{"id":1044,"date":"2020-08-29T12:01:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-29T12:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2020-08-29T12:03:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-29T12:03:17","slug":"animal-totems-masters-of-sensitivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/animal-totems-masters-of-sensitivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal Totems: Masters of Sensitivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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*This article first appeared in\u00a0The Empath Magazine<\/a>\u00a0in Autumn 2017.<\/p>

The true shaman, the true naturalist, works to reconnect conscious human life with Nature and Spirit through totems and ritual\u2026What we consider imagination is a reality in some form on levels beyond the normal sensory world.<\/p>

\u2015<\/em>Ted Andrews from\u00a0Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small<\/em><\/cite><\/p>

When the editor of\u00a0The Empath<\/em>\u00a0magazine invited me to submit an article to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on Highly Sensitive People (HSP), the first thing I did was journey into the spiritworld to communicate with my totem animals.\u00a0 It is common in shamanism for spirit animals to come to practitioners during dreams and journeys with information about how to help the person move through challenges without getting stuck for too long; they know the terrain of our psyches and how to mend what needs healing.\u00a0 Shamanic practitioners often have a special place in the spiritworld they travel to that is protected so they can do their healing work.\u00a0 As a HSP myself, I have consciously grown my relationship with my spirit animals for years now as a way to help me navigate the world better without losing the sensitivity that I honour in myself.<\/p>

The challenge for HSP is to live in this dense dimensional reality without armouring up and numbing out.\u00a0 It is not surprising to me that many of the addicts I\u2019ve met are also HSP. I spent most of my life believing that my extreme sensitivity was a curse instead of a blessing.\u00a0 For many years, I self-medicated with food because I didn\u2019t know how to live with feeling everything so intensely in a balanced way.\u00a0 The crocodile is my death guide animal. Crocodile came to me in a drum journey long ago to show me how to move through all the small losses, deaths, and changes that we all go through in life as we transition from one phase to another.\u00a0 I had been depressed for a long time when I first met crocodile and I wasn\u2019t convinced that I could get unstuck.\u00a0 Crocodile taught me how to make death and transition an ally.<\/p>

The first time I journeyed with crocodile, I knew he was not a warm and caring sort of spirit\u2013he was initially disarming but not without kindness.\u00a0 This was an animal I could always trust to be ruthless with the truth of a situation in a way that was not cruel but didn\u2019t beat around the bush either.\u00a0 As I was getting used to swimming around with him in his energy, without warning, he lunged for me and took my heart right out of my chest.\u00a0 Then, he swam away.\u00a0 I sat in horror and shock.\u00a0 I was hurt that he would do that and felt deeply confused.\u00a0 I immediately went into pity: He didn\u2019t even check to see if I was okay.\u00a0 He just swam away.<\/p>

After a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I saw crocodile emerging from the depths carrying something in his mouth.\u00a0 I stared in disbelief as he brought me a beautiful new heart.\u00a0 I could see right away that this heart was stronger and more robust than the last one. When I asked him why he took my old heart, he said simply: \u201cThis old heart was filled with emotionality and past trauma.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t learn anything new.\u00a0 Where you are going on your journey, you need a heart that is up to the task of learning new things without losing sensitivity in the situations you will find yourself in.\u201d<\/p>

Then, being the man of few words he is, he placed the new heart in and swam away.\u00a0 The drum journey was not over and so I sat with this new feeling in my chest for a long while.\u00a0 A sense of courage came into my being that I\u2019d not known before.\u00a0 And the a-ha washed over me: My sensitivity is a gift and if a tough animal like the crocodile values it, it must have a purpose that can be equated with innate strength.<\/p>

Since that initial meeting with crocodile, I\u2019ve learned a lot about accepting reality as it is and using information from my environment in order to figure out how to adapt and thrive.\u00a0 This can be challenging in a world plagued by war, aggression, and violence of all kinds.\u00a0 The gift in it for me as an empath is that I\u2019ve learned not to separate myself from the ugliness in the world.\u00a0 When I separate, I feel myself go out of balance immediately.\u00a0 If I can stay compassionate and aware during a confrontation with aggression, for example, then I can more easily listen to my inner knowing to see what the next steps are (if any need to be taken at all).\u00a0 A crocodile doesn\u2019t go looking for trouble, but it doesn\u2019t avoid confrontation either.<\/p>

In a way, reptiles are the ultimate teachers for empaths and others who are extremely sensitive to their environments.\u00a0 Crocodiles embody the ancient wisdom of needing to be in tune with their surroundings in order to survive without being at the effect of the energy they find themselves in.\u00a0 Being cold-blooded means that reptiles must continuously monitor their body temperature and when their internal thermometer tells them to make a move into a cooler or warmer setting, the creature follows suit.\u00a0 This amazing ability to adapt seamlessly is one of the reasons that crocodiles survived the last Ice Age that wiped out so many other species. \u00a0Crocodiles don\u2019t stew in their emotions and bemoan the environment around them for changing on them; they simply find what they need to thrive in the new setting.<\/p>

Crocodile also taught me that the key to maintaining sensitivity without armouring is to stay centred.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t take the external world personally, we can actually perceive reality neutrally like animals do.\u00a0 This makes a lot of information available to us that comes directly from the Great Mystery of life.\u00a0 We may not always understand the whole picture, but this guidance from the spiritworld can help us to move through the world and accomplish our life purpose in more easeful ways if we practice neutrality.<\/p>

Neutrality is important because it helps us to be in an energy without judgement of it.\u00a0 When we go into judgement or reaction, we cease to be in the present moment and we miss important information in our environment.\u00a0 Paradoxically, being neutral also highlights the bottom lines that are important to each of us.\u00a0 When we are neutral, we know when to let something go, when to simply observe, and when to act.<\/p>

In shamanism, we practice breathing into our Centre of Gravity (COG) just below our navel in order to tap into that universal wisdom that lives inside of us.\u00a0 When centred, I feel my energy drop like a clunk.\u00a0 From that place, I can sense neutrally and know what my next step is without reactivity even though emotions may be present.\u00a0 Like animals, I can sense the unspoken energy in a space without invading the personal energy space of others.\u00a0 Far from being a curse, it\u2019s allowed me to sense the boundaries of others in a way that has allowed my relationships to deepen in mutual respect\u2013even in the face of energy I personally find most challenging!\u00a0 The opportunities for growth in this realm are endless and I know they will go on until I die.<\/p>

I stress the word\u00a0practice<\/em>; unlearning lifelong habits wired into our brains doesn\u2019t happen overnight.\u00a0 We need to persevere to heal; it takes practicing new skills again and again for new neural connections to form in our brains.\u00a0 In my book, \u201cDreaming of Cupcakes: A Food Addict\u2019s Shamanic Journey into Healing<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u201d I describe how I utilized many shamanic tools and technologies to bring myself back into balance.\u00a0 I practiced these tools (and still do every day) in order to heal the addictive patterns in my life. \u00a0It\u2019s not an easy journey, and yet it is so worthwhile.\u00a0 Shamanism provides us with ancient practices that really work in the modern world when we learn to use them for our own healing.\u00a0 In the end, I didn\u2019t have to sacrifice my natural sensitivity or gifts to live on Earth.\u00a0 My prayer is that other HSP learn ways to honour their sensitivity and live their lives to the fullest with great vitality.\u00a0 Don\u2019t give up; stick with it until you find a path or strategies that work for you.\u00a0 You\u2019re worth it and your gifts are needed in our evolving world.<\/p>

Jennifer Engr\u00e1cio<\/strong>\u00a0has been a student of shamanism since 2005. Jennifer is a certified teacher who has worked with children in many different education settings since 2001. She is a certified shamanic coach, reiki master, and lomilomi practitioner; in addition, she runs\u00a0<\/strong>Spiral Dance Shamanics<\/strong><\/a>. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she now lives in Calgary, Canada with her life partner.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*This article first appeared in\u00a0The Empath Magazine\u00a0in Autumn 2017. The true shaman, the true naturalist, works to reconnect conscious human life with Nature and Spirit through totems and ritual\u2026What we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1047,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/1047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiraldanceshamanics.com\/beta2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}