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Frequently Asked Questions
about Shamanism & Shamanic Healing
Q) How can I find a reputable shamanic practitioner or shamanic healer?
A) A reputable shamanic practitioner will have learned their craft from known and trustworthy teachers, schools, and other sources. As such, they will show deep respect for and appropriately acknowledge the cultural traditions and teachers who have taught, guided, and inspired them, whether indigenous or non-Native. They prioritize the well-being of their clients and students. Their intention is always to be working in the light. There should be no use of energy to manipulate others (sometimes called "sorcery"). Their presence should feel healing, safe, and supportive. Also, they should demonstrate self-reflection, humility, and compassion. I have been a devoted and seasoned shamanic practitioner for over 30 years. My teachers are Alberto Villoldo of the Four Winds Society and Puma Fredy Singona Qispe, Q'ero medicine man of the Rainbow Lineage of Chincheros in Peru, among others. I have been a shamanic healer, shamanic teacher, and spiritual mentor for almost 2 decades. Throughout that time, I have supported and taught 2000+ clients to heal from trauma, break through blocks in relationships, work/careers, creativity, and move through major life transitions. I also offer a 1-1 Spiritual Mentoring Program that draws on shamanic principles and practices for spiritual and personal growth. Lastly, I offer classes and programs for students who want to learn the spiritual pathway I call Awakened Heart Shamanism. All of my work as a shamanic healer, spiritual mentor, and teacher integrates everything I have learned from my teachers on Native American Spirituality, Shamanism, Buddhism, and Western perspectives on trauma healing and psychology. Clients and students experience powerful healing of trauma, deep shifts in personal growth, and expanding spiritual awakening and knowledge. Shamanic healing is an often effective way to heal trauma. To create deep transformation and change in my clients’ lives, I can draw upon many tools, including wound extraction, soul and gift retrieval, cord cutting, chakra cleansing and balancing, among others. Moreover, in my 1-1 Mentoring Program, clients remove blocks to their creativity, develop confidence and courage to make changes in their careers, work in pursuit of their soul's mission and purpose, and heal trauma. Lastly, Iadvise everyone to interview any shamanic practitioner and to follow their intuition while choosing a shamanic healer.
Q) Can anyone benefit from shamanic healing?
A) Shamanic healing is a form of energy medicine that draws on the transformational and supportive energies of the earth, powerful spirits of nature, the stars, the cosmos, and all of creation. Anyone can benefit from shamanic healing, no matter the issue or goal: trauma healing, breaking through blocks to thriving in relationships, work, career, and finances, developing new creative projects and businesses, and more. My shamanic healing work is based on the knowledge that we are all interconnected through luminous pathways of light. I am able to reach into the matrix of a client's multidimensional–body-mind-soul complex and leave an energetic imprint to remove heavy energies, extract wounds, undergo soul retrieval, cut cords, and remove intrusive entities. I do this while working in communion with the Powers and Forces of Nature (such as wind, water, air, and fire), the client's ancestral spirits, multiple angelic beings in higher dimensions, the higher vibrational emanation of Mother Earth, Mountain Spirits and the Spirits of sacred places on the land, among others, to effect healing and change. As a shamanic healer, my work integrates the wisdom teachings and healing practices from my Native American and shamanic teachers, Buddhism, and the best Western knowledge about human psychology, trauma, healing, and peace.
Q) Is shamanic healing a religious practice?
A) Shamanic healing, as it is practiced in the West, is not based on a religion or any religious institution. It is a spiritual way of engaging with the body, mind, emotions, soul, and spirit of an individual or a group using practices such as energy healing, meditation, journeying, sacred songs, ceremonies, and rituals to directly access the divine and the healing energies of nature, spirits, and the cosmos. The worldview of shamanism is founded on the knowledge that everything exists in a dynamic, ever-changeable and eminently malleable, luminous, holographic energy matrix that interconnects with everything in our cosmos, from Earth to the Stars and into other worlds and dimensions. A shamanic healer can work within the energy body of a client to assist in the removal, transformation, and lessening of physical, mental, and emotional imbalances, blocks, and traumas, both personal and ancestral.
Q) Is shamanic healing compatible with other forms of healing or medical treatments?
A) Shamanic healing is frequently used with other alternative treatments, such as traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, etc. It can be used effectively in conjunction with both conventional medicine and other integrative therapies. Shamanic healing can assist in releasing trauma, shifting bad habits, breaking through blocks in personal creativity, relationships, work, and financial prosperity, and, in general, transmuting heavy life energies that no longer benefit you. While shamanic healing cannot do many things that mainstream medical and psychological interventions can, it can complement them. In general, shamanic healing acknowledges the greater spiritual dimensions of human experiences. It works multidimensionally within, through, and around the body-mind-soul complex.
Q) What are Rachel Mann PhD's approaches to trauma healing?
A) A traumatic injury can be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or all of the above. You may find yourself to be very caught up on a daily basis in the difficult memories, physical sensations, and emotions connected with the traumatic stressor. You may be very easily triggered into physical and emotional flashbacks by unrelated events following what you experienced, whether in the recent or far past. Your ability to actually function in day-to-day life may be mild to even severely impaired. Furthermore, your thoughts can be distorted, and your emotional state is generally very heavy. You may suffer from flashbacks and insomnia. You may assiduously avoid people, situations, or opportunities that in some way remind you of the event, whether real or imagined. You may feel very spacey, often tired, relentlessly restless, and unable to sleep or relax. Or you may have strange sensations and emotions whose source you cannot explain. Many people suffer from symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The trauma could be from a single event, such as a car accident, to war or child abuse, among others. Each person's response to such experiences and conditions is different. Some may have acute symptoms of trauma, while others may develop long-term challenges such as chronic anxiety, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, and failure to thrive in some areas of life (relationships, work, career, money, home, etc.). From the understanding of shamanic healing, trauma impacts your energy body, as well. A trauma symptom at this level could be a partial or complete dissociation of your energy from your physical body. When you are functioning in a healthy, energetic, emotional, and physical ecosystem, the energy body is perfectly aligned with, surrounds, and interpenetrates the physical body, connecting with the chakras and what is called the "central channel" -a cord of light running from the root to the crown. A single traumatic event or prolonged exposure to trauma can cause your energy body to separate from the physical. You may feel disengaged and detached from your body, yourself, and others. You may have thoughts about leaving or dying–even if you have no intention of killing yourself. You may feel spacy, like you are floating, as well as other symptoms that make it hard to concentrate, focus on even simple daily tasks, and feel connected to others in healthy ways. In psychological terms, disassociation is also spoken of as a symptom of trauma. At this floor of your symptoms and recovery, as I refer to the 4 Floors of Trauma Healing, your energy body will reflect this chaos in the form of dense, heavy energies swirling around it. Your chakras will not be aligned or spinning properly. At each floor or level of recovery from and healing of trauma, I work within different layers of the energy body and the body-mind-soul complex. First, I cleanse and clear the upper surface of the energy body and the chakras. This allows me to go deeper and journey into the subconscious of the client to find the source of the wound and extract it from within the matrix of the energy, body, mind, and soul. Then I undergo a soul retrieval–calling in and seeding a lost part of the client-self that went into hiding due to the trauma. I can also call in archetypal beings of Light–ancestors who are healed, angelic beings, animal allies, and others–to fill the "hole" left from the wound extraction. I also have other processes, such as cord-cutting and entity extraction, among others. Many tools in my Medicine Basket of Love can be used to address the particular imbalance and issues that appear as a shamanic healing session unfolds. Furthermore, treating trauma and complex negative patterns can be a lengthy and challenging process. The trauma-healing process may take time and perseverance to recover and achieve your desired life. Patience, resilience, and determination are all required in trauma healing.
Q) Is trauma healing a one-size-fits-all process?
A) Each individual experiences a traumatic event or situation in a way that is unique to them, even while there are, of course, common themes that can be found across all human experiences. Accordingly, each person's response to such challenges can vary widely. How a person's personality, including what their innate resilience might be, the conditions under which they grew up, whether they had support from others, and the type, intensity, and duration of trauma, are some of the factors that can impact the pathway of trauma healing and its outcomes. Each of what I call the 4 Shamanic Floors of Trauma Healing– from severe and acute symptoms to complete recovery and resolution–can be moved through quickly or can take a long time. The journey is unique to each individual. However, I have found in many cases that shamanic healing can accelerate the process. In my work with clients, we collaborate to fit the approach and tools used to your specific process.
Q) How long does trauma healing take?
A) Trauma healing can be quick or long-term, from months to even years, because each person's traumatic experience and journey is unique. The kind of shamanic healing I offer based on both contemporary and western understandings of trauma recovery, as well as the ancient wisdom of indigenous cosmologies of healing, does not follow specific timetables but rather adapts to the individual's speed and readiness for inner development. What I call the 4 Shamanic Floors of Trauma Healing and the associated application of shamanic energy medicine addresses the multidimensional impact of a traumatic experience, from physical, mental, emotional, soul, and spirit. The soul, or Higher Self, actually holds all experiences, as well as the potential for healing within it.
Q) Can trauma be fully healed, or is it about learning to cope?
A) Some experts feel that complete trauma healing is possible, while others say the best we can do is learn to cope while continuing to live with symptoms. Shamanic healing can lead to full recovery in many cases. . Or it can help lessen ongoing symptoms. Much depends on the particular personality of the person, the type, duration, and intensity of the traumatic stressor, and where they are in their journey. As with any therapeutic or healing modality, promises cannot be made. Yet my personal experience has been an almost complete cessation of trauma symptoms, the growth of a place of solidity and peace within that I can usually readily return to even when life is challenging, and an ability, using the many shamanic tools in my Medicine Basket of Love, to heal myself when inner and outer challenges arise.
Q) What can I expect from a spiritual mentoring program with Rachel?
A) I offer 1-1 spiritual mentoring/coaching to individuals who show up with one or more of the following backgrounds and desires: You are struggling with old patterns and blocks from old wounds, whether your own or ancestral. You want to unlock and ignite your True Purpose in life. You want to manifest your highest dreams and destiny in life and are ready to bring more powerful tools to the task than before. You feel blocked, confused, or held back in some way from stepping fully into your power and want support and help with powerfully transforming what holds you back. You are in a big life-change process, transition, or crisis, and you want to support and help get you through and to the other side so you are fulfilled and living out your greater dreams for life. You are ready to step fully into the next level of your authentic spirituality, purpose, and work in the world. You have a special interest in exploring earth-inspired, heart-grounded spirituality, shamanism, and the path of the healer and ceremonialist. From the thousands of students and clients I have worked with over almost 2 decades, I have seen this program lead to the following outcomes: You will discover and become clearer about what your purpose is and how to manifest it. You will transform wounds and old beliefs holding you back from manifesting your true purpose. You will experience a palpable shift of anxiety and confusion into clarity, confidence, and courage. You will feel seen for Who You Truly Are and will have developed greater compassion for yourself, thus breaking out of patterns of negative self-talk. Your many gifts of intuition and creativity will become clearly apparent, and you will believe in the rightness of allowing them to flower fully in every aspect of your life. You will develop a sense of personal mastery and freedom. And you will feel supported, cared for, inspired, and mirrored for Who You Truly Are throughout the journey with me. You will be changed!
Q) How is your Mentoring Program structured?
A) The mentoring program is set up to integrate in a powerful way 3 pathways that I have used in my life to effect deep transformation: Energy Medicine: 2-4 shamanic energy healings paced throughout the program to target specific problem areas and pain points calling for powerful healing and transformation. Contemplation and Soul Work: 5-7 shamanic mentoring sessions drawing on my full medicine basket of shamanic tools, including wise counsel, meditation, prayer, sacred song, soul readings, energy tracking, breathwork, journeying, and more, might work on your soul recovery. In these sessions, you track through intuition your highest dreams for life and will unpack and reframe whatever anxiety, confusion, self-doubt, and fears you carry. You are supported through meditation and soul work in lightening up your vibrational frequency so as to manifest your highest good. Study and Spiritual Deepening: Through my online program materials, you have access to 10 hours of video and audio shamanic teachings, guided meditations, journeys, and ceremonies. If you are particularly interested in learning more about shamanism and deepening your interest in earth-inspired spirituality, it will put these teachings and tools right into your hands. However, you don't need to be specifically interested in studying shamanism to benefit. The course provides good knowledge, wisdom, and insight into how to walk through change, transition, and transformation. You receive my sustained, constant presence and support: I am available for check-ins via email and texts as you feel moved to reach out. You feel deeply and know the caring and kind attention I bring to every client. As you can see, this program is designed to work with every level and dimension of your being—body, mind/emotions, soul, and spirit—to powerfully facilitate your transformation and support the manifestation of your True Purpose and your highest dreams for life.