June 01, 2017
Beyond Talk Therapy
A psychological counselor can be an invaluable ally when we are sorting through our emotions and looking for ways to better cope with our wounds. It is comforting to have a neutral, anonymous person to talk to, and someone who can help us root through our stuff to get a better handle on it. Why then, would you see a shamanic healer? The short answer is, you still feel wounded. Counselors work mind to mind, using their minds to interact with yours. If the root of your problem is imprinted on your soul, talking about it has limited effect.
Shamans believe soul sickness is the origin of all mental and physical illness. They operate from the principle that your body and mind are connected to, and informed by, a third body of consciousness. It is a membrane of light that surrounds your physical body, perceiving the world independently of it. People who have technically died, but who have been brought back to life, report still being very aware of their surroundings, despite their complete loss of neural activity. They also report seeing the whole event from a position outside their body.
This is the perspective of the soul, or lightbody. Not only is it aware, but it stores memories as imprints, especially traumatic and abusive events that we did not yet have the tools to process. These imprints become triggers that can endure through lifetimes. When the field is imprinted, the energy of the unresolved emotions become crystalized and suspended in time, keeping part of us forever locked in the past. This attracts similar events, creating a pattern of wounding throughout our lives. Simply knowing, however, does not make them disappear. Talking with a counselor helps us devise healthy ways to sidestep the landmines, but working at the level of the mind does not remove them.
In addition to locking our minds in wounding, this unresolved energy is also stored in our bodies, causing stress and eventually illness. Many chronic and psychosomatic illnesses can be traced to imprints on the lightbody. When they are removed, the mind, and the body, can finally release the event. We must actually leave the thinking mind behind, however, to heal the soul. It’s efforts to protect us can actually keep us from healing. From the shamanic perspective, we enter a transcendent domain outside of time, outside our minds, and journey to the source of our wounding to heal. From here we can finally release the energy we have stored in our bodies and emotions, while the shamanic healer untangles the imprints, and other energetic obstructions, from our field. It does not mean we relive the trauma, it means we release the energy around it.
Most imprints are not seen clearly by their owners. Often to move on, we deny that the wounded part of ourselves is still hurting, putting it in shadow. If we were truly done, however, we would not continue to be triggered and have these same recurring themes in our lives. Part of the shaman’s training is to journey past the survival tactics we have put in place, into the dark places where it is hidden. Whether it is conscious to you or not, from this lifetime or another, the shamanic healer’s job is to help that part of yourself finally heal.
The shamanic healing journey is a process, it goes beyond the strategies of your mind and addresses the wounds of your soul. It is a path of awakening. When we finally release these imprints from our fields, and all the energy they store in our bodies and psyches, we are free to step out of the past and consciously change the course of our lives. Here we find our authentic self, ready to express the passions of our soul instead.
Christina Allen’s work as an Intuitive, Healer, Teacher and Founder and Director of the Austin Shamanic Center, combines a strong science background (BA Physics, MS Neuroscience) with decades of applied ancient spiritual wisdom (Master Yogi, Reiki Master, and profound Shamanic Healing based on Q’ero Indian traditions of Peru). Learn more about making private appointments, and upcoming classes, at www.AustinShamanicCenter.com or (512) 391-9829.
© Austin All Natural, June 2017.