GRIEF: A HEART & SOUL RETRIEVAL JOURNEY
We invest our heart and soul in the key relationships of our life. Grieving is a natural heart & soul retrieval process after the loss of a relationship to ourself or to another person. In the journey of grief we have to navigate the spectrum of emotions and deep spiritual pain that arises from the tearing away of an attachment that we held dear.

If co-dependency was a feature of the lost relationship, the journey will be especially difficult because of the practical implications and because a SURVIVAL SELF will be created which quickly becomes a new attachment that can easily block a full recovery of personal wholeness. The "survival self" attaches to particular self-limiting beliefs [cognitive errors] and generates individual stuck emotions that stop us from feeling and processing the full rainbow of emotions that are generated after a significant traumatic loss. For example we may get stuck in a low-power place of sadness/woundedness and unable to access the self-empowering energy of our natural human feelings of anger/outrage after a trauma.

Two inescapable aspects of any significant grief-healing process are emotional catharsis and a new, or renewed spiritual direction.

SOUL RECLAMATION
'Soul Remembrance' aka 'Soul-Connection' is the process of re-identification with our deep inner spiritual identity, guidance and wisdom. As we dis-identify from the dominating identity of our 'Survival Self' (self-limiting aspect of our ego) we become free to reconnect to our full life force and the deep wisdom that can guide us towards our life's purpose and the journey of experiences (not always within our comfort zone!) that will bring a fulfilled life that does not shrink in terror from the ultimate and inevitable challenge of dying and death.

Incarnation is a very distracting experience for our soul, or inner spiritual essence. We easily lose identification with our spiritual essence and become identified with our feelings, needs, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, ideals, agendas, dreams, perceptions, roles etc.

"Soul-connection" and "Soul-driven living" lie at the heart of any bona fide spiritual path and there are many spiritual and psychotherapeutic practices which can help us to "remember" our full spiritual nature and potential.

Heartbreak, Soul-Loss & Inner Demons! Dr. Mike Meredith on how 'Toxic Emotions' & 'Inner Demons' perpetuate Heart & Soul Trauma From Yearning, Longing or Unrequited Love to Healing & Fulfilment! Cathartic Healing is an important tool for breaking vicious cycles of soul-loss following Relationship ending, and in Depression, Anxiety, Elderly relative care, Personal Failure, Loss, Guilt, Shame etc VIDEO LINKS: www.sunflower-health.com/courses/detox.htm   www.sunflower-health.com/courses/anger.htm   www.meetup.com/Holistic-Cambs   www.fullyalive.me.uk

MORE... Powerful ways to re-connect with our Soul, are:

• Connecting with the natural world - becoming "at one" with Nature
 
• Expressing our divine nature in sacred chants, rituals and healing work
 
• Connecting with divine beings and with the divine aspect of our fellow human-beings
 
• A Personal Soul Retrieval Session with an experienced UK Shamanic Practitioner
   
• Shamanic Soul Retrieval healing practices (Shamanism Workshops)

TERROR = Extreme & Total Soul-Disconnection. We become terrified in situations where our egocentric "survival self" is unable to cope with what is happening PLUS we do not have any soul-connection resourcefulness (faith-based beliefs and practices) to fall back on. 'Terrorism' is the art of putting people into such a situation of extreme helplessness.

Being Terrified - Terror Experiences

SOUL-LOSS
'Soul Loss' is the condition whereby a part (aspect) of our SOUL (vital essence and purposeful direction for this lifetime) becomes DAMAGED, DISCONNECTED or ABANDONED.

Recently I was chatting with a friend who confided that recently-achieved material goals in her life, instead of providing the expected fulfilment, satisfaction and happiness, had served only to put her back in touch with lifelong sense of "Having something missing!" - a lingering sense of being unfulfilled.

As she touched this mournful, "self-incompleteness" reality, the words "Maslowe's Hierarchy" came into her mind - an echo of her past professional training. She asked me to review with her "Maslowe's Hierarchy of Human Needs" and to explain the top level: "Self-actualization". Self-actualization means to "Fulfil one's potential"

Part of this personal growth process - called "individuation" in Jungian psychology - involves re-connecting with the bits of ourselves we have lost along the way of our life journey - a process which is well recognised in the ancient personal and spiritual development path of Shamanism under the name of "soul retrieval".

Traumatic early-life experiences can lead us to abandon our true identity and take on an identity given to us by powerful adults, peer groups or siblings e.g. we are "bad", "stupid", "mad", "inferior", unacceptable" etc.

We then spend our lives building up a "false identity" or "mask of acceptability/competence" to cover up the painful negative identity we were earlier "trained or traumatised" into accepting.

Technically speaking, true "Soul Loss" has to be distinguished from "Self-Disempowerment" due to PROJECTION OF FEELINGS AND PERSONAL POWER which can be brought into consciousness and healed by less invasive techniques (which are also less demanding on practitioner skill, authenticity and experience) such as a simple Drummed Shamanic Journey (to find a Power Animal representing the disconnected or projected archetypal resource. Alternatively a psychotherapeutic Inner Journey can be undertaken, once the projected archetype (=sub-personality) has been identified.

There are many forms that soul-retrieval can take, and we all have a range of disconnected "soul fragments" [as a result of 'soul-wounding' or 'soul-abandonment'] that can be retrieved in various ways and at various times in our life. Even if we have all our SR work up to date at some point, new instances of 'soul-wounding' and 'soul-abandonment' will crop up from time to time in our life.

SYMPTOMS OF SOUL-LOSS

Inner Emptiness: Depression, Weariness
Pervasive sense of insecurity: "Human Jungle" perspective on life, Free-floating worries [Generalised Anxiety Disorder GAD], Constant worrying, Over-Controlling
Low Self-esteem: Lack of Confidence, Neediness, Never feeling good enough, Falseness, Lying, Shame or Guilt-Prone
Perfectionism: Nothing & No-one ever good enough
Egocentricity: Excessive pride, Arrogance, Domination or Abuse of others, "Drama Queen"
Emotional Dependency (on people or "drugs"): Workaholic, Alcoholic, Sex addiction, Criminality, Victimhood
Duplicity: Superficially nice - dark feelings beneath, Lying to, or manipulation of, others
Loss of Social Cohesion: Jealousy or Resentment of others
Self-sabotaging talk & behavior
Cravings & Addictions: sugar, junk food, coffee, sex, drugs, smoking
Depression: Withdrawn, Defensive, Hostile
Unhealthy relationships: Clinginess, Infatuation, Possessiveness, Unrequited love
Disconnection from Inner Child: Difficulty having fun, being playful or creative, being a "team-player"
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: disconnection from soul-centred living.

Ready to Swap Your Outward "Mask" for Your Authentic Self? : Personal Stories

SOUL RETRIEVAL & SOUL RETRIEVAL JOURNEYING
'Soul-Retrieval' refers to the WIDE RANGE of PRACTICES by which 'Soul-Loss' damage can be reversed. SOUL RETRIEVAL JOURNEYING [SRJ] is a specific kind of Soul-Retrieval practice in which a shamanic or soul-loss practitioner undertakes a shamanic journey for someone else who either cannot journey for themself, or encounters a block when trying to fix a particular soul-loss problem for themself.

Effective SRJ work is NOT SIMPLY ABOUT FOLLOWING A TECHNIQUE - it is NOT a purely mechanical process. It is actually very dependent on the degree to which the practitioner is trained and experienced and has cleared significant 'personal baggage' - i.e. re-owned their own main shadow-projections, cleared mjor sub-conscious energy-blocks [bottled-up feelings, traumas and impulses] and healed their own main soul-losses.

Without this essential preparatory work, the practitioner is very likely to confuse their "own stuff" with that of the client - OR to force past their own inner blocks with a 'FLIGHT OF IMAGINATION' journey followed by the use of "SUGGESTION" and 'COLD READING' approaches to FIT THE JOURNEY TO THE CLIENT [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_reading and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestion].

AUTHENTIC SR journeys require practitioners to work regularly with processes for bringing their currently-active personal subconscious "issues" ["inner demons"] and "ego-agendas" into awareness PLUS know the technologies for clearing or transforming these SRJ-distortion sources.

Transforming our inner and outer "demons" is the source of the "radiant power" [inner peace, humility and capacity for unconditional love] that marks out the accomplished shamanic healer.

Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman With warmth and compassion, Sandra Ingerman describes the dramatic results of combining soul retreival with contemporary psychological concepts in this visionary work that revives the ancient shamanic tradition of soul retrieval for healing emotional and physical illness. Click the book image for Book Depository Special Offer Or visit Amazon Reviews/Order pages: UK   Canada   USA

 

Why and How Soul Retrieval Journeys can become Sabotaged: UK SHAMANISM TODAY

Do you Remember when you were a child and the world was a magical playground, full of wonder?

Could you ever return to that experience?

"Of course not!" you say - "I was just a child and that experience of the world was unreal - just an illusion!"

Well, the world always was, and always will be, a magical wondrous playground.

We CAN recapture the excitement and joy of that magical way to live....

Yes! Even sad, weary, burdened, unfulfilled, disillusioned adults can return to wonder, amazement, lightness and a deep inner sense of nourishing love and connection to life!

We can once again experience that upsurge of playful, joyous energy within us!

 

Shamanic Soul Work - Soul Loss - Soul Retrieval The Music is "Descent to the Lowerworld" from Sacred Earth Drums Soul-Connections? - See "All Things are Connected"

[MORE SHAMANISM SOUL RETRIEVAL VIDEOS ON OTHER PAGES OF THIS WEBSITE!]

Soul Retrieval in a New Age Western Society: Shamanism Healing in the 21st Century

 

TRAINING in SOUL RETRIEVAL

If you wish to train in Shamanic Soul Retrieval practices, we are facilitating the soul-recovery process in a series of shamanism workshops in Cambridge UK, Essex & N.Wales. These trainings cover a wide range of Soul-Connection and Soul-Retrieval practices including traditional SRJ work and also some less well-known,but often more sustainably effective practices, such as Shamanic Timeline Healing, Frustration-catharsis, Primal Scream Work and Shamanic Rebirthing.
Details of coming events can be found here: Shaman Skills Training

A primary aim of our Intermediate Shamanic Practitioner Training Course is to develop skill at Soul Retrieval [SR] work. SR is not simply about following a technique, it is also about knowing how to prepare ourself and the client for this type of work, and being aware of the legal and ethical implications.

Most of all it is about having made our own journey of clearing the key distortions to an AUTHENTIC SR journey that arise from "our own stuff". This means working regularly with the processes for bringing our personal subconscious "issues" ["inner demons"] and "ego-agendas" into awareness, and knowing the technologies for clearing or transforming them.

Transforming our inner and outer "demons" is the source of the "radiant power" [peaceful unconditional love] that marks out the accomplished shamanic healer.

If you wish to train in shamanic Soul Retrieval practices, we are facilitating the soul-recovery process in a series of shamanism workshops in Cambridge UK, Essex & N.Wales.
Details of coming events can be found here: Shaman Skills Training
 

Soul Consciousness - Transcend Ego: Transcendental Meditation Techniques

Soul Consciousness & Soulworking: Shamanic Healing - Shamans - Shamanism

Shamanic Soul Healing: Terror, Terrorists & Terrorism - Extreme Forms of Soul-Loss

 

Live long and Prosper!

Author of this page: Michael [Mikhael] Meredith)
[Mike is a U.K. Physiologist, Stress Management Trainer & Shamanic Healing Practitioner]

Shamanic Healing & Soul Retrieval Information Directory