Tracy’s Journey with the Drum

As the beat of the drum faded, I felt it … a stirring deep within, something indescribable, something primal …

Somewhere between climbing the mound to the central space of an ancient temple site in Essex and losing myself to the rhythm of the drum, there had been a shift, a very definite but indiscernible shift.

It felt as though my soul had awakened from a deep slumber, there was a delicious tingling from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, and my heart felt like it had expanded far beyond my physical being. My fear of rejection and judgement dissolved, as I found myself part of something I barely recognised … a tribe of women supporting women.

It was overwhelming, it was emotional, it was amazing … and I was hooked!

My healing journey began in 2005 following a diagnosis of breast cancer, but the discovery of the drum brought with it a different level of healing, something deeper, something I hadn’t experienced with any other healing modality. This was what had been missing; this was what I’d been searching for.

With the drum came a tribe; a tribe of women I hadn’t known existed; a tribe I hadn’t realised I’d longed for. I’ve always been the weird one, the misfit, the oddball, not fitting in, and not wanting to, but in that space of non-judgement with a group of yet unknown women, I found deep peace.

That night I slept deeply and dreamt that I was standing in the centre of a circle of joyous playful children, a circle filled with laughter and love, my arms upstretched holding a drum. It was profound and so much more than a dream, it was a gift, a deep inner knowing that I had been both a mother and drummer in previous lifetimes.

Just two weeks later I found herself back at the Roman Temple Site, this time to experience all that was birthing a drum of my own, a beautiful gift from my sister. The entire experience was incredibly powerful and deeply significant. I had been unable to birth my own children, but with the birth of my drum I felt an inexplicable connection to each of those children in my dream. Drumming became a constant source of support and healing, a strength, a guiding light.

I soon signed up to train in the reiki drum technique. My drum collection grew, as did my tribe and it wasn’t long before I found herself on stage at festivals performing with The Sisters of The Drum.

When life is shining bright, the universe often throws a curveball, and in 2022, my world was once again tipped on its axis with an unexpected diagnosis of thyroid cancer. A diagnosis that led to an ever-deeper journey of healing, this time working with my throat centre and the drum.

I enrolled on a four-day shamanic retreat where, whilst drumming, I received a message, a very loud clear message – the drum is your voice. Not long after that message, I underwent surgery for a second time and sustained a surgical injury that took my voice and left me nearly silent. It was then I knew, the old voice, the timid, shy, suppressed, unheard voice of my past-self needed to die so that a new more powerful voice could emerge.

I was determined to heal and found myself signing up to train as a sacred women’s drum circle facilitator – I had no idea why. I intensely dislike being the centre of attention, speaking in front of groups makes me incredibly uncomfortable, but mostly, my physical voice had gone!

But the message didn’t fade, it got louder and more repetitive, almost mantra-like – the drum is your voice, the drum is your voice.

My voice reemerged fully in August 2023, different but stronger, more powerful, and just six weeks after the facilitator training. The drum had indeed become my voice, helping me heal and rediscover my true self.

It was then I realised that if the drum was my voice, how many other women could it help to be heard, to find that voice? My journey has led me here to share the magic of the drum with like-minded souls and to witness the transformation it creates in their lives