On the ocean drum, and why I want you to have one

The first time I heard an ocean drum, I was in the middle of a sound bath in 2018. I did not really know what a sound bath was. I had heard about them, was curious, and walked in with little idea of what to expect.

The drum stopped me.

An ocean drum is a shallow round frame with small metal beads sealed between two thin drumheads. When you tilt it, the beads shift and pour, and the sound is exactly what it sounds like. The ocean, right there, a few inches from your face. It is the closest thing I have found in the world of instruments to standing at the water with your eyes closed.

I left that session knowing two things. One, I had to be sharing this experience with other people. Two, I needed an ocean drum of my own.

I bought one soon after. Learning to play it was not obvious. There are several ways to hold it, several ways to move it, and each combination produces a completely different sound. Small tilts. Big tilts. Slow rolls. Quick shifts. It took time before I stopped feeling like I was making noise and started feeling like I was playing.

That experience is what I built Sound as Ritual around.

On October 10, 2026, I am hosting a three-hour class for women. In it, we will design a personal sound ritual you can take home and actually use. We will spend real time specifically on the ocean drum. I will teach you three distinct ways to play one, so you leave with actual technique rather than a vague sense of how it works. And you will leave with your own ocean drum, because that was always the point.

The class closes with an extended sound experience together. This part is not instruction. It is the reward for the work of the afternoon.

I made this class for the woman who has been curious about sound work but wants to do more than lie down and receive it. Who wants to bring some of this home with her, into her own bedroom or bath or morning. Who wants an instrument that responds to her hands.

If that is you, there are a limited number of seats.

Sign up at Serenity Spa Soul Yoga Roseville