Shamanic Techniques

This is a list of the major techniques that I use in my work with individuals and groups.

Drum Journey

For millenia, shamans have used drums to alter their consciousness and journey into other worlds to attain knowledge that would be useful in this world. Shamanic practitioners now use the drum to alter their clients’ awareness as drumming naturally brings one into the alpha state of meditation through synchronizing the left and right brain hemispheres. The drum supports the client to leave behind the limiting nature of their everyday inner dialogue and their conscious and unconscious beliefs, laws, and judgements. Journeying from their ordinary and limiting conscious state of awareness, clients are then able to enter a state of awareness that is both expansive and healing. Clients are invited to journey any time they are seeking:

• clarity and insight
• the end to a relentless negative pattern
• to know their undiscovered strengths and abilities
• to make amends with those they have harmed
• to recover an aspect they have repressed and lost
• connection to their inner warrior, inner healer or their inner god(dess)

Working with the Animal World

Animals, both in the physical and spirit form, are an important aspect of shamanic work as the animal world knows how to live in alignment, harmony and balance with Grandmother Earth and as such animals have a lot to teach us. Indiginous shamanic cultures have long connected to spirit animals as guides and teachers. Connecting with your birth or power animal can lead to you to:

• discover aspects of yourself that have until now remained hidden from you
• discern new skills and abilities
• uncover new ways of dealing with old problems
• feel more connected to all the worlds of Grandmother Earth

Energy Work

Today’s science has come to understand that matter is interchangeable with energy and that everything can be looked at in terms of energy. Earth-based cultures have known this to be true for centuries – everything has a vibration – from the very slow vibration of a stone to the very fast vibration of sound. Shamanic Practitioners have many tools to shift, energize, balance and remove discordant, weak, disparate and stuck vibrational energy. I use:

• the drum
• crystals, stones and gems
• tuning forks
• rattles

Chakra Balancing

While chakra is a Sanskrit (ancient Indian) term meaning wheel, chakras have been recognized by many other earth-based cultures as being part of the subtle energy body. Chakras are the major way that energy is brought into and circulated throughout the energy body. Difficult emotional states, physical and emotional shocks and unresolved issues have an impact our chakras which then impacts the flow of energy throughout the body which then in turn affects our physical body. Regular tune-ups can help us feel revitalized, more grounded and present and can highlight as yet unrecognized issues/difficulties that are present and having an effect on our energy and physical body. I use a variety of tools to balance chakras: the drum, crystals and gems.

Thought-Form Recapitulation

We all have thoughts and memories that have a kind of negative charge to them. Perhaps it’s something you said you now regret or you’ve had an exchange with someone that has left you replaying the scene. Perhaps you’ve even recognized that having a certain kind of thought always brings you back to an unresolved moment in your life. Recapitulation is an ancient Toltec technique to “erase your personal history.” By this we mean to loosen the bonds between thoughts and de-energize the thoughts themselves so that they stop leading your thinking to the same dead end. Through recapitulation the charge associated with some memories is also discharged so that the past is no longer present as a force in your life. This is an important way to reclaim your energy and have greater freedom in your mental and emotional life.

Medicine Teachings

For so long we have been a culture ruled by science and technology which has been accompanied by a kind of thinking that is linear, rational, focused on the part and evidence-based. Medicine teachings come out of a very different kind of thinking and being and offers us a very different way to look at ourselves and the world. Medicine teachings which often take the form of a medicine wheel present a more holistic, cyclical and interconnected body of knowing that serves us well in times when the results of our usual way of thinking and doing are showing up in many of our societal issues, problems and challenges.

Mesa and Altar Building

I use them for two reasons: one is to explore an issue or problem so that I may become aware of that which has remained hidden – a deeper or more comprehensive understanding or a novel and creative solution to the issue. The second way is to ultimately manifest something new in my life – it could be a new relationship, a new job or a new home. I support and assist my clients in the construction and the “working” of the mesa so that they can make gains in their awareness and their manifestation.

Fibre Tie Cutting

We are all prone to making and keeping unhealthy connections with some of the people in our lives. Often we are unaware of doing this until it is brought to our attention that everytime we think or see someone, we experience a loss of energy. Unhealthy connections are also evident in our codependent relations with others. In some ways it could be said that our culture promotes codependent relationships as opposed to relationships of healthy connections where each person is aware of what is theirs and what belongs to the other – a relationship of responsible interconnection. On an energetic level, unhealthy connections are maintained by  an energetic fibre that connects us to another through time and space. Fibre tie cutting allows us to sever the unhealthy connection so that there is stop to the loss of energy as well as the space to have a different and more healthy form of connection.

Rituals and Ceremonies

Rituals and ceremonies are a sure way to bring more spirit and healing into your life and they can range from simply greeting the morning sun while you ground yourself to fasting for seven days while you vision-quest. There are time-tested and ancient ceremonies such as the vision quest and there are ceremonies created just for you and what you are working with right now. Ceremony helps us to slow down, hear our inner voice more clearly, work with a clear intent, and feel more connected to the Everything. I work with clients to design ceremonies that support you to work on whatever is your heart’s desire right now. It could be a ceremony to deal with the low level fear you are realizing you live with all the time. It could be a ceremony to celebrate your birthday in a meaningful and powerful way. The possibilities are endless and the results are always revealing and healing. Your inner voice gets stronger, you become more aware and you begin to live a life as a spirit in a body.

Rites of Passage

Earth-based cultures all have rites of passage to mark the movement of one stage of life to another. While we also have marking ceremonies – weddings, bar mitzvahs, christenings – we have largely forgotten the purpose of these ceremonies which is to support the person or persons going though a transition. Earth-based cultures recognize the precariousness and the need for community support that transitions from one way of being to another are. Whether it’s to mark the puberty of an adolescent, the baby being welcomed into family and community or the elder passing from this world to another, rites of passage allow us to come together to acknowledge, support and celebrate all these passages.

Home or Business Blessing Ceremony

You may have moved into a new home or have a new place of business. Start this new venture off on the right foot through a cleansing, blessing and prayer ceremony. This will help you feel more at home and intentfully aligned with your new undertaking. Even if you have lived in a place for some time but feel that the energy is not congruent with you, a home or business blessing can also give you insight into why things are showing up in your home that you do not want as well as giving you a fresh new beginning.[/two_third]