My education on this concept initially came from my own personal experiences and then began to expand further as I worked with shamen in other cultures and heard other people’s stories. This was a journey on which I was half led and half thrust into and I can assure you… it wasn’t for the faint of heart!
I’ve always had an insatiable curiosity about life from a very young age and as those around me went about their own lives and experiences each day, I spent much of my time with my nose pressed up against the window of the universe, looking to see what else was out there. I’ve now come to believe I was simply answering the call of my own DNA and my cellular memory in an awakening to who I authentically am and my purpose here which culminated from many lifetimes as a shaman before this one.

I’ve always had gifts beyond the ordinary senses (many people do) but in 2000 as I began my formal training in earnest in the field of energy healing, something else began to develop for me as well. From my studies and some experiential travels which included natural healing concepts in numerous ancient and distant societies… Native American… Tibetan… Japanese… Mayan… African… Huichol… Peruvian… Mongolian… Australian Aboriginal… I noticed numerous common threads from each one.

All had a higher awareness and wisdom expressed through their own specific cultures and yet they very similar in their effect even though there had been no contact between these tribal communities during that initial period. They were able to access information beyond their ordinary realities from a collective source. They were also rooted in their own version of shamanism which by its very definition, is practiced with a very strong connection to the Natural World as well as through accessing realities which exist beyond this one.

When I first learned about shamanism about 38 years ago, it woke something up in me… a passion and deep “knowing” I’d never had before and which has only expanded through the years. I began to feel like the puzzle piece that had just found the puzzle I fit in. I was “home”. What was also fascinating was the more deeply I felt connected to this way of “being”, the more I began to have experiences well outside what most consider normal, including other healers.

Normal is nothing more than a choice on the dial of a washing machine… especially for me! With each increasing experience I found myself in which took me farther and farther out of my realm of reference, I was forced to look for the explanations and solutions myself but also very thankfully, with an array of support from a small circle of friends and healers who “got” it.

At the base of my formal study in this field is physics. I’m a person who has a very hard time accepting something without understanding the “why” and “how” of it but I’ve always been an “open-minded skeptic”. I came to understand that every single thing is connected… spiritually… mentally… emotionally… physically… and physics is the vehicle it all rides on. This also includes shamanism.

What does this all have to do with the subject of mental health you may be wondering? Belief systems are very powerful… enough so to cause a psychotic break from (a) reality when we’re exposed to something too far outside our immediate comprehension. I have worked with many people… particularly young adults… who possess some astounding gifts of “sight” beyond the usual.

I recognize them energetically often before they even open their mouths to speak. Although they have different, unique talents and individual personalities, there’s also a commonality among them as well. They’re very bright… creative… empathic… compassionate… intuitive… independent thinkers and old souls who have more often than not been diagnosed with multiple mental health labels. Many have been drugged and sent through the mental health system to no avail but there’s a glaring aspect of mental health support missing for those who are actually experiencing things the “system” can’t explain.

Insurance companies don’t recognize this either and so even the professional who may have knowledge of this type of experience, can’t get insurance to pay for any treatment without giving the issue an existing diagnosis even when it’s not correct. WE need a call for change in how we react to, diagnose and treat people who may very well be going through much more of a spiritual awakening and much less of a brain malfunction. It can create poor self-esteem, fear, terror and a heaping amount of anxiety… that seed at the root of many if not all of the mental health issues.

I developed PTSD directly caused by my shamanic experiences and a few psychotic episodes until I learned how to stop them. It took a number of years and a dogged determination to learn to first step beyond the fear, overcome it, gain the clarity to understand what and why it was happening, learn to protect myself on an energetic level, step fully into my position and power as a shamanic healer and finally to assist, support and empower others.

There’s always a much wider, universal view of things… We do ourselves an injustice not to be aware and willing to look beyond the initial judgments from ourselves and others about what may not be understood and to go further to the truth of what actually is. Everyone benefits from compassion and support. It’s not about necessarily agreeing or understanding but simply stepping back from the judgment and lack of kindness that seems to creep forward when we can’t wrap our own perspectives around something. We truly don’t know what we don’t know until we learn it and we can’t change what we don’t acknowledge.

There is a growing interest in shamanism. It’s referenced in the media everywhere. Classes, workshops and books are popping up in growing numbers. I personally consider it disrespectful to take a course and consider oneself a shaman. Shamanism is passed down verbally and experientially from shaman to apprentice or through a near-death experience or some similar, extreme action. Shamanic energy is recognized by those who also feel a strong tie to it as I did. WE “recognize” it in each other. There are specific reasons for that. It can be utilized by everyone though in ways which benefit our own personal growth as well as that of the collective.

Our planet has been harmed greatly and as mankind has continued to destroy the hand that literally feeds it, we’ve come to a point where we’re awakening and yearning for wholeness again in increasing numbers. That equates at the most basic level, back to our connection with our Earth and ALL life… that basic wisdom that the ancients knew so well.

Get Curious … Remember …