My own personal journey of self-discovery and self-development and years of being a shamanic practitioner leaves me in no doubt that shamanic practices are extremely powerful and useful in all areas of life; as a spiritual practice, in personal development, bringing about physical and psycho-spiritual healing (whether for the practitioner themselves or on behalf of others), as a source of creative inspiration, as a source of knowledge and wisdom relating to all areas of life, as a way of being in service to humanity and the environment. and as a means to relate to the world in general.

When I do healing work for others, my first question is “do you have friends and/or family around you who can support you?” I am not just asking about the numerous people that we are all surrounded by – neighbours on our street, work colleagues, partners, blood family, friends and acquaintances. What I am asking is, “are you supported by people who love you, have your highest interests at heart, and share, or at least support, your world view, values and can hold you as you grow, in whatever way is required?”

The reason I am so concerned with this aspect of a person's life is that some people come to me believing, or perhaps hoping, that a healing will in effect be a magic wand being waved over all that feels wrong in their life (whether their issues be predominantly with mind, body or spirit). They hope that all their problems will be wiped away, and life will be wonderful. And these are powerful practices, so in the short-term, it can feel like that has happened. However, the reality is much more complex than this. Healing comes about as a result of a three-way partnership between practitioner, spirit and the person receiving the healing.

Disease is a complex issue; in examples that would be recognised as physical disease or injury (cancer, influenza, a broken leg), the presenting problem has not only physical, but also spiritual, emotional, mental and energetic components. To take an extreme example, it is reasonably obvious to most people that if someone is cured of lung cancer (whether by conventional or “alternative” treatment methods), then it would be unrealistic of them to expect that they could go right back to smoking 80 cigarettes a day if (physically), that was the cause of their cancer. Disease (whether physical, emotional or otherwise) is the soul's attempt to communicate with us regarding imbalances in our lives, and a cure requires us to look deeply at our life to identify the nature of those imbalances, and ascertain ways of restoring balance. In other words, restoring health requires active input from the person undergoing the healing.

When we are working towards our own healing, or psycho-spiritual development, the going can get tough, and it is vital that we have people around us who can support us through the changes, and hold the space for us as we work through what may be difficult issues, and if needs be, coax us through the tangled cobwebs and onwards and upwards towards growth.

My experience, both personally and in my dealings with clients, leads me to believe that a community approach is most helpful. The reality is that humans need the support of other humans in order to thrive and flourish. It's true to say that we all need our space and times of solitude and silence, but my experience and that of others seems to be that when we feel isolated, life becomes difficult, lonely and unfulfilling. Ironically, there are more people in the world now than ever before in our known history; we often feel our towns and cities are overcrowded, yet we don't know the people we live next door to. We have lost our communities, even as we jostle ever-closer together. Therefore, to bring together like-minded people who are pulling together in order to support and nurture each other, the wider community and the planet is my sacred dream, and is the focus of my workshops and trainings.

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