Secrets of Shamanism

150 SECRETS OF SHAMANISM

helped by the balancing qualities of the sea. Thus, if you can

include the qualities of change found in nature in your own

process, they will indeed help you with your change.

Here is an exercise for change that includes many of the

techniques we have taught. It is a combination of spirit body

visioning, sensing the elements, enlisting support of your

allies, and the shamanic journey. We encourage you here to

formulate your own sequence of shamanic techniques or

modify this one to fit your process. The more complex the

issue you are dealing with, the more complex your exercise

may turn out to be. Use your imagination and the informa-

tion given to you by the spirit world to take action.

Exercise #4: Change
Identify the change you wish to make and state it as spe-
cifically as you can. Ask yourself, is this really what I want?
Is this change for me or for someone else? Am I willing to do
what it takes to make this change? Get a commitment from
yourself in whatever symbolic way you wish to. Some people
write this down, some imagine it.
Envision your own spirit self and begin a conversation
with it. Ask every part for thier agreement and commitment
to this change. Be sure to listen if there are doubts or if there
is resistance. Your spirit body may have a different agenda
with your well-being in mind. Be sure to find out what it is. If
your spirit self is not in agreement with the change you wish
for yourself, find out why. Perhaps you need to reformulate
your goal. If you have agreement, move on to the next step.
Do the same step but with your physical body, part by
part. If you come across resistance here, it is probably based
on fear of letting something very familiar go in exchange for
something unknown. Spend some time communicating with
each part, reassure it, and ask your physical body what you
can do to help it feel safe and balanced during the process.
This is an important step and should never be glossed over.
People tend not to change when they feel too uncomfortable,
so making the physical body as comfortable as possible is
necessary.
Once you have commitment and agreement from your
physical and spirit selves, ask for help from a power animal
or an ally or even perhaps a natural element during your
process.
Think of a natural element or phenomena that symbolizes
change for you. Get to know the qualities of this element and
how it feels through the sensing exercise we taught you at the
beginning of the book.