Secrets of Shamanism

(^46) SECRETS OF SHAMANISM
a change that often remains long after the emotion has died
away. And the thoughts and feelings of others need not ever
be physically expressed to affect your energy field. Often,
the negative reactions in the spirit self will later manifest
physically in some way.
For example, you meet with a polite but touchy client for
an hour. You end the meeting and immediately go on to
meet a friend for lunch. By the time you are back at work
you have a terrific headache. You may attribute it to some-
thing you ate or mistakenly wonder if it had something to do
with your lunch date. If you were attuned to your own en-
ergy field, you would have noticed changes in its frequency
occurring during the meeting with your client. You would
have seen that your spirit self was responding to your client's
anger and her feeling that you were not listening to her. Your
energy field was recording stress and tension that your con-
scious personality was not aware of while anticipating lunch.
By checking your spirit body after appointments and
meetings you can make subtle adjustments. Remember that
your spirit body responds directly to thoughts and feelings.
Here is a series of exercises designed to acquaint you with
your own spirit self so that you can begin to be sensitive to it
and make adjustments as needed. They are designed prag-
matically, to be done anywhere, at any time, and without
employing any tools other than your shamanic vision (imagi-
nation). Remember: to a shaman, imagination is a vehicle
that sends thoughts and feelings to make real changes in the
physical world.
As a reminder, since you cannot read and do the exercises
at the same time, we suggest that you read each exercise
through first. Then do it as best you can from memory. This
should not be difficult because the exercises are all quite sim-
ple.
If you have a partner or are working with a group you can
take turns leading one another through each exercise.
Exercise #1: reeling Your Spirit Self
Relax and close your eyes. (With practice you can keep
them open and use your shamanic vision at the same time.)
Discover the outside edges of your physical body; start
with your toes and feet and move on up your body. This
should be done somewhat quickly so that, within a few mo-
ments you can become aware of your whole body at the same
time.
Slowly begin to expand that feeling, as if your skin were