SHAMANIC HEALING FOR PEOPLE & PETS Release Trauma. Increase Energy. Find Direction. Private Sessions • Group Classes • Distance Healing Email Sage What is Shamanic Healing? Shamanic healing helps to balance spiritual, emotional physical and mental imbalances in pets, people and the planet. It is a way of direct connection with Spirit to facilitate change and has become a way of life for me. I was first introduced to this work after some deep trauma in my life - most specifically, a near death/out of body experience during a car accident in 2000. During that accident, I could feel something outside of my body that was a far greater force than I was, and afterwards, I became a spiritual sponge. I read books, attended workshops, talked to mentors - did whatever I could to try to make sense of what I felt inside but couldn't see. As a kid, I spent most of my time playing outside and being with animals. As a musician, I spent many years beating a drum. So, as a spiritual sponge, I found a way to combine all of those things that felt like home to me. It was Shamanism. The word shaman originated about 30-40,000 years ago from a word in Siberia that translated into "he/she who knows". Eventually it was applied to all medicine men and women of indigenous cultures who's practice included direct experience with Spirit.  So what does that mean in simple terms? Shamanism is the practice of using some core techniques for healing or to gain spiritual knowledge - a direct experience of spiritual knowledge.  This is done by allowing oneself to go into a meditative or journeying state to access expanded consciousness or non-ordinary reality - kind of like the place you go when you dream. Shamanism is not a religion, not unless you want to make it into one.  It has been and is being practiced by peoples of many religions, from Christianity, to Judaism, to Hinduism.  You will find shamanic practitioners of every faith. Me, I grew up with a Jewish father and a Lutheran mother, and we watched the Packers football team on Sunday. So, early on in my life, I learned that Spirit was felt in nature. Why work with a shamanic practitioner? Photo courtesy of FreeFoto The greatest disease on the planet is the disconnection from nature, from Spirit, from our Creator. When we are dis- connected, we may experience chronic pain, exhaustion, depression, mood swings, repeated bad luck, loss of personal power - just to name a few. When our lives just don't seem to be going as we'd like it feels almost as if they've jumped off the track a bit. When I was first catapulted down this path, I didn't even know what a shamanic practitioner was. I felt very much out of balance in my personal life, my work life, and my relationship. Nothing seemed to "flow" and yet so much was opening up at the same time. Leafing through a newspaper, I spotted an ad that read "Power Animal Retrieval, Soul Retrieval, Shamanic Practitioner." I phoned. I experienced. I shifted. I learned. I have studied with a variety of people over the years: Ana Larramendi (private work), Myron Eshowsky (Way of the Shaman, Anatomy of the Soul), Sandra Ingerman (Death, Dying & Beyond), Hank Wesselman (Visionseeker 3), Mary Stoffel (Yearlong Core Shamanism Apprenticeship and Soul Retrieval Training), Connie Grauds  (Yearlong Plant Medicine Apprenticeship and private work) as well as apprenticing with my teachers/guides and direct life experience. I have been called to do this work for people, animals and the planet. So, if you're feeling like any area of your life is out of balance - mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually - please give me a call. Life's too short and precious to feel out of whack.  How is the work done? The first part of the process is that you're drawn to the work for whatever reason, and you act upon it - giving me a call to discuss your specific situation. After that, I will connect with Spirit to do what's called a Diagnostic Journey (no charge) - finding out what Spirit would recommend for your highest good. (Or, the highest good of your pet, if that's the case.) Then, in the comfort of your home or mine (pets healings can be done long distance), we meet to begin the healing work together. You should wear comfortable clothing and abstain from alcohol and/or recreational drugs for at least 24 hours before and after a sesssion, and it's a good idea to have a clear schedule afterward - kind of like you would after a massage. I also encourage people to take notes. When I begin my work, I often drum, sing, rattle and/or whistle to welcome my teachers and guides into the healing space, and then the journeying work for you will begin. Listening to the beat of the drum, I will connect with my teachers and guides and retrieve the information needed to help you heal in your highest good at that time. When I work with animals, I will often do distance work, but with people I prefer to be in the same physical location. It's pretty simple, yet the results can be incredibly profound.  Want more balance, energy and direction?