Shamanic Journeys have an ancient history of being used for many purposes in tribal and indigenous cultures. Shamanism is part of an indigenous/tribal world-view that is highly integrated across all parts of life. Tribal peoples believe there are spiritual reasons behind any form of imbalance, whether that is addiction, illness or bad luck. When they have an imbalance, they visit a Shaman (male or female), who is skilled in many spiritual technologies such as energy healing, talking with spirits, and taking spiritual (ie, Shamanic) journeys on behalf of the patient.
The Shamanic journey is a guided narrative (similar to guided meditation but more like a story) where participants:
- Regain balance
- Learn new skills faster
- Believe in themselves
- Connect to greater resources
The reason journeys are effective at creating change in the participant’s life is because the narrative format and meditative state of consciousness appeal to the unconscious, allowing old patterns to be re-written. Participants can have visceral and empowering experiences that couldn’t happen in “waking” life, which build skills for improved attitudes and approaches to life’s challenges.
The journey format is flexible and can be adapted to achieve many forms of personal development. Participants increase their empowerment by invoking helpers and guides, then encountering and overcoming a great fear. After meeting their guides and allies, participants will never feel alone again. Participants can meet, heal and re-integrate important parts of themselves that were lost due to trauma, such as the pure soul underneath the impure self that was abused. Through the journey experience, the participants can heighten awareness of choice point moments and gain skills for responding instead of reacting.
Shamanic Journeys can support and accelerate results from traditional counseling. Role-playing in counseling is critical for skill-building; in a journey, participants can viscerally experience achieving goals with the new skills, which increases the belief of success and improves outcomes in real life.
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