The shamanic path is a path of balance and harmony with nature.

We believe all of Mother Earth’s children are related. We are brothers and sisters to all animals, plants, mountains and rivers. All of whom have a wisdom we can learn from and a consciousness we can communicate with.

The shamanic practitioner is able to tab into this consciousness and to align himself with the power of nature in order to gain knowledge, give help and heal. He does so by entering an altered state of consciousness, a trance, by tapping into his psychic abilities and by traveling on a spirit journey to other realms.

The ability to communicate with nature is not a prerogative of the shamanic practitioner. Everyone can learn to do it. One must only develop the ability to listen and to remain receptive at all times.

Here are two exercises from my training to become a Shamanic practitioner:

Exercise 1: Hearing without bias

 

This can be done anytime when you would be likely to sit around twiddling your thumbs. Whenever you have a few spare minutes, sit back, relax and listen to the sounds around you.

Incredible amounts of information simply pass right by us at all times – most of it meaningless, but our brains become used to ignoring this mess of information. It is important to retrain your brain into becoming more selective in what it screens from our conscious awareness. Try and distinguish what noises are made by what. Can you hear someone hammering nails into wood a long distance away, or someone knocking on a door nearby?

When you are out in your garden or the countryside, try and differentiate between the mass of bird sound and other sounds that you can hear – you might not be able to identify the bird or other creature making a particular sound at first, but it is a very good start to be able to tell that different sounds do have different origins.

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Exercise 2: Tree spirits

 

Find a tree to work with. For the beginning I would suggest using an Oak or Ash tree due to their powerful benevolent energy.

Sit with your chosen tree. Try and sit up against it and let your mind and body relax.

Open yourself to feel the energy of the tree. Open your mind to the possibility of communicating with the tree. Do not expect the communication to be in words, but rather in feelings that flow deep in your mind.

What is the tree telling you? What does the energy feel like? If the energy feels good as it should, let your self be energized and empowered by it. Spend some time with this, and if possible do it more than once. Later on try it with a different type of tree and feel the difference in energy.

Tree energy is nourishing, slow and deep. It helps to eliminate stress in your life.

When you are finished sitting with a tree thank it for allowing you to sit in its energy. If possible leave a small gift, such as a pinch of herbs, a piece of biscuit, or a hair from your head. This way you help yourself to keep the awareness of energy flow - as you give, so shall you receive.