WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SOUND ATTUNEMENT THERAPY
This is a little something from the LA Times...Still, by far the most ground-trembling, body-altering treatment I’ve ever had is one where the practitioner never so much as laid a finger on my person, and it comes via Africa. Travelling drummer Toby Christiansen, who books sessions locally through Yoruba House, has developed an African-inspired technique he calls Sound Attunement Therapy. Toby is a handsome blond guy with surfer-dude looks, but he has studied African drumming and shamanic healing for twenty five years, and has come up with what I can only describe as a sound wave body massage that is as ecstatically pleasurable as it is therapeutic. Toby begins a typical healing session with a native American hoop drum, which he plays close over your supine form. It functions almost like a shamanic stethoscope: the reverberating tone of the drum indicates where your problem areas may be. Once he has ready your body’s particular form of rhythmic impairment, Toby stands over you, with the base of his African djembe drum centered over your heart and begins to play. What follows is the most shockingly sensual full-contact concert experience one could possibly imagine.
Though Toby never touches your body save with the waves of sound emanating from his drum, the sensation is extremely physical. The drum beat seems to paralyze, then liquify, 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.
The song Toby plays for each client is unique. “Everyone has their own rhythm, and part of my job is to find it and bring it out,” Toby explains. During both the sessions I had with him over a two day period, I experienced almost hallucinatory dream-like imagery, and after each hour-long session, I walked away with a pleasant buzzing sensation coursing through my body, a feeling that lasted literally for days. And though I went to Toby mainly out of curiosity, I found after two sessions with him that the PMS I’d been struggling with for years completely disappeared.
Though Toby never touches your body save with the waves of sound emanating from his drum, the sensation is extremely physical. The drum beat seems to paralyze, then liquify, 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.
The song Toby plays for each client is unique. “Everyone has their own rhythm, and part of my job is to find it and bring it out,” Toby explains. During both the sessions I had with him over a two day period, I experienced almost hallucinatory dream-like imagery, and after each hour-long session, I walked away with a pleasant buzzing sensation coursing through my body, a feeling that lasted literally for days. And though I went to Toby mainly out of curiosity, I found after two sessions with him that the PMS I’d been struggling with for years completely disappeared.
posted by Toby Christensen at 9:38 AM
1 Comments:
What would I say about SAT... you walk in to his treatment room either doubtful or curious, or completely guided having no idea why you are there in the first place, calm or nervous, healthy or sick, or emotionally troubled, young, or old, tired or full of life and what you experience through Toby is full-on contact with the heart of the universe, the very essence of life, the very essence of yourself. Everyone feels it in a different way, and every rhythm is different from person to person, I think because everyone resonates with the same essence in a different way depending on where they are at, and what they need to balance, eliminate or bring into their body or consciousness. It all starts with the hoop drum that opens you up like a book and reads you as deep as your soul. It is very soothing, tender and calming, almost like a big gentle hand that goes over your entire body feeling every vibration it encounters. You are now open, grounded and relaxed, and cannot help being soooooo curious of what is about to happen...
Then Toby starts playing the djembe... and it plays YOUR rhythm. It is different for one person from one moment to another, it is slow and gentle, or very fast, deep and strong, and it resonates with YOU. You can have images that don't make sense flash before your eyes, memories that you have forgotten reappear, feelings and emotions that you locked up release, dreams and wishes that you have, take form and make themselves clear... you become so connected to yourself and so in tune with your real self that you cannot be anything but grateful, humble, so full of joy and empowered, and so alive and present.
I am sure it is different for many people... but for me it was one of the most incredible spiritual experiences of my life
...and it is still happening...
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