A Hand To Hold

I am an acompañera: one who accompanies on the inner journey. Always seeking to bridge the gap between the inner and outer worlds.

In my early 20’s I began my journey of self discovery. I found a teacher here and there for different techniques for healing or creative expression. However, as I made my way in the spiritual realms and my own inner healing and exploration, the deeper I went the less I was able to find people who could support and guide me. I felt I was out on a limb by myself and could find no one who knew more about it than I did. It was confusing and scary and I held back as often as I went forward. Many times I would lament, if I only had a hand to hold I could go on. I was driven deeper within to the spiritual realm where I could find wisdom way beyond what I knew and guidance I could trust. I was even slower to discover how to integrate what I learned into day to day life.

I have learned to trust the healing process and intuitive guidance and to dance between the inner and outer worlds. It is my joy to offer to you on your own journey the hand to hold I longed for on mine; to be someone who supports with compassion and without judgement, someone who trusts the process when you can’t, someone with the skills and techniques to support you as you unravel the tangled web.

When I refer to the inner world I am referring to connecting with the inner spiritual realms of intuition and wisdom, devotion, spirit guides and helpers, relationship with Mother Earth and with Source.

Yet we can not access such light without making peace with our darkness as well.

The within also refers to the unconscious, the place that holds the secrets of what we believe and why we react to things the way we do, suppressed emotions, wounds from the past and our fears for the future.

An example of how these aspects of the inner and outer world weave together:

A client came to me very emotional. A doctor had discovered a polyp in her colon and she was going the next day to have it biopsied. I guided her in a shamanic journey inside her body. She saw something that looked like a mushroom, the head was black and the stem was red. She talked with this mushroom, asking why it had come, what it needed for healing. The mushroom spoke of repressed anger and resentments and expressions that were needed. The next day when she woke from the procedure, the doctor began to describe to her what he had found. She stopped him saying, “What you are describing sounds like a mushroom.” "Yes," he said, "it looked very much like a mushroom. The head was cancer and the stem was not." She had not only seen the shape but the distinction between them. She had also learned the importance of her need for self expression.

You may wonder; if it is so scary and confusing why is it worth feeling the uncomfortable feelings and seeing the things we would rather not see about ourselves?

As you bridge the gap between your outer and inner self you will drop many of the harsh self judgements you have held and begin to look at yourself with compassion, curiosity and even reverence. Beliefs that have unconsciously controlled you will reveal themselves so you can make more conscious choices. Your definition of who you are and what you expect of yourself and of the world will expand as you integrate parts rejected long ago, including wondrous and lively parts that did not fit into the small image you had of yourself. You will begin to trust the inner wisdom and guidance available to you from the deep within. You will become more creative because creativity flows from the deeper part of yourself to manifest in the outer world. Your relationship to your own deep within will lead you to the source of life.

It is a good road to walk, this bridge between these worlds, full of adventure and discovery, darkness and light, spirit and matter. You travel daily in the outer world but it is the deep underground river flowing beneath that gives meaning and purpose to daily life. Come, journey with me into the unknown places, you will find yourself at home.