Shaman Journeying
Shaman Journeying like meditation is a tool for spiritual growth. It is also a tool that can be used for healing, to obtaining information, and in working through psychological issues.
When someone goes on a journey they are able to communicate on a spiritual level. So journeyers can go and visit guardian spirits, they can go and visit spirits of the land. During a journey an individual can also examine the health of their body or another’s body. The journey can also be used discover things about the physical world.
Destination and Purpose
The places one will journey to will vary. Some will be much like the geography seen on earth with mountain, trees, valleys… Some places are airy like the sky, or feel very energetic, or peaceful. A journey destination can be anything because the geography is not bound by rules of gravity but rather the rules of energy. The purposes, and tasks of the shaman or shamanic journeyer will sometimes determine what places will be visited. Purposes can include healing oneself or another, spiritual growth, enjoyment, connection with guardian spirits, learning, religious growth and many other things because journeying is a diverse tool.
Monthly Shaman Journey
Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini is the term for “a spirtual energy or life force located at the base of the spine”, conceptualized as a coiled-up serpent. The practice of Kundalini yoga is supposed to arouse the sleeping Kundalini Shakti from its coiled base through the 6 chakras, and penetrate the 7th chakra, or crown. This energy is said to travel along the ida (left), pingala (right) and central, or sushumna nadi – the main channels of pranic energy in the body. A recent article has suggested that the process may be mediated by vagus nerve.
Kundalini energy is technically explained as being sparked during yogic breathing when prana and apana blends at the 3rd chakra (navel center) at which point it initially drops down to the 1st and 2nd chakras before traveling up to the spine to the higher centers of the brain to activate the golden cord – the connection between the pituitary and pineal glands – and penetrate the 7 chakras.[28]
Meditation
Meditation is a mental exercise that trains attention and awareness. Its purpose is often to curb reactivity to one’s thoughts and feelings, which, though they may be disturbing and upsetting and hijack attention from moment to moment, are invariably fleeting.
There are many ways of meditating and no one right way. One common way is to turn attention to a single point of reference. It can involve focusing on the breath, on bodily sensations, or on a word or phrase, known as a mantra. Known as mindfulness meditation, it lessens distractability and promotes focusing on, and enjoyment of, the present moment. It can take a bit of effort to keep focused and to develop a regular meditation routine. Nevertheless, research demonstrates that it has many benefits for mind and body.
Meditation acts on areas of the brain that modulate the autonomic nervous system, which governs such functions as digestion and blood pressure—functions heavily affected by chronic stress. Many people find meditation an effective stress-reliever. Through its physiological effects, meditation has been found to effectively counter heart disease, chronic pain, and other conditions.
Specific types of meditation are associated with different documented effects. Mindfulness meditation, for instance, has been shown to decrease distraction and rumination, and it can make negative automatic thoughts seem less frequent and easier to let go of. Likewise, loving-kindness meditation may limit the frequency of repetitive thoughts, in addition to curbing charged responses to those thoughts.
Parasympathetic Rejuvenation Meditation with the Gong
The mantra for this meditation is the sound of the gong. As you listen to the gong’s sound, it will penetrate every cell and fiber of your body. At times it can seem frightening or overwhelming. Emotions and thoughts are provoked from the subconscious. The entire nervous system is put under a pressure to adjust and to heal itself. When that pressure builds, totally relax in the deepest meditation possible.
Surrender the mind and body. The sound will carry you beyond all fears. The pressure will release the nervous system from many illnesses. Feel yourself ride the sound into the Infinite itself.
If you play or listen to the gong 11 minutes or longer, do not drink any water for a half hour after the meditation. This meditation will clear the nerve-endings and make you very sensitive to the motions of prana and to the effects of sound. The restriction on water allows the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to interact with each other internally rather than turning their energy to another task.
The parasympathetic nervous system is ruled by sound. The sympathetic nervous system is ruled by vision. It is the sympathetic system that needs to be regulated. When it triggers too often and in the wrong regions of the body, you can be greatly weakened.
The parasympathetic system regulates the sympathetic. But it is weakened by drugs and by poor health. To regenerate the parasympathetic system, nothing is more powerful than the sound of the gong.
deni.yoga 