Calling ourselves home.

Almost every human walking the earth has experienced trauma. Trauma can be defined as an experience that is difficult or impossible to process or integrate. In shamanic tradition when we experience this type of trauma we incur soul loss. It’s as if tiny little pieces of our soul splinter off and travel to other worlds.

When one goes to reclaim soul fragments for another, we call the process soul retrieval. Many times, when I look for a person’s soul fragment, I find it in utero if Mom was depressed or afflicted, or with a loved one who has passed over, sometimes even occasionally in a past life. Sometimes I see the actual event that caused the soul loss and sometimes I see a metaphor of the event. Most of the time from 7 to 14 soul fragments are found.

Symptoms of soul loss are feeling disconnected from self or life. People will use words and phrases like: “I don’t feel like I’m all here” or “I was beside myself”, or “part of me is missing”. The eyes will have a vague faraway look. Anyone suffering from any type of addiction has soul loss. Soul loss makes us vulnerable. It can affect the immune system, emotional stability, physical health, and decision making.

A few years ago, I was asked to work with a man who was a police officer, and a sniper in the military. His PTSD was so severe that he could not get out of bed most days. He described it as feeling a buzzing in his head that was incapacitating. I started to work with him carefully, gently, using Reiki and Shamanic pattern release, and doing some extraction work, slowly making our way to doing soul retrieval. Many parts of him came back each time and afterwards he was able to get out of bed and participate in life with his family for a longer amount of time. After three soul retrievals he was able to take on a part-time job. Eventually he made a full recovery and was able to resume a full-time job.

Another story that was quite remarkable was a young woman randomly started to speak in a different voice and was quite agitated and seemed to be having a mental break. I was called to observe her by a relative because the relative suspected possession. This behavior went on for several days until she was committed to a mental health facility due to self-harm. I offered to work with her from a distance, but she refused all help initially. Over a few days she agreed to allow me to work with her. I chose to work with her from a distance because I felt I could be more effective. With the support of her relative and friends who do this work I did a de-possession, extraction, which is removing intrusive, unwanted energies, and then immediately a soul retrieval, to fill her back up so nothing could enter her again. The next day she was released from the hospital and back to normal. In Brazil the Shaman’s are invited into the mental hospitals, and after working with the patients many of them are released. In our culture this way of thinking is slowly becoming more accepted and recognized. Half of the work I do is reuniting people with their soul fragments.

Most people can have two or more SR throughout their life, depending on the amount of trauma they’ve endured. It takes up to 6 months to fully integrate the soul fragments back.

I've been doing this work for nearly 20 years and specialize in SR. It’s empowering and most people report feeling like there’s more of them present to make a decision and they feel more integrated and connected, fuller of themselves.

If you have experienced trauma or miss qualities that you remember having as a child or have been diagnosed with PTSD and conventional therapies aren’t working, you may want to have a conversation with me about Soul Retrieval.

Showing up for the sacred.

Many times my students will ask me, how do we bring the sacred into every day life?

First of all, you need to define what sacred means to you. I’m not talking about a Webster’s dictionary definition, but what does it mean in your gut and in your heart? For me it means anything that I can feel in my heart. Why make something simple complex? Starting in the morning, even before you get out of bed, simply place a hand on your heart and one on your belly, sending love and appreciation for your dreams, for life, for your beautiful body. 

Notice where the sun rises where you live. Greet the sun with delight, gratitude, prayer. We might think that the sun doesn’t notice or care but, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The elements are longing for connection and recognition. How do you feel when a coworker notices that you are shiny that day or extra efficient with your work? You shine more of course, and usually, you’re more efficient. The elements are no different than us. Their bodies may look different, but there is no difference. We humans have walked very far away from remembering that we are all connected. For healing to occur globally, it’s my belief that we must remember and recognize this connection, not only to other humans, but to the elements, the natural world, and mother earth. Continuing.......when we eat, we can keep a small bowl or plate on the table, leaving a bit of each dish for the ancestors. There is a beautiful Mayan tradition that when we do this, we blow on the food and say “I remember you as you remember me”.

No matter how busy one gets, it is essential to make time to be out in the natural world. The wind brings us messages and clears away negative thoughts. The Earth provides us, as our feet touch her skin, with vital life force energy, and the charge that keeps us in balance and robustly healthy. The Birdsong awakens our hearts, and the ancestors speak through them. The trees ground us and feed our hearts. We’ve all seen the studies where hospital patients who can see trees from their windows heal faster. The sound of the water releases stress and shifts brain waves. When we show up to the land in a way that isn’t rushed, that is with respect, we feed that, which feeds us, reciprocity occurs. Out of anything, this is the most important way to feed the sacred. We must slow down, and make it a priority because our lives depend on it. 

As the sun sets, we can bid it good night, with our gratitude for lighting our day and our world. As the moon rises we can give the grandmother a song. There are so many other ways many people feel the sacred. With music, dance, yoga or running, hiking to a stunning view. Bringing flowers into the house. Hugging, holding hands. Through creating art. Keeping our living space clear, using essential oils, plants, salt water. Listening and holding space for a friend. Sharing vulnerability. Speaking from the heart, using words as medicine. 

When we recognize the sacred in what we do, we feed it and it becomes more present in our lives.