Drumming Sounds Facilitator Training Retreat

+ Halloween “Shake Down” Drum Circle & Ancestor Celebration

October 30 – November 2 • Franciscan Renewal Center, Paradise Valley, AZ

All sales are final.

A transformational 3-day immersion in rhythm, ceremony, sound medicine, and facilitator mastery.

Step into a sacred weekend of rhythm, healing, and community. Hosted at the serene and spiritually charged Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley, this immersive gathering brings together the full power of drumming, singing, dancing, sound medicine, sacred communication, and hands-on drum building to awaken your gifts as a facilitator, healer, and community leader.

Arrive Friday at 4:00 p.m. and enter a space designed for deep transformation. Depart Monday at 11:00 a.m. renewed, inspired, and aligned with your purpose.

Halloween Ancestor Celebration

Drum Circle & Dance with the Ancestors

During this special Halloween weekend we will gather for a joyful community celebration inspired by Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, and traditions that honor the ancestors who guide our lives.

Participants are invited to:

• Come dressed as a beloved ancestor, family member, saint, or historical figure who has inspired your spiritual journey

• Bring a photo of a loved one or teacher who has blessed your life

• Help build a community altar in the center of the drum circle

• Share stories, songs, prayers, and memories

Together we will drum, dance, and celebrate the ancestors with laughter, gratitude, and joyful Halloween spirit.

This evening becomes a powerful reminder that we do not walk alone — we walk with the wisdom of those who came before us.

What This Retreat Offers

🔥 Drum Circle Facilitation Training

Learn the Drumming Sounds Protocol—an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach blending nervous-system regulation, ancient rhythm practices, and modern facilitation skills.

You will leave with tools to lead circles in:

• Recovery programs

• Wellness settings

• Community events

• Senior living centers

• Corporate wellness programs

• Retreats and festivals

⚡ Sound Medicine & Ceremonial Practices

Experience immersive sound journeys, breathwork, sacred songs, and meditative practices that open the heart and quiet the mind.

These experiences include:

• Morning prayer sessions

• Sunrise intention setting

• Sacred communication workshops

• Guided emotional release through rhythm

🪶 Drum Building Workshop

Create your own 14-inch elk or deer hide frame drum, lacing your intentions into every thread.

You will also craft your drumstick and learn traditional practices for awakening your drum as a medicine tool.

🌕 Movement, Ecstatic Dance & Embodiment

Move your body. Free your spirit.

Experience rhythmic embodiment practices designed to unlock joy, release stagnation, and deepen your relationship with sound and movement.

💬 Community, Ceremony & Connection

Every moment of this retreat is supported by sacred spaceholding, shared meals, community circles, and opportunities to connect with like-hearted leaders from across the country.

📣 Optional Business & Marketing Training

For those who want to bring this work into the world professionally, optional sessions include:

• Marketing 101 – Building Your Identity & Message

• Marketing 1.2 – The Drumming Sounds Community Model

• Marketing 2.0 – Growing Your Facilitator Practice

You may join these sessions or simply enjoy the retreat space, rest, or explore the beautiful grounds.

Who This Retreat Is For

• Drum circle facilitators

• Wellness practitioners

• Recovery specialists & peer supporters

• Sound healers & musicians

• Mental health professionals

• Coaches, artists, movement teachers

• Spiritual seekers and community leaders

No musical experience required — just an open heart.

Retreat Schedule at a Glance

A weekend of rhythm, ceremony, community, transformation, and celebration. You’ll build your own frame drum, experience the Drumming Sounds Protocol, learn transformational facilitation tools, explore sound and vibration, and become part of a new drum circle family.

FRIDAY — GROUND • CONNECT • EXPERIENCE

Opening Ceremony — Get Blessed Up

We begin by grounding into prayer, intention, and sacred space. Arrive, settle in, meet the beautiful people who will become your new drum circle family, and prepare for the journey ahead.

The Drumming Sounds Experience

Experience the Drumming Sounds Protocol in its fullness with Andrew and Monica. Beginner-friendly, transformational, energetic, and FUN. No musical experience is necessary—just come ready to participate.

Dinner & Community Time

Share a meal, connect, laugh, and get to know your new community.

Evening Drum Circle

We close our first day together in rhythm, connection, and celebration.

SATURDAY — BIRTH • LEARN • CELEBRATE

Sacred Frame Drum Birthing

Create and birth your own frame drum—an instrument you will use throughout the rest of the retreat and take home with you.

The Tools of Transformational Facilitation

Saturday is our big day of tools. We dive into the framework behind holding a safe, intentional, and transformational container.

Expect lots of hands-on practice, deep teachings, music, rhythm, laughter, and plenty of drumming.

Drum Circle Facilitation Training

Move beyond simply leading rhythms. Learn how to read a room, build connection, work with group energy, create participation, and understand the deeper responsibilities of the facilitator.

Dinner & Community Time

Saturday Night Celebration — HAPPOWEEN!

Come dressed as your favorite spiritual character, teacher, ancestor, superhero, or personal hero!

Our evening celebration will be open to the community and filled with drumming, costumes, laughter, desserts, sweet treats, and connection.

Heart-Opening Cacao Ceremony

We begin the evening by gathering intentionally around cacao, opening our hearts and preparing ourselves to celebrate together.

Community Costume Drum Circle

Then we turn up the energy! Bring your costume, your new drum, your dancing feet, and your beautiful weirdness. This is a night to celebrate community, spirit, rhythm, and LIFE.

SUNDAY — INTEGRATE • TRANSFORM • SHARE

Deep Sound Journey

Enter a powerful sound journey into the heart of energetic transformation. Rest, receive, listen, and experience sound from an entirely different perspective.

Advanced Drum Circle Tools

Return to the drum with new awareness as we continue developing practical facilitation skills and explore how rhythm, sound, intention, and group dynamics work together.

The One Drum Intervention

Unpack one of the signature interventions within the Drumming Sounds framework. Learn how the One Drum can create space for emotional expression, listening, connection, and community.

And now—you get to experience these practices using the new drum you birthed yourself.

Community Development & Marketing

How do you take what you've learned into the world?

We explore community development, relationship building, marketing, creating opportunities, and practical ways to begin offering transformational drum-circle experiences in your own community.

Dinner & Integration

Closing Ceremony & Celebration

After dinner, we gather to honor YOU.

We recognize the journey you've taken, the drum you've created, the skills you've developed, and the community we've built together.

Then we finish the way we should:

With a lively, joyful, powerful closing drum circle!

Come ready to drum.

Come ready to learn.

Come ready to laugh.

Come ready to build community.

Come ready to transform.

MONDAY — NOURISH • REFLECT • SAY GOODBYE

Breakfast Together

We begin our final morning slowly, sharing breakfast together and enjoying one last opportunity to connect with our new drum circle family.

Morning Reflection & Gratitude

A little space to reflect on the weekend, the relationships we've created, the tools we've learned, and the experiences we'll carry home with us.

Goodbyes & Journey Home

Hugs, photos, contact exchanges, and goodbyes as we close our sacred time together.

Take your new drum.

Take your new tools.

Take the relationships you've created.

The retreat may be ending—but the circle continues.

You may arrive as a stranger—but you won't leave that way.

A Transformational Weekend in Paradise Valley

Nestled at the foot of Camelback Mountain, the Franciscan Renewal Center offers peaceful desert landscapes, quiet walking paths, beautiful accommodations, and sacred spaces perfect for reflection and renewal.

It is the perfect container for deep spiritual work, community building, and personal transformation.

Your Facilitators

Andrew Ecker & Monica Patton, co-founders of Drumming Sounds, bring over 25 years of experience and more than 5,000 wellness-based events across tribal nations, hospitals, recovery centers, festivals, and spiritual communities.

Their combined wisdom in drumming, sound healing, ceremony, and sacred communication will guide you through every step of this journey.

Secure Your Spot

This retreat has limited capacity due to the hands-on drum building experience.

Reserve your place now and step into a transformational weekend that will:

• awaken your voice

• strengthen your spirit

• empower you as a community leader

Join us for a powerful Halloween weekend of rhythm, remembrance, celebration, and transformation.