Shamanism

I spent the weekend doing a training with the Jaguar Path. Its a program which blends yoga and shamanism and I think its such a perfect blend of what I want to do. What always astounds me about these weekend long retreats is how powerful they are. The power comes from being with a group of people that validate and are representations of these amazing ways of looking at humanity and life through energies and positivity and peace. Its hard to specify the exact qualities in a "spiritual" community. Call it hippie, call it new age, call it yogis, shamans, etc. its the same group of people that are waking up to these truths. Even a lot of religious people may be grasping onto the fundamentals beliefs which span across almost any spiritual belief system, just with different names and prophets. But beyond the community which is just warm and non judgemental and overall feels safe, is the healing itself. I find that mental health is a treatment is a symptom reducer is a fix, but its not necessarily meant to be, a true cure. The difference in the body language and emotional state before and after a healing like the chakra illumination was remarkable. Undeniable, intangible but clearly evident. Changes in the voice in the aspect the affect the attributes of the person were remarkable. The combination of these two elements, the comaraderie and the healing, the togetherness, the exchange from being the healer to the recipient of healing, the entire process is just astounding in how curative it is. I went into the weekend rather angry and stressed, feeling resentful and a bit out of control. After the cleansing and the communicating and the connecting and overall the validation and reminder of these truths and information which make so much inherent sense to me, I feel relaxed, excited, invigorated, inspired. That is the kind of healing which I want to bring all over the world. Namaste, Thank you.

"You want to be a writer? Great! Call yourself a writer when people ask you what you do. Put it as your occupation on Facebook. There. Now you're a writer." 

So I've been settling into my parents house, unpacking and redecorating my childhood bedroom. I've had a lot to reflect on since the past year taught me many life lessons. I had some of the hardest as well as the greatest months. Some ideas which come to mind are:

I'm really glad I moved out there. I'm glad my parents let me make that leap of faith. Moving from Connecticut to Oregon to be with a guy who had already broken my heart once and would be away for months at a time with his military job, and not even be living in the same place when he was around, now seems like a ludicrous concept. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I am surely not the same person who made that decision just 12 months ago. It is important however that I did it. That I fell on my face, got betrayed and became depressed. Why, you might ask? Because now I know that I can follow my heart on a decision, have everything go wrong, and still pick myself up, get out of the situation and end up ok. That is a huge strength that has developed inside me to know that I can try, and fail, and pick up the pieces and try to figure out the next puzzle. 

I have all of these eloquent profound ideas which I emphatically discuss with friends and sometimes strangers, yet the process of manifesting them on paper still proves to elude me.