A Story of Empowerment

As CBS News corespondent Steve Hartman once said, "Everybody has a story." Each story is as unique as the individual. Some stories have mysterious twists and turns to the plot while some have tragedy, romance or wonder. They all have one thing in common. Nobody has to be defined by their story.

In the shamanic practice story is a powerful tool. The shaman, often referred to as the Master Storyteller, will work with a client to help them see that while the events and relationships that have occurred within their story are undeniable and very real, the amount of power we give to them is always within our control.

So many times this depends upon our perspective, our willingness to let go what is no longer or has never served us and to embrace any gifts or lessons that have come our way from the unfolding story and its energies. We can use these events and relationships to propel us forward, to grow and expand and learn more about ourselves, or we can use them to keep us stuck and in a victim role. Authoring our story and choosing what to emphasize, to serve as fodder to our life's journey and to what we want to call our truth is where the power lies.

When we reflect on our life story we can find the places that serve as traps for us. Think back to your past, note the memories that come up, feel the emotions that are attached to them, pay attention to the energy of your body, and note how your soul feels? Your body, mind and soul can help you to discern if your story is empowering for you or not. Anger, guilt, blame, sadness, fear and bitterness will weigh us down and our story is not serving us as an effective tool. But if we find in these reflections peace, fondness, honoring of life lessons and trust of the future then we know we have done the work to move forward in a healthy relationship with our story.

How do we step away from the negative emotions and energies of our life story? There are many answers to that question, but the first step that will lead in the right direction is learning how to create a new version of the story. We have the ability to choose how we will continue to react to what others have done to us or what they have not given us. We have the choice of whether to stay stuck festering about a life event that was not fair, tragic or life changing or not. We can look to these places for insight and lessons, learn to walk away with this and apply it to our current moment and take it along with us. All the while, we then leave behind all the negative energies, the wounded ego, the guilt or shame that does not encourage our soul's growth.

Learning to find a life story that is empowering, supportive and has possibilities give us a chance to step out of our past and be fully alive in the moment. It gives us the ability to be open to all the options and opportunities that life will offer. It affords us to embrace the energies of forgiveness. When we become engaged in the role of author of our life story, we no longer leave it up to others belief, actions or energies to dictate what our future holds. Instead we are in charge and we can bring all our creative energies and dreams to the story of today.

Blessings, Lisa

Evolving

As with many spiritual practitioners, the shaman understands that one has to put more than just intention into one's evolution. It seems for most people the desire to expand to grow, and to move forward is a natural one. Transformation is sometimes born from dreams and hopes, often from pain and struggle and our soul beckons us onward.

As a shaman I see the unfolding of the transformation. The longing and desire to respond to the soul's call, the inspiration and influence of the guides, the coming together of the energies that surround and support us all taking part in the formation of the "medicine" necessary for the next step along the path. The seeds are planted, but the nurturing needs to take place for the growth to occur.

Bringing all this together, whether through ritual, practice and ceremony, and applying it with intention the manifestation begins. Intention is of the mind. We need to do more than just think about how we want things to be different in our life. Action is directed by the energies and the guides. When we engage this action with our intention then the shifts begin to occur. These changes are not always what we anticipated. They are sometimes quite challenging, especially as we break out of our comfort zone. Often times they are questioned by those around us, as we approach our day to day relationships and tasks from a different perspective. But they are necessary.

Evolving into our most Soul Self needs the combination of the two factors; thought and action. We all know how thinking about a new cleaner way of eating does not make it happen. We need to make healthier food choices, change our cooking methods, or perhaps alter the quantities that we eat. Just thinking about it, talking about it and wanting it or intending it...does not make it happen. The evolution is not complete. So it is with our soul work.

Whatever we are seeking to change, to grow, to release or to embrace of our self on a spiritual level requires us to listen closely to the direction of our soul. That intuitive voice that challenges you, that inspiring thought that tugs at you, those dreams that you have where you see your new self doing or being what you are hoping for...all these are thought activators and change making moments for you to adopt.

Shamanism brings together the beauty of the possibilities of evolving to our soul. It supports the bridge between intention and evolution by bringing together the thoughts with the energies, the inspiration with the guides and the dreams to the reality.

Blessings, Lisa

The Magic of Imagination

The biggest tool I bring to my life's journey is my imagination. My soul celebrates with it, dances and prances with it. My imagination is the creator of many of my magical questions. It is what allows me to soar through possibilities and wonder at my options. It awakens a special creative focus within me that when I spread that through my solutions and the mystery unfolds!

When I play with my imagination I entertain new qualities I can bring to my day. Through my imagination's view I see with a new perspective. When I bring my imagination to my life's journey I can become an adventurer as I explore and uncover patterns, concepts, processes and energies of my life. I delight in my passions and uncover possibilities that often seem hidden from my realistic view of life.

When I do not take my imagination out to my day's work I find that I feel one-dimensional. I don't go nearly as deep as I can. I feel flat. Life sometimes needs this jolt of energy to keep me from getting stuck and taking things too literal.

My soul thrives in imagination. It recognizes it as potential energy to expand in, to play with, to challenge things over and to step boldly into. Living with imagination keeps me vibrantly multidimensional and awake. When I choose imagination as a means of taking on a situation or a task in my day I bring in energies that create, they help manifest, they see beauty and love, they find the miracles, and the change and shift things. My conditions are altered, I re-write my past scenarios and find potential, and my divine essence blossoms.

Imagination; one of the greatest gifts I have been given. It is vital to the fullness of my life. It is the breath that sets me sailing into the unknown with hope and wonder. It is the fire that fuels my inner light and my passions. It is the delight that forms when I recognize the wonder shimmering throughout my day.

Blessings, Lisa

Bringing Presence to Your Support

There are times in my shamanic work that I am sitting with someone who is in tremendous suffering. I, no matter how much my tender heart may want to, cannot remove their suffering. Nor should I, for there are times that it is through our suffering that we find our healing. And yet the client sits before me, seeking my services; wanting to find relief and release from their pain and loss.

And so the work becomes one of being present. I bring my presence to the relationship we are sharing together. By doing this there is an expansion of the energies between us. There is a widening of the understanding, often first on a soul level, but then with time the heart and mind follow.

Pain is a great inducer of change. We all have pain in our lives. This is not about whether it is fair or not, pain cannot be measured by that scale. This is not about how terrible or unfortunate the pain is; for each of us suffering feels bad. But this is about the fact that when we are in pain it is a natural force within our soul to move away from it into an energy of change, to find a flow that supports growth, evolution and insight.

Supporting someone in understanding that their pain can become a vehicle of transformation is sometimes the very shift they need to step out of the hurt and into the healing. We cannot rid someone of their suffering or pain, but instead we can help them find that there is some truth in the pain, sometimes there is beauty there as well. In our suffering, if we can remain present, we can often find meaning. In this meaning is the next step that takes one out of their unbearable pain. It is an encouraging force that beckons them to look beyond the pain into tomorrow or at the least, into the next moment.

I have worked with those who have faced unbelievable suffering, loss and pain. In the moment, they felt there was no way out of it. But with time, remaining present for them, when they could not, space was created so that the energies could expand and shift. With time, tenderness, compassion and presence the soul found its way out of the wound and into the healing. The story did not remain stuck in the loss and hurt. The unfolding of the vibrations of the continuum of life brought the client to a place of healing and wholeness, away from the space of pain and brokenness.

The best medicine a shaman can offer to a client is that of being fully present to all that the moment holds. It is within that precise exchange of energies that the client feels witnessed, supported and held. From there the healing can begin.

Blessings, Lisa