Feeling Stuck? A Shaman’s Guide to Find How to Move Forward in Your Life - By: Rebecca Ryan

According to Shamanic teachings, your body is a compass. Listening to your body’s guidance will give you the information you need to make the right choices. Have you ever asked someone how they knew it was time to change jobs, have a child, get married, buy something, eat, sleep etc? They will always answer with body signs, ie, “it felt like the right time, I just knew, I was so over my old job” etc.
Shaman have used their bodies to discern the right way to move forward since the beginning of time because our choices are always accompanied by physical feedback. Your body is your signaling system. These signals are how you can know what your best next move is. Always.
If you are feeling stuck, listening to your body feedback is an art that is easy to develop. It just asks for you to notice things that usually you dismiss. After you notice these signals you give them a few minutes of focus, this is called amplifying, until you have their message. Here are ten easy steps to do that.

If you have a question
1. Walk through your house and find the place where you feel most comfortable – shaman called this their place of power
2. Sit, stand or lie down - whatever feels good in that space
3. Think of your question
4. Pretend that the question has a shape or a form, it might be a balloon, a bowl of porridge, a truck, a monster…anything
5. And then, eat that object or lie on it and absorb it - do anything that helps you imagine that object inside you.
6. Once the object is inside you, notice where it sits in your body. You might suddenly be highly aware of your kneck, you might feel colder, you might have an itch on an elbow etc. *
7. Ask that part what it wants to do and let that part do it. Scratch it, shake it, wriggle, flap, bend, straighten etc until it you feel like you don’t want to do that anymore, ie until it seems finished.
8. While you are doing this movement notice what information is coming to your mind.
9. Let the process settle and ask yourself what you know now that you didn’t know before.
10. Repeat this process to work through any issue or find any guidance that you might need.

Here’s an example. My current job is boring me, it makes me feel tired and I’m struggling to show up every morning- I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to do it for very much longer! I had a job interview last week but I don’t know if I’m better to stay put or take the risk that the new place is a better fit for me.
I go to my best spot, its in my lounge, on the couch, at the end where the blanket is that the cat curls up on. I kind of curl up there and relax.

Actually, I close my eyes and smile a bit, not sure why, and it feels relaxed and carefree. I ask myself the question of whether to stay with the old job or go for the new one and I imagine I can see the question as a rubix cube. I eat the rubix cube and my stomach starts to gurgle. I start to make the gurgling sound and I rub my stomach in circles, it aches a bit and I feel anxious. As I continue to rub I see the rubix cube getting smaller, like I’m digesting it and I feel a bit happier – my stomach isn’t growling as much! I keep rubbing my stomach and as the cube gets tiny I realize I was afraid of all the unknowns about the new job. I stay in my spot on the couch for a few minutes and feel myself smiling and relaxed. I like the idea of the new job and the new challenge and I can’t feel any attachment to my current job. I don’t want to repeat this process because I feel really clear about what I want. If I didn’t feel clear or if I get confused tomorrow I’ll do this again and see what feedback my body gives me. As for now, I’m going back to my normal day feeling much more settled.

As we listen more to our body we align with our own compass. These ten steps are a great way to switch your attention to your own guide, your body, and use that information to move forward. The Shaman teach us that learning how to hear and trust our body’s signals is our most sacred and vital offering to ourself and our community. When we are feeling stuck our bodys are teeming with feedback, wisdom and insight, to use that feedback we listen to our body channel and follow where it leads.

*if your head gets in the way with an “I don’t know” or “I can’t feel anything” imagine you can and imagine where it sits in your body. Imagination is a profoundly useful tool in retraining the mind to remember and notice the rest of the body.

About the Author

Living Dreams is a Melbourne based Alternative Health Practice, led by Counsellor and Therapist Rebecca Ryan. Treatment is based on the development of the whole self. Rebecca works with a cross section of the community dealing with issues such as grief, trauma, depression, anxiety and behavioural challenges (eg. eating disorders) and anger management. She is also a practicing Shamanic Witch and teaches courses on esoteric wisdom. For more information visit http://www.rebeccaryan.com.au

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Rebecca-Ryan/211859

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