold everything together yourself.
Nervous system regulation
A term used to describe helping your body move out of a stressed or switched on state and into a calmer, more restful one. Practices like sound baths and drumming can support this naturally, without needing to understand the science to feel the benefit.
Shamanic drum
A style of frame drum traditionally used in shamanic and ceremonial practice, often associated with journeying, trance states, and connecting with a slower, more ancestral rhythm.
Singing bowls
Bowls, often metal or crystal, that produce a sustained, resonant tone when played with a mallet. Commonly used in sound baths for their calming, meditative sound.
Sound bath
A sound bath is a guided relaxation session where you lie down, get comfortable, and let a mix of instruments, gongs, singing bowls, chimes, wash over you. There’s nothing to do and nothing to get right. You simply lie back and let the sound and vibration take you somewhere quieter than your usual busy mind.
Sound healing / sound therapy
The broader umbrella term for using sound and vibration to support relaxation, wellbeing, and nervous system regulation. A sound bath is one form this can take.
Story-drum
My own way of weaving myth and storytelling together with drumming, using fairy tales and folklore, drawn from traditions like Grimm’s tales, as a way to explore inner life, symbolism, and personal transformation, held together by rhythm.