Christine Stevens
Your Journey Awaits
Enroll in the On-Demand Course With Christine Stevens
Learn at your own pace, access materials anytime, and revisit the content whenever you need.
The live course has ended, but you can still embark on this transformative journey with Christine Stevens by enrolling in the on-demand version! Enjoy the flexibility to learn at your own pace, access course materials anytime, and revisit the content as often as you’d like.
Get startedLearn sacred drumming rhythms from around the world to shift from stress to presence, ignite creativity, enhance your brain function, and experience emotional release.
Create heartfelt music that meditatively grounds and empowers you, enables you to carry a beat with ease, and aligns you with the global heartbeat of unity and healing.
Your heartbeat carries a sonic pulse that serves as a unifying force to all of life. Are you listening?
Can you hear the call to step into the rhythm of your own awakening?
As we feel the rapidly approaching hoofbeats of uncertain shifts in our world, the call to evolve and reconnect — to ourselves, each other, and something greater — has never been more urgent.
Now is the time to move beyond words and tap into the deep rhythms of our awareness — where music, sound, and silence become powerful tools for transformation and resilience.
Across cultures and centuries, spiritual drumming has served as a sacred bridge between physical and spiritual realms — rhythmic frequencies that connect us to the healing pulse of Earth, the heartbeat of humanity, and the wisdom of the divine.
In this course from Christine Stevens, renowned music therapist and author of The Healing Drum Kit, you'll embark on an experiential musical and profoundly healing journey to explore the sacred language of the drum, connecting you to a global community of healing and celebration.
Adopted by Uncle Manny Eagle Elk Council Pipe Sandoval in a Making-of-a-Relative ceremony, Christine learned drumming from Indigenous masters and primary teachers of West African, Nigerian, Sufi, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Egyptian, and Native American traditions.
She received permission from her teachers to share what she learned, honors the wisdom keepers who passed down these rhythms, and ensures that each practice is taught with cultural sensitivity and integrity.
In her 7-module self-paced video course, you’ll learn drum rhythms from global traditions and Christine’s channeled beats to balance your energy, deepen your spiritual connection, and harmonize with the great rhythm of life itself.
Drumming is also one of the easiest ways to make deeply resonant music — on your own and with your community. Through interactive sessions and a virtual drum circle, you’ll experience the power of rhythm to make music together as you connect to each other and spirit.
You can work with any type of hand drum — buffalo drum, frame drum, or djembe. AND, even if you don’t have a drum, you can make one using common household items, like water jugs, or create percussion on your own body.
Whether you’re picking up a drum for the first time, or looking to deepen your practice, you’re welcomed with open arms! This course is designed for everyone — beginners, seasoned drummers, dancers, healers, or anyone drawn to the rhythm of life.
And, for those who’ve never even held a drum before, Christines course generously offers an extra session (Module 0) where you'll be guided through the foundational skills necessary to prepare for this journey.
Through Christine’s step-by-step guidance, you’ll discover how to create easy-to-learn healing rhythms that awaken joy, release challenging emotions, cultivate collective energy, and support your spiritual evolution.
You’ll discover that the repetitive sacred language of the drum can ground and coax you into a state where you’re no longer thinking, but experiencing, a moment-by-moment co-creation with spirit — like mala beads for the mind.
And, to help you cope with the specific and foreboding challenges we face today, Christine devotes one full session to shadow drumming — a powerful and immediate way to express and release with force and volume what many of us have been trained to not say with words.
One of the most exciting aspects of this course is learning how to create your own unique healing beats. As you embody different rhythm patterns, you’ll begin to feel the music moving through you, strengthening your ability to express and channel healing energy through sound.
You’ll walk away with a rich toolkit of multi-cultural rhythms, practices, and wisdom that will empower you long after the course ends.
Over the seven modules of this powerful (and joyful!) program, you’ll:
- Learn sacred drumming practices that honor master teachers from global traditions
- Become a vital music maker, drumming your way to healing
- Create your own healing rhythms to integrate into your daily life
- Develop a repertoire of rhythm patterns for meditation, creativity, and connection to the global community of drum healers
- Use rhythm to shift your consciousness to soothe transitions and difficult times
- Experience the catharsis of shadow drumming — a visceral and powerful force of expression that gives you permission to release anger and frustration
- Experience guided drum meditations, breath-infused playing, and movement integration to release fear, align your chakras, awaken creativity, and align you with your own inner rhythm ancestry
- Connect with the pulse of Mother Earth and become a conduit for infusing our world with positive energy
- Explore three ways to play the heartbeat from Lakota and Navajo Native American traditions
- Experience a rhythm inspired by the Gene Key 55, the “Key of Freedom,” to transcend fear, scarcity, and limitation — and pave the way for an evolutionary leap into joy, abundance, and higher states of awareness.
- Share the joy of collective ceremonial drumming in a virtual drum circle
- And much more...
From the primal heartbeat to rhythms of West Africa to drumbeats from Native American traditions, there’s a vibrant, world-wide symphony of percussion — a rhythm sangha — dedicating the energy of drumming to personal and planetary healing.
As Christine teaches, drumming is a “blisscipline” that uplifts, heals, and connects.
Scientific studies show drumming can also reduce stress, boost the immune system, and even alter brainwave states. It’s an ancient technology for modern transformation — enabling you to navigate personal and collective awakening.
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules
In this 7-module transformational course, Christine guides you through the fundamental skills, insights, and practices you need to learn sacred rhythms from around the world that help you create music, deepen your connection to spirit and community, and join a global heartbeat of unity and healing.
The Beauty of On-Demand
This course features step-by-step teachings and experiential practices from Christine. Each session builds harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to use drumming to focus your mind, shift you from stress to presence, and spark playfulness and creativity — while providing you with a daily meditative practice for accessing spirit. Your purchase includes 24/7 ongoing access to your course content, allowing you time to review the materials at your own pace and integration.
Module 0: Beginner's Drum Session to Learn Fundamental Skills
Whether you’re new to drumming or refreshing your foundational skills, Christine is generously offering this optional, pre-course session so you can learn (or review) basic strokes on the hand drums — including the buffalo drum, frame drum, and djembe-style body drum.
All levels of experience are welcome — even those playing body percussion, bucket drums, or jugs! (Three- or five-gallon water jugs sound great upside down!)
During this pre-course module, you’ll:
- Learn about drum care and techniques for holding and playing
- Explore 3 types of hand drums — frame drum, buffalo drum, and body drum (djembe, doumbek, and congas)
- Discover how rhythm patterns are learned, remembered, and notated
Module 1: Drumming the Heartbeat for Grounding & Sacred Connection
One quality of an awakened heart, mind, and spirit is awareness that our human connection expands into a vision of all our relations.
With Christine’s guidance, honor the teachers and sacred traditions of global drumming as you embark on this journey.
Begin with a drum blessing using the chant, “Blessings on the Drum,” infusing your drum with your intentions and gratitude.
Play heartbeat rhythms from the Lakota Sioux Native American tradition, adding your creativity and exploration to the beat and sending it out to the world. Let the rhythm ground you and set the foundation for learning, growing, and creating a sense of oneness and community.
During this module, you’ll:
- Experience a drum blessing by setting your intentions with your drum
- Learn a drum blessing chant
- Explore 3 ways to play the heartbeat from Lakota and Navajo Native American traditions
- Add your own creative energy to the beat with a practice of embellishment
Module 2: Parting the Seas - Moving Forward Through Life's Challenging Transitions With Flow & Celebration
As we journey through the awakening process, we inevitably navigate challenging terrain. Prepare to move forward with your community of drummers!
Rhythm is defined as “the element of music pertaining to forward motion.”
In one of the oldest passages about drumming in the Judeo-Christian book of Exodus, the Prophetess Miriam plays her drum, celebrating freedom at the crossing of the Red Sea.
Explore how drum rhythms can help you move through difficult times. Christine also shares about the practice of drumming for celebration and spiritual connection.
During this module, you’ll:
- Learn to play “Miriam’s Beat,” inspired by the Prophetess Miriam crossing the Red Sea, with permission from Eliana Gilad, Voices of Eden
- Connect with the medicine of rhythm to move your body through different grooves
- Experience the celebration of answered prayer and spiritual growth
Module 3: Healing Rhythms - Becoming a Conduit for Radiant Energy
In the journey of awakening, it’s also important to cultivate greater self-love and compassion and allow it to radiate out to the world and all of humanity.
In Buddhist language, this is the Bhodichitta energy of loving-kindness, or Metta. Combine the practice of Metta with drumming to amplify the intention of healing the collective.
You'll be guided to bring up the energy of the earth through the drum and experience a Nigerian chant and rhythm to affirm your body’s wellness. You'll also discover the formula for creating healing rhythms.
During this module, you’ll:
- Connect with the sacred, steady, and gentle pulse of Mother Earth
- Learn a healing rhythm and chant from Nigeria drummer Babatunde Olatunji, “Ara Mi Le” — which means “My whole self is well”
- Experience a rhythm diagnostic to discover where you need healing
- Expand the boundaries of your world and connect to a greater frequency
Module 4: Shadow Drumming for Emotional Release
To go into your shadow is a pathway of liberation that can be intense, dark, and scary. Shamans travel on the drum into the underworld as an initiation into true spiritual power.
The drum is your companion though difficult emotions that you might tend to repress, which often leads to depression — the antidote is expression.
While releasing anger, pain, and frustration isn’t always a productive way to have your voice heard, the drum can take it — without taboo or judgment.
It’s time to break free of the weight of global challenges, the plight of animals facing extinction, communities facing persecution and tragedy, and the chaos of natural disasters.
Rather than bypassing your painful feelings, you can, instead, express emotions beyond words through the language of the drum.
During this module, you’ll:
- Learn the key tools of shadow drumming in the drum language
- Bring your voice into ritual with sounds of release
- Explore the practice of pacing in ceremonial rounds to modulate emotions
- Discover the cathartic power of the drum, whose strong skin holds space for our deepest expression
Module 5: Balancing Your Energy - Trance Rhythms for the Inner Path
Along the path of spiritual growth, it’s important to take time to look inward for integration and reflection.
Drumming can be a tool for balance and meditation. Using the polarities of sound and silence, and rhythm and movement, honor the tantric pull between opposites as you expand and integrate, as Christine says, “in-to-great.”
This is the beauty of rhythm patterns that mark moments of transition — growth and change. Learn how to speed up, slow down, increase the volume, decrease the volume, and fade into silence, feeling the shimmering emptiness that follows your full creative expression.
Christine shares a chakra beat — a rhythm that emerged through her — that honors each center, balances the subtle energies, and matches your own body’s energy.
During this module, you’ll:
- Learn to play a chakra beat to honor the subtle energy centers
- Explore the rhythm of Ayub, an Arabic trance rhythm, to go within
- Feel the inner shift of remembrance with a Sufi beat, “Hey Allah,” which honors spiritual connection with the Divine through repetition
- Balance rhythm and silence in a drum meditation
Module 6: Rhythms for Awakening - Supporting Your Personal Evolution
There are rhythms that help us become more present, joyful, and grateful — qualities that are evidence of our awakening.
She’s created a rhythm to help you in that awakening process, inspired by Gene Key 55 — which represents our ability to transcend fear, scarcity, and limitation, paving the way for an evolutionary leap into joy, abundance, and higher states of awareness.
You’ll learn two additional rhythms for awakening, presence, and joy. Christine was taught and given permission to share a Jamaican drumbeat, “Nyabingh,” by Fantuzzi, her teacher in the Global Rhythm Sangha. And, you’ll practice a Native American prayer beat.
You’ll discover:
- A rhythm for awakening based upon Gene Key 55
- The “Nyabinghi” beat from Jamaica
- A Native American prayer beat
- Drumming to support prayer, scripture, and poetry
- A visualization process to initiate you into service, raising the bodhichitta in loving-kindness to all our relations
Module 7: Become a Force of Creativity - Personal Expression & Collective Harmony
Explore the polarity of individuality and collective energy, creating your own personal rhythm of awakening and using an affirmation beat of “I AM.”
As you chant to the Orishas (divine spirits of West Africa and the diaspora) of Ashay, the primordial force of creativity and self-confidence — Axe — will arise and move you forward in the samba beat of rhythmic processional.
It’s your time to join the groove of life. Celebrate, resonate, and let your body feel the joy of being alive today — in this moment.
During this module, you’ll:
- Explore your own personal rhythm in a drum circle experience
- Learn to jam on the rhythm of Ashay (Axe), honoring the force of the Orishas of creativity
- Play the rhythm of samba, a parade rhythm from Brazil, to step forward on the path of personal drumming
The Sacred Language of the Drum Bonus Offering
In addition to Christine’s transformative 7-module online course, you’ll receive this special bonus offering to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
DRUM! Reviving Rhythms!
Audio Recording From Christine Stevens
This upbeat, play-along CD includes five long-play tracks to awaken your rhythm, jump start a drum circle, or just uplift your spirit. It features an inspirational introductory teaching from Christine. This CD includes “Juicy Jam,” “Succulent Samba,” “Lively Latin,” and “Beatin the Blues.” Each track runs for 12 minutes, and you’re invited to use any drum or your voice — or dance. This bonus is bound to enliven your soul with rhythm!
Hand Drumming Basics Tutorial
3 Video Teachings From Christine Stevens
These lessons will help you, whether you’re brand-new to drumming or a seasoned drummer wanting to explore other types of world drums. In these interactive videos, Christine covers the basics of how to hold, play, and learn a pattern on three drums. She features the buffalo drum with a mallet, which has Native American and shamanic origins… a frame drum played with your hands from Middle Eastern traditions… and djembe or goblet shaped body drums of West African origin.
What Graduates of Christine’s Courses Are Saying...
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Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Self-Paced Modules
Experience a unique opportunity to learn from speaker, author, and music therapist Christine Stevens — from the comfort of your own home. Each session includes a streaming video and will guide you to drum your way into music making, presence, playfulness, and creativity — as you learn sacred rhythms from around the world to heal and deepen your connection to spirit, while providing the skills and community you need to join a global heartbeat of unity and healing.
Seven Transcripts of Sessions
In addition to the high-quality videos and MP3 audios, you’ll also receive session transcriptions. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each lesson.
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Online Course, Sacred Language of the Drum
We feel honored that Christine Stevens has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive online course. This is a unique opportunity to learn from a speaker, author, and music therapist whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about learning to drum to make music, create a meditation, and unite with spirit and community, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind program.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own evolution, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Sacred Language of the Drum — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before two weeks and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Christine Stevens
Author of 13 books, including The Book of Ceremony
Author of Spiritual Liberation and founder of Agape International Spiritual Center
Founder of the Morter Institute for BioEnergetics and author of The Energy Codes
Grammy awardwinning drummer for the Grateful Dead and author of Drumming at the Edge of Magic
Qigong master, speaker, healer, and founder of The Chi Center
About Christine Stevens
EDIT
Author and music therapist Christine Stevens was adopted into a Native American family by Uncle Manny Eagle Elk Council Pipe Sandoval in a Making-of-a-Relative ceremony — after spending more than a decade singing Lakota prayer songs, undertaking Hanbleceya (“Crying for a Vision,” one of the seven Lakota Sacred Rites), and becoming a pipe carrier for Women’s Way Long Dance, founded by Connor Sauer.
With the permission of her elders and respect for the Red Road ways of music medicine, she has played the Native American-style flute for more than 25 years, as well as percussion for sound healing, honoring Nature in sacred sites, from a Sedona vortex to the Grand Tetons.
She honors the wisdom keepers who passed down these rhythms, and ensures that each practice is taught with cultural sensitivity and integrity.
Christine is the author of The Nature Sutras, Music Medicine, and The Healing Drum Kit, and the founder of UpBeat Drum Circles, which brings drumming and sound healing to organizations and events dedicated to uplifting humanity. As an advocate of music and wellness, her media appearances include NBC, PBS, Discovery Health, and Living Better TV.
Christine, who has worked with Fortune 500 companies, survivors of disasters, and refugee women, serves as a Musical Ambassador of Peace. She led the first drum circle training for peace in northern Iraq and toured Japan with a music medicine approach to the Native American-style flute.
The host of Global Rhythm Sangha Online, she teaches a variety of online training programs, including Awaken Your Rhythm, which has served hundreds of people from over 35 countries. Most recently, her pilot study, the Global Tele-Music Therapy program, published in Music and Medicine, helped reduce pain, discomfort, and stress with enduring effects during COVID-19.
Christine’s commitment to love, beauty, and harmony, and the reciprocity of offering music to Nature continues to guide her sound-healing practice and courses with The Shift Network.