Listening To Our Stories

We all have a story. It is the tale of who we are, how we came to be, where we hope to go. It holds the potential to make us uniquely whole. It sometimes defines us, often confines us, can inspire, challenge or disappoint.

Knowing that everyone does have their unique story the shaman listens with ears of understanding, looks for the messages between the lines of the story, and weaves the frayed strands together to bring alignment and healing. We learn from our stories and we learn from the stories of others as well.

Our stories provide us with tremendous lessons from which to grow. It is up to us to be open to these lessons. We learn our patterns and our blockages. We learn what is ready to be released or embraced. We learn how we have healed and how we have not.

No two people, no matter how similar they are, share the same story. So to offer unsolicited advice is often pointless. But when we are asked to witness and listen to someone's story we can create an opportunity for the engagement of the energies. We can hold with compassion, we can provide encouragement and we can celebrate successes.

The shaman is often called the Master Storyteller. She will listen to the story and read between the lines, she will find the soul loss, she will help to retrieve what has retreated and heal what is broken. She will bring the story to a place of wholeness and restore the beauty and wonder that is defined by that soul. It is within the wispy layers of the story that she finds the energies of graceful expansion.

Knowing this about our stories, we are gifted the opportunity to change the way in which we listen. Instead of engaging without being asked, we can instead witness with honor and respect. We can listen and be open to the possible lessons that are meant for us. And if we are given the role to do more than witness, we hold the potential to be in service to the soul of the story. We are given an opportunity to answer to the call of duty to be healer, teacher, or more. The greatness of the story awaits.

Blessings, Lisa

The Soul Will Guide

I recently was guided by my soul to explore a new tool to use in my shamanic practice. I was working with a client who was suffering emotionally and unable to let go of the pain. The fear of what was behind the pain was a place she could not visit in her state of agitation and suffering. I knew her soul was seeking healing. I knew it was ready to become whole once again.

My service to her was to try and find a way to bring her soul to this new state of being, to help in the healing of the wound, and to find peace. I opened myself up to my soul's wisdom, trusting that it would guide me. I found a comfortable flowing energy waiting for me to move in.

I picked up my drum; my long trusted friend that had often helped me in my healing, my grounding and my releasing.  I drummed matching her breathing which gradually began to be more controlled and slower, and so the drum beat responded in kind. Then within my being I felt her energy, I felt it filling the room, I felt it flowing and rising, ebbing and flowing.

Song rose from within me, tones and notes building with each drumbeat and vibrations wove their way through. Swaying in the flow of the energy this soul song rose from my being and filled the room. Gentle tones of healing were released. Heartfelt notes of peace where shared. The room expanded with the energy of the soul's healing.

My client relaxed, tears flowed, peace filled her being, her soul opened up to the healing and became whole once again. The beauty of the moment was larger than the both of us. The energy that was created was timeless. From here her healing would continue, from here her soul could be alive and vibrant, and from here the pain and fear was released.

I still have much to learn of this new tool. I trust my soul will guide me. I am open to its medicine. I am excited to see its power. I am honored to be introduced to it. Little did I know that moment that I picked up my drum what was waiting to become. When we learn to trust our soul, when we allow it to guide us and we are open to the energy of what it brings...magic happens, grace appears and the energies flow.

Blessings, Lisa

Silence Seeks the Gold

One of the deepest skills I have worked on in the past years is that of silent listening. Creating sacred peaceful space for one to share in. Whether it be a story of pain or celebration, questions asked in anxious energy or demands made in frustration, or whispers spoken out loud of possible dreams or deep rooted fears, the blank space of silence is needed and appreciated.

My shamanic mentor, Robin Rice, taught me to add to this silence the meta skill of having no opinion. If you are listening to someone and find your self thinking of your answer, judging against your life experience, problem solving or offering sympathetic words of advice you are not only failing to bring your fullest attention to the one sharing with you, you are muddying the energies instead of keeping the vibrations clean and open to the easy and gentle flow. You can prevent the person sharing the opportunity to find their own clarity. You may be leaning against the very door that important lessons and messages are trying to come through.

As you listen with open ears, you listen with an open heart as well. You can be fully present, be of love, see beauty in the darkness, witness hope where there was thought to be none and so much more. As a shaman I have learned this is my most valuable skill I can bring to my soul mentoring. Serving as witness to someone is a sacred honor. Often it is the exact medicine that they need most.

The don't need rushing waves to come in and cleanse them. They don't need someone verifying they have been in the perfect storm. They don't need someone to help them bail the water out of their ship. They need someone to listen; deeply, fully and openly so that both the listener and the speaker create an energetic still canvas. Within this sacred canvas possibilities surface, wisdom shines, healing is accessed and life unfolds. The uncomplicated-ness of it holds tremendous beauty. Its blankness beckons new creativity, opportunities and choices.

Keeping perceptions and opinions out of the communication is vital for the potential treasure trove of gold to be found. In the silence one finds their answers, their insights, and their truth. In the energetic exchange of the speaker and the listener the soul's story is shared and witnessed. The guides visit, the angels bless, Spirit heals and the soul breathes it all in. The alchemy is pure magic. It has stood the test of time; our ancestors listened with very different ears than most of us do today. The silence seeks the gold and allows it to shine as brightly as it needs to.

Blessings, Lisa