Quiet Inspirations: The Power of the Drum — Sophie Messager
An introduction to Sophie Messager’s work with the drum — where rhythm becomes a way of listening, reconnecting with inner authority, and accessing wisdom that lives beneath words.
This piece is part of Quiet Inspirations — a series where I share the people, mindful conversations, books, and soul-rooted work. If you’d like to receive these occasional letters, you can join the list here.
I was first drawn to Sophie through an introductory video for the Conscious Business Mastermind by Caroline Leon. Sophie began her introduction by beating her shamanic drum. The energy of it gave me goosebumps — not least because, around a year earlier, I had built my own sacred shamanic drum, a deeply transformative journey that was still reverberating through my life and work.
A ‘marriage of intellect and intuition’
Sophie naturally bridges worlds that are often held apart — weaving scientific understanding, embodied and intuitive knowing, and sacred wisdom, rather than choosing one over the other. She is a former research scientist who has published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and who later turned towards ancient wisdom traditions and embodied practices. As she describes it herself, the root of her work does not come from choosing between intellect and intuition, but from marrying them. In our conversations, alongside a shared passion for inner wisdom and knowing beyond the confines of single systems, we also found resonance around perinatal themes — Sophie through her background and wisdom as a doula, and my own interest in how early experiences and energetic imprints can shape patterns over a lifetime.
At the heart of Sophie’s work is the drum. Drawing on both neuroscience and lived experience, she uses rhythm as a way to access deeper layers of inner wisdom. Through drumming, Sophie supports women in reconnecting with their own rhythm and voice, and in navigating life’s transitions with greater trust and embodiment. She brings drumming as a powerful, grounding practice that supports presence, clarity, and inner authority.
A pathway into deep listening
What resonates for me is how drumming becomes a way of listening and stepping into presence away from the thinking mind — to the body, to rhythms and patterns, and to the wisdom that lives beneath words, received through the drum. It also helps release what blocks access to this wisdom and supports living life feeling whole, connected, and guided by the terms of our heart and soul.
Sophie is also the author of The Beat of Your Own Drum: The history, science and contemporary use of drumming as a path for women’s wisdom, health, and transformation
A book I highly recommend for anyone interested in the meeting point of science, rhythm, and women’s wisdom. The book encourages breaking free from systems that confine us and to trust our own lived wisdom. You can find the book here:
The Women Drum Keepers Collective
She is currently opening a new, year-long offering, The Women Drum Keepers Collective, which invites women into a sustained relationship with drumming as a grounding, orienting, and deeply embodied practice. You can learn more about the programme and explore Sophie Messager’s work on her website here
This is a piece from Quiet Inspirations — a soulful portal filled with simple sharings — people, conversations, themes, books, offerings and moments of wisdom that have touched and inspired me on my own path, and that I feel called to pass on. If you’d like to receive the next edition of Quiet Inspirations in your inbox, you’re welcome to join the list here.
Julia Kyambi is a bilingual (English / German) trauma-informed intuitive guide and soulful embodiment coach who deeply honours the connection between body, mind, soul, and spirit. Her work bridges inner transformation, embodied awareness, nervous-system attunement, and intuitive guidance to support people to come home to themselves, ground in their essence, feel whole and live life feeling aligned with their heart and soul. Learn more here