Years ago, when I was first starting out as a Shamanic Reiki practitioner and teacher, I wrote about change on my “about me” page. I recently revisited it and I realized that I seem to have written a challenge to future me, today’s me, to commit to working with change.
I wrote that we humans are standing at a precipice. The religious, economic, and social beliefs that shaped society through the rise of agriculture, trade and industrialization are cracking and shaky. I acknowledged that we’ve used the Earth’s resources unsustainably. Climate change-related catastrophes threaten the survival of not only us humans but countless species we share this planet with. Change is imminent, one
The elements know how to work with change and they can help us navigate the changes in our lives.
way or another.
As resistant as humans can be to it, we have always known change. The other animals and the plants, the water, the rocks, soil and sand, and the air itself, have also always known change. Day turns to night and back into day, the tides advance and ebb, summer fades to autumn, and autumn gives way to winter. Winter ends and spring comes.
Modern human life, often dominated by time in climate-controlled homes, offices, and stores, separates us from the natural cycles of change. We can buy fresh summer fruits in winter. We wear sweaters in air conditioned rooms, and we get on planes to visit places that have “better weather” than that of the place and season where we are. That disconnection keeps us from noticing the ground is crumbling beneath our feet.
The practices I share, from the modern revival of ancient shamanism and nature-based spirituality, offer ways to reconnect. Those practices include shamanic journeying, which is entering into an altered state of consciousness to receive messages from Spirit, but the umbrella of modern shamanism also includes herbal medicine, various energy healing modalities, song and chant, movement and dance, and even environmental activism.
Armed with these techniques and expanding awareness of what’s happening around us, we can feel our way into our place in nature once again. We can breathe with the trees, receiving the oxygen they give and releasing carbon dioxide back to them. We can learn from, and be supported by, the non-human animals and plants we exist with. We can view the natural cycles as sacred, and therefore open to change as something to be revered rather than feared, a wild holiness we should run right into.
In the latest episode of the My Shamanic Life podcast, I elaborated on change and what has changed in my life during the months since I last recorded. I also announced an exciting way the podcast is changing. Please give it a listen.
One way I am addressing change is by putting more time into practicing and teaching Shamanic Reiki. I am working on the in-person and virtual training schedule for fall and winter. Meanwhile, I am available for virtual Shamanic Reiki sessions to help you navigate the personal and environmental changes you are encountering. A session is easy to book right on the energy session page.