March/April 2003 Cosmic
Awakening the Shaman Within

by Linda Star Wolf

When I first went to visit Gram Twylah at her home on the reservation she sent me out into the woods across the field by the creek to have me look for a special rock person. She told me that there would be a stone person waiting to give me a most important message and it was up to me to find it among the millions of rocks there. Whenever I pressed her to give me more direction she simply told me to just sniff the air with my wolf nose and follow my intuition.

She said this was an innate ability in all of us and that while at first we may need a teacher to point the way, ultimately we must reconnect to our own inner shamanic awareness. Over time, as I remembered to follow her lead, an inner awareness indeed developed inside of me that gave me the guidance needed on my path. This was not something new, but a natural part of myself that I had left behind in my childhood. It felt so good to reconnect with the inner magic of my true being and in time to share it with others.

Today I refer to this magic as the Shaman Within. Many people have called it many names but the Shaman is one who has learned how to listen to their inner healer and guides and found a path to wholeness that they are compelled to share with "all their relations."

In times of old there were authentic healers often referred to as Shamans, and in a few remote villages they still exist today. The Shaman was a vibrant and active member of the community who knew about healing first hand, for often times he/she had undergone a life threatening disease, illness or strange malady and found the path back to wholeness.

Today many people are seeking out indigenous teachers and healers known as shamans in an attempt to reclaim something that has been lost in our modern ways of healing. While I too have joined the ranks of thousands of seekers and have been involved with several shamanic teachers, I am no longer looking for a teacher outside of myself to heal me. With great respect and honor I acknowledge all the teachers I have encountered along the way and know that I still have much to learn. No doubt I will continue discover new teachers that have some sage wisdom or advice to impart to me, but the once held belief that the power lies inside someone or something outside of myself is one that I let go of, rather reluctantly several years ago.

While one must be careful about spiritual arrogance and feeling like they have arrived, there is also a balance to that kind of thinking. Anyone who has ever tackled a serious problem or challenge of any kind knows that magical thinking is not the solution. An honest appraisal and sound action is often the best answer, but how does one know what the next right step is or even where to begin? The ego mind, which is designed to help us get our needs met, often gets in the way when we need to operate outside of the box to find better answers than the ones we previously have come up with.

I believe that each of us possesses a "Shaman Within" who can lead us to the solutions and answers we seek. This wise one is always present and loves us deeply and will never lead us astray. The Shaman Within is a part of our soul that has retained all of the cellular wisdom of our ancestors and passed it on to each of us through our DNA. Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, Seneca Wolf Clan Grandmother once said to me, "We are all native to mother earth." She was encouraging me to step into my own roots as she put it and to embrace my own spiritual path of beauty and power. Every "real" teacher I have known has encouraged me, as well as others after a while, to follow my own heart path and to teach others to do the same.

This kind of wisdom, passed on to me from my teachers and guides both on this plane of reality and the invisible ones, has been invaluable and led me to a deep and intimate relationship with my own inner wisdom keeper or shaman. My journey over time, not only as a seeker of truth but as a teacher, counselor and minister, created a deep desire to find safe and more effective ways to make contact with the inner healer.

After many years practicing as a certified counselor and addictions professional and simultaneously receiving training in many complementary therapies, breathwork and other types of "shamanic work", I have brought all of these modalities into a unified system of healing I call the Shamanic Breath Work Process ™.

The process starts when one begins to hear the call to step onto the path of self-discovery and healing. This may come from a sudden realization or inner vision or from some sort of illness, or emotional upset and stress. It may come from the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship or a deep yearning to connect more powerfully to spirit. Whatever the reason to consciously begin the journey, once the call has been heard, it is difficult if not darned near impossible to ignore.

The Shamanic Breathwork Process ™ teaches one how to enter into a very sacred, powerful ritual space, and with the assistance of the breath, a chakra choreographed musical journey, focused bodywork, artwork, and group sharing, many blocks are released that stand in the way of a person being who they truly are.

The breath has a sacred role in most spiritual traditions and there are many references to it in spiritual literature and texts. It seems we have overlooked the obvious … the creator gave us the key to our own healing and it is right under our own noses. By utilizing the breath to create a natural altered state we are able to contact this powerful "Shaman Within" and awaken our human selves to its wonderful healing potential.

To learn more about the Shaman Within, the Shamanic Breathwork Process ™, or where Linda Star Wolf and a team of Shamanic Breathwork facilitators are leading healing/training retreats in the USA and abroad contact us at venus@shamanicbreathwork.com, visit our web site at www.shamanicbreathwork.com
Venus Rising (of AIWP) Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts or call 415-435-7550.