Self Reflection:
The New Practitioner's Surprising Discovery...
The following is a very short exchange I had with a practitioner who suprisingly, stumble on one of the initial discoveries of practitioners, that their inital journey in shamanic experience is inevitably one of self reflection. Those who are relatively new to learning shamanism, have expressed with near universality as they begin heading into the practitioner world, that the first order of business is about him or herself.
This is not to say that shamanic practice is evenly remotely psychotherapeutic in the broader contemporary use of the term. However, it is extraordinarily therapeutic. Practitioners consistently report throughout their spiritual practice how much they are learning, discovering, exploring and realizing about themselves and their world. I never recommend shamanic practice to someone who truly needs contemporary psychotherapy: the work is just too opening, too confronting and too much for someone with a more delicate and vulnerable psyche to handle easily. However, there is no way around the fact that the grounding, orienting, insightful and self-realizing dimensions of shamanic practice are astounding.
Self reflection. This is something that really makes all the sense in the world, because in order to become a capable practitioner, one must first face and clear up that which stands in one's own way.
Student Practitioner: "I have experienced an array of thoughts and feelings since I started calling on the spirits for their help in guiding me on my journey of becoming a shamanic practitioner. What I initially expected to feel was excitement and anticipation for starting on this new path in my life.
While I do feel all these emotions of joy, it has not been my primary thought or feeling. Instead, what I find interesting is that I have become very reflective on myself. I have been looking inward, seeing improvements that I need to make on a personal level. It has been a very humbling experience for me.
As for my spirit helpers, I feel a sense of pride coming from them (probably because it took me long enough to listen and actively start working on becoming a shamanic practitioner! ) But, I also feel a sense of sternness and seriousness from them. I know they are closely watching me and I know this will be a challenging adventure."
My Reply: This is so true! It is what seems to impact so many new practitioners quite strongly, a kind of surprising turn to self-reappraisal. This is a good thing, and precisely what one should be expected to discover at this time.
Different people respond to this initial turn towards self reflection in widely different ways. Some take sudden solo trips into the wilderness; others to meandering more slowly on their way home from work. People start looking at such commonplace things as birds differently, or start thinking about such things as what is important to them and how it all fits together.
As one steps into shamanic practice, there is really a sense of being asked to ‘step up to the plate’, and the distance (if there is one) between the who we are being in the world, and the who we are inside as our true self, becomes strikingly apparent. Our true self is brought into much more detailed and sharper contrast against how we have been living. Surprising, perhaps yes, but this is a good thing, as it points us into little shifts towards wholeness and empowerment that will gradually build into big ones.
Moreover, now that you can sense you are being observed by the spirit world, overlook it and let yourself do all of this work strictly for yourself. Yes, the spirits want you to be powerful and whole, but as someone who will eventually be teaming with them, they want you powerfully on your own feet and stepping into your true self from your own reflection and decision. Certainly, this is the kind of preparation that those compassionate spirits that will work with you will respond to, yet that is almost secondary.
Just find your goals and keep extending yourself towards them. Goals such as humility, compassion, integrity, awareness, connection, balance…