Soul Retrieval: Spiritual Healing for Trauma

Healing, Healing Touch, Shamanic healing, Shamanic Journey, Shamanism, Spiritual Healing

Most of us who live here on planet Earth will experience a trauma during our lifetime. It may be the death of a loved one, an accident or illness, an act of violence, abuse, or other distressing situation.

During a traumatic experience, part of your spirit or soul may split off and drop out of your life. In the shamanic worldview, this splitting off creates a condition called soul loss. Those who suffer from soul loss may feel that part of them died or was cut off from the flow of life when the trauma occurred. If this happened to you, you may feel out of body, empty, without vitality, or disconnected from full participation in life.

Soul retrieval is the shamanic remedy for the spiritual aspects of trauma and soul loss. The human spirit can be deeply affected by loss and harm, hardship, sudden illness, violence, injury, and abuse. Trauma can cast a dark cloud over a person’s life and keep them from living fully. Soul retrieval does not erase trauma, but helps a person regain their wholeness and return to the center of their own life.

This shamanic healing work can complement psychotherapy and western medicine for those who have experienced trauma. Western medicine concentrates on the physical body. Mental health therapy deals with the emotions and mind while shamanic healing focuses on the dimension of the spirit.

While focusing on the spiritual aspects of trauma, all levels of your being – body, mind and emotions – can be positively affected as your spirit heals and becomes whole again. Other areas of your life may come into balance as well because there is no separation between these four aspects of your existence.

For over a decade, my spirit helpers have been working in partnership with me doing soul retrievals for people of all ages. During a shamanic journey, my spiritual guidance shows me the “soul part” – the lost inner child or distressed adult- that split off and left their body behind after a trauma. They are shown to me at the approximate age they were when the soul loss occurred. I’m shown the state of their emotions through symbolic images, impressions and feelings. The information coming through from my spirit guides and helpers does not reflect the actual experience of the person, but symbolizes their spiritual and emotional truth at the time of the soul loss.

The journey unfolds with my guides showing me a symbolic narrative. These stories always include the state of the soul part’s emotions at the time they split off, a recovery of the soul part, a healing and clearing for the soul part, a retrieval for any power that was lost or stolen during the trauma, and, finally a return.

The return brings the healing into the physical world through a brief shamanic ceremony in which the energy of the soul part is returned to the person who lost it. Many times people who’ve had soul retrievals report feeling the familiar energy of their soul part return to them during this ceremony.

The basic structure of each soul retrieval journey is the same, but my helpers tailor the healing, narrative, messages, and images to each individual’s unique experience and needs.

Integration

On occasion, a soul part may be hesitant to return to full life again and rejoin their present day self . They may need reassurance that their life will be different now than it was at the time of the trauma, that they are safe, and will be taken care of, loved, seen and heard. This helps integrate them into your life once again.If you were a child when the soul loss occurred and are now an adult, explain that. Talk that through. Let them know they are safe now, that you are in charge of your life, that you will protect them. Explain where you live, if you have your own children and partner, the work you do… anything that occurs to you.

To continue the integration after a soul retrieval, there are several questions to ask your returned soul part that will help you create an ongoing dialog with them.

Why did you leave?

Why do you come back now?

What gifts do you bring back with you?

Soul parts always return with several gifts of the spirit such as a strong true voice, an open heart, a peaceful mind, a sense of playfulness, etc.

What can I do to sustain this healing?

For a child soul part this might include such things as playing outside, walking barefoot, hugging a tree, swinging, laying on the grass, spending time in a place of safety…. pay attention to what they are telling you and do the best you can to give them what they need and want.

To communicate with your soul part/inner child, tune into your heart, ask, and listen for the answers. You might hear the answers telepathically, see images, or feel a knowing in your body. If you have trouble connecting you might work one on one with a friend, healer or therapist to do this dialog together. You can write down the answers or draw pictures, speak them into a recorder- whatever works for you.

Shamanic healing is not a cure for trauma, anxiety, illness or injury, but can help bring balance, wholeness, and life changing insights into your life. Shamanic healing is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health care.

photo credits: Hand with hawk feather – jenelle – K2SXdKPEhcg – unsplash unsplash.com White feather – evie-s-white feather – unsplash unsplash.com

7 Benefits of Energy Healing

Energy Healing, Healing, Healing Touch, Spiritual Healing

Scientists studying the nature of reality know that everything is composed of energy including our bodies and environment. Every human being has an aura which is an energy field surrounding us, similar to the atmosphere surrounding the Earth. Energy healers can sense the subtle energy, the auras and chakras of other people, through touch, sight, or other senses.

At a subtle level, our aura, chakras, meridians, and other energy systems support our physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health. If our energy is not flowing freely or is out of balance, we will eventually feel it in our bodies and we may become ill in time.

Here are 7 of the many benefits of energy healing.

Calming for stress and anxiety –

Energy healing is wonderful for natural stress relief, for calming the nervous system and helping your body and mind relax without the use of drugs. It is not a cure, but helps ease anxiety and quiet distracting mental chatter, gently re-patterning your energy system into healthier habits.

For stress relief, I clear stale energy from your aura, open and balance your chakras using gentle touch, allowing your energy to flow more freely. Special attention is given to those areas of the body where you hold the most tension allowing for relaxation and release of the stresses you’ve been holding onto.

Relief for fatigue and energetic depletion.

Energy healing is chakra healing. Your chakras may be compromised – not spinning properly- therefore not able to pull in the energy your body mind and spirit need to feel fully alive, energetic and healthy. Opening and balancing your chakras can bring new energy and vitality to your life and areas of the body affected by blocked chakras.

Energy healing is also aura healing – The electromagnetic energy in a healer’s hands along with a strong intention for healing can help clear the aura of stagnant energy, allowing fresh energy to flow and respond more freely to the ever changing conditions of your life.

Holistic care (mind body spirit, emotions) for high stress transitions or major changes in your life – a move, divorce, new job, new baby, or the loss of a loved one.

Energy healing techniques, such as mind clearing, chakra spread, chakra connection, heart chakra healing, and many others can help during times of high stress by calming anxiety and feelings of uncertainty and fear.

These techniques promote relaxation, release of energetic “clutter” and emotional pain. Energy healing can help you feel more energized and clear during uncertain times.

Heart chakra healing and energy clearing for times of grief, times you feel broken-hearted or overwhelmed.

This does not make grief or strong emotions magically go away, but helps you experience grief and strong emotions with less depletion in mind body, spirit and emotions. Energy techniques can help you feel more present in your body and help you navigate this difficult time with greater calm clarity and grace. During these sessions, I hold sacred space for you to be and feel what you need to feel.

Support for trauma care and emotional release.

When you are healing from trauma, an energy healer can be part of your support system – along with your medical doctor and counselor, therapist, massage professional, etc. An energy healer will gently re-pattern and clear your energy so it remembers how to flow freely, how to be balanced and open.

My energy healing practices allow for the safe release of emotions and stagnant energy relating to the trauma in my peaceful supportive and sacred space. This work helps you gently release the tangled energies of the past over time, and move on with your life.

Subtle energy assessment, healing, and clearing for times you are not feeling well and your doctor can’t find anything wrong.

This happened to me – I had a chronic sore throat and fatigue one summer. My doctor did many tests over weeks and couldn’t find a reason for my condition.

An energy healer was able to help me get back on track by opening and balancing my chakras, especially around the throat chakra, and clearing blocked energy in my aura. I was sensitive enough to feel the imbalances in my system while it was still in my subtle energy field. This was before the condition progressed to the point where the medical testing would have discovered something measurably and physically wrong.

If no-one believes your story, if you are not taken seriously, if you know something is wrong but the medical professionals can’t figure it out, consider energy healing as a complement to your doctor’s care.

Complement cancer care with aura clearing and chakra balancing.

Using energy healing techniques, I help clear and balance the aura and chakras of cancer patients after chemo treatments and surgery (which can be very hard on your subtle energy systems). Energetic pain relief techniques can provide an easing of pain without extra drugs.

Energy healing can keep your energy flowing after and between treatments, supporting emotional release, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Finally, with deep listening, I hold sacred space for you as you work through your healing journey.

These are some of the many ways energy healing can benefit you and your loved ones and enhance your well being. My clients have found this work to be effective, helpful and life affirming.

7 Reasons to Consider Shamanic Healing

Healing, Healing Touch, Shamanic healing, Shamanic Journey, Shamanism, Spiritual Healing, Spiritual Wisdom

Shamanic healing is a powerful ancient method of receiving information and healing energy from spirit for the highest good of yourself, another person, or your community. This information may come through symbolic stories, images, and messages that can reveal new perspectives on your life and situation.

Practitioners channel energy and information from spirit helpers that is unique to each individual. Shamanic healing works with the spirits in all things to restore balance, harmony, and wholeness to your life.

Shamanic healing can complement your work with therapists and other health care professionals. It works with the spiritual aspects of illness and other obstacles in life.

Have you felt empty, off balance, or lost since you experienced a trauma or injury?

Are you at a crossroads in life, unsure about your direction, unable to make a decision?

Do you have energy that does not belong to you?

1. You feel something vital is missing in your life or that part of you died when a loss or trauma occurred.

Soul retrieval provides spiritual healing for soul loss. This is a process by which the practitioner works with spirit helpers to find your lost soul essence that left during a traumatic event and bring it back so you can be whole in spirit again. In addition to soul retrieval, shamanic journeys for healing and healing with spiritual light can help shine light on the spiritual aspects of soul loss.

2. You feel powerless at times

Was your power stolen from you by a family member, partner, stranger, friend, or co-worker? Did you unknowingly give your power away to someone? Did another person misuse and abuse your trust? Power retrievals locate and restore your lost or stolen power through the guidance of spirit helpers.

3. You feel that you have energy that does not belong to you, that is holding you back or overshadowing you.

This might include thoughts, feelings, emotions, or physical sensations that are out of character for you. There may be an attachment, or disembodied spirit that has been attracted by your light depleting your energy and life force. This is a common occurrence in our culture since we no longer “tend the gates of death” and help disembodied spirits cross to the light as was the custom in ancient times.

Compassionate Depossession is a gentle process in which the misplaced spirit is contacted, their concerns are heard, healing is given, and they are taken out of the living person’s energy field and sent to the light where they belong. This creates a win-win situation for the person who is seeking relief and the disembodied confused and lost spirit who can now move on to their next adventure.

4. You are at a crossroads in life, not sure how to move forward, what choices to make.

Journeys for divination (answering questions) can bring through images, stories, symbols, words, and knowings that give you new and different perspectives on your life and the situations you face. Journeys can show you possibilities you never expected or thought of. The information contained in journeys are unique to the individual receiving them.

5. Tough problems seem to be stuck in the cells of your body, are persistent and difficult to shift. These issues may come from the lives and unresolved problems of your ancestors or from your own past lives.

Past life work or ancestral healing may be called for in these situations. We often carry the burdens of those who’ve gone before us and who have not been able to reconcile or heal their guilt, shame, anger, or fear before death. For Ancestral healing, the practitioner and spirit helpers travel into the past and look into any traumas in your ancestral lines that may have been the cause of the toxic patterns you wish to clear. For past life traumas that you may be re-experiencing in this life, spirit helpers discern what happened in the past and do clearing and healing as would be done for issues in this life.

6. You have a feeling that you or your family have been cursed in some way

Curses are thought forms, beliefs, and patterns of thinking and being that can be passed from generation to generation and affect your life adversely. Curse unraveling locates the originator of the curse, often the reason for the curse, the toxic energy of the curse and and removes it from all who’ve been affected since the curse was made. This sometimes involves many individuals over many years who’ve been affected.

7. You sense that there are wandering spirits, (aka ghosts) or “negative” energy in your home or a space that you frequent.

Space clearing is a process of discerning if there are spirits inhabiting a space, locating and communicating with them, and helping them find their way to the light where they belong, assisting them in vacating the house, building or space where their presence causes disquiet.

After the spirits are cleared, the space can be cleansed further with spiritual light, sound vibrations, a smudge ritual. Often the story of the spirit or spirits will come through. They usually have a reason to stay behind in a particular place. They are often stuck in their own emotions and fears and can’t move forward without help.

Shamanic healing is effective, drug free, life affirming, and promotes wholeness in mind body and spirit.

If you are overwhelmed, feel cut off from your body, if you are seeking spiritual guidance, shamanic healing may be a good fit for you.

Is shamanic healing right for me?

Healing Touch, Shamanic healing, Shamanic Journey, Shamanism, Spiritual Healing, Spiritual Wisdom, Spirtual Guidance

Shamanic healing can be helpful for many people. The guidance of compassionate loving spirit helpers is channeled through the healer for your benefit. Since the helpers communicate in symbols, having a feel for images, symbols, and stories can be useful (but not necessary) if you are interested in receiving a session. Shamanic healing can be a unique and profound process, so it is helpful if you are receptive to new experiences.

Consider these questions:

Are you ready for change in your life? What changes do you desire?

Are you tired of feeling stuck? Where do you feel stuck? Are you willing to do what it takes to get “unstuck”?

Have been told “It’s all in your head.”? Do others discount you and tell you to “Buck up.”, or “Get over it!”?

Are you tired of feeling anxious and stressed? Do you believe it is possible to feel better? Do you believe that you deserve to feel better?

Have you tried other forms of medicine or alternative healing, but had no luck? Shamanic healing deals with the spiritual aspects of disease and disharmony. There is no pill for that!

Do you feel that something is missing in your life?

Do you ever feel the presence of energy that doesn’t belong to you?

A “yes” to any of these questions may indicate that you would benefit from shamanic healing or other forms of spiritual healing.

I will continue this series of posts with an in depth look at several shamanic healing techniques.

Blessings,

Betty

How I got off sugar, my story

Healing

First, a little history. My maternal grandmother, born in 1904, went hungry at times as a child. When she had children of her own, she made sure there was plenty of food for my mom & her brothers. Food meant survival. Sugar meant love!

Monarch butterfly on purple coneflower

As a child, I never went hungry. In fact, there was more than enough. We had fresh garden vegetables and fruit in summer, canned or frozen in winter, farm raised meat, fresh caught fish. Most of all, I remember the sweets; soft, melt in your mouth white cake with fudge frosting, creamy home-made caramels and nutty fudge at Christmas, every variety of cookie you can think of …. the list is almost endless. I ate and ate the sweet stuff, and as a teenager, I could sit on the kitchen counter with a bucket of chocolate swirl ice cream on my lap, eating each swirl to the bottom of the bucket, and then eating what was left… the boring vanilla. Embarrassing, but true. I could eat a batch of warm cookies, I could eat a two pound bag of M&Ms at one sitting. No brag, just fact. When they were gone, I’d want more, and I’d want it now!

It was a love affair– well- more like an obsession. The only problem was that after each binge, my energy crashed. The next day I’d have to sleep for hours, then when I finally got up, I was extremely crabby, angry, even. I wanted to lash out at the first person that crossed my path. My body was bloated, and I felt awful, I had bad acne, and no energy. I didn’t like myself. It took me awhile to put two and two together and realize that it was the excess sugar causing my energy to spike and crash.

I seemed to be the only one in my family that had this problem, so I had to figure out how to deal with it on my own. After leaving home, I started reading books about nutrition and food sensitivities. I decided I had a sensitivity to sugar, but still couldn’t wean myself from it. I read that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine! I’d try to cut back, but the cravings seemed overpowering. I had to have that sugar fix to feel better and have energy again – even temporarily.

Finally, I was finally able to get off sugar because I wanted to feel better more than I wanted the sugar!

I was sick and tired of feeling bad physically and emotionally every day of my life! If I didn’t kick the habit, I would alienate all the people around me and end up with diabetes or worse, I would hate myself.

The last sugary thing I ate was a piece of birthday cake at a party over 30 years ago. It was dark chocolate with green frosting. The cake didn’t even taste good! The unpleasant feelings and low energy the next day were the same. The sugar high was no longer worth it! I went cold turkey after that party.

The first week off sugar was extremely difficult, as my cravings took over and I had to distract myself from the screaming voice in my head. “Get a Heath Bar! Just one Peppermint Patty…Eat some sugar. You can’t live without it!!!” Finally, after maybe four or five days of physical and emotional withdrawal, the cravings let up a bit. I made it through the hardest period without back-sliding.

A wonderful goody basket from a neighbor. A real treat!

It took longer to learn healthier eating habits, new ways to celebrate holidays, new ways to treat myself, new ways to deal with unpleasant feelings the obsession with sugar was keeping hidden. Time passed and my energy level evened out. I no longer experienced the spikes and crashes, the extreme anger and low energy, the unpleasant physical sensations. I felt like a new woman – healthier and happier and best of all, free from sugar! It’s been over 30 years, and I don’t think twice about sugar any more. I don’t miss it, Can’t use it, don’t want it.

It is possible to work through the cravings and emotions underlying an addiction and triumph! When you get to the point where you want to feel better more than you want your substance of choice, you are ready to do the difficult work. It will be time to face those sometimes scary emotions you have been keeping at bay with your substance. You will be ready to change your life profoundly, for the better.

I recommend getting all the support you can when leaving an addiction behind. Support people might include loving friends who are on a healthy life path, your doctor, a therapist, an acupuncturist, a dietician, an energy healer, perhaps a massage therapist or other alternative healer.