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Another big stumbling block along the path to shamanhood involves your ability to trust yourself and the process, even while undergoing experiences... [which] may not be pleasant, yet could be very necessary for your growth.

Becoming your own shaman requires lots of trust, but not blind faith. You have to trust your teachers while not giving away your power to them. You must trust that the trail you’re on will lead you to the mountaintop, yet you will have to slog through many a valley to get there.

Trust and Have Faith in Yourself

The path of the healer is not clear-cut; there are no memos to tell you what to do and no course laid out in stone to follow. There are simply hints and glimmers of what lies ahead, whispers in the night, a voice in the wind as it calls your name. So what you have to trust the most is you.

You need to have faith that you really are in contact with your invisible guides, even when you can’t see or hear them. You must be confident that what you see or feel in another person is really what needs to be healed, and then possess the belief in your ability to effect change on all levels of his or her being. You also have to give credence to the subtle messages that you receive about your own life.

Maintain Skepticism & Healthy Boundaries

Yet it is equally important not to relinquish your skepticism and your rational mind. You still need to pay the rent or mortgage; take care of your body; and function in your role as parent, partner, or worker. You have to learn how to maintain boundaries so that you are not taking on the issues of others or expecting others to take care of yours. You must filter the messages you receive from beyond this plane to know whether they are indeed meant for your highest good.

In order to give up a lucrative law career so that I could go chasing sages and shamans around the world and learn from them, I had to have a compelling belief that I wasn’t crazy. I had to forget about what I looked like, what others thought about me. For example, I remember the year I received subtle signals to practice sounding. I would stand outside and gaze at the horizon as I made vocalizations for hours at a time, my voice changing from low to high, over and over again, and I was fortunate to not have neighbors close by. Not long afterward, I started using this technique as a way to initiate others into elevated levels of spirituality.

How Do You Lean to Trust Yourself?

So how do you learn to trust yourself, to rely on those messages you receive? You build confidence in your connection to Source based on past experience. Maybe you listened to your inner voice when it told you that it was time to move to another state — even though you loved where you were living — and it turned out to be a really good move. Or maybe you chose not to hear the inner prompting that said: Stay away from that person, and you realized later that you should have honored that feeling in your gut. Or perhaps you felt that you were visited by your grandmother who passed over many years ago, which was confirmed by someone who could see her clairvoyantly.

Eventually, through such validations, you learn to rely on your inner promptings, especially when they come to you while you’re in a clear space — immediately after meditation, for example. Some people learn to trust the messages they receive in vivid dreams, while others pay attention to instincts.

Whatever your channel of communication with Source, your life will be more purposeful and meaningful, richer and fuller, when you come to trust yourself.

This article was excerpted with permission from the book:

Be Your Own Shaman: Heal Yourself and Others with 21st-Century Energy Medicine
by Deborah King.

Excerpted with permission of the publisher, Hay House Inc. ©2011. www.hayhouse.com

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.

About the Author

Master healer and teacher Deborah King was a successful attorney in her 20s when a diagnosis of cancer sent her on a search for truth that radically changed her life. Unwilling to undergo invasive surgery, she turned to alternative medicine and had an amazing remission at the hands of a healer. Along the way, she conquered the alcohol and drug addictions she had used to bury an abusive childhood. Leaving the corporate arena for the mysterious world of healers, sages, and shamans, Deborah mastered ancient and modern healing systems, ultimately developing a powerful healing technique of her own.

She travels worldwide, helping thousands of people transform their lives through her experiential workshops. Her online training course, the 21st Century Energy Medicine Program, attracts those who want to become adept healers for themselves and others. She also hosts a popular weekly Hay House Radio show. Website: www.deborahkingcenter.com

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