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Expressing Spirit's Power
When talking about a shaman's power, Carlos Castaneda's Yaqui shaman friend, Don Juan Matus once said that, “The Power just is, and It is the Power of Love."
Science has proven again and again the truth of this ancient, shamanic wisdom. Love is the balm that can heal and transform. It is the energy that created everything and is the force that can bring about balance and harmony. It is because of its awe inspiring power that we - shamanic practitioners and other spiritually focused people - need to cultivate our ability to love. In this time of economic strife and turbulence, it is especially critical to develop a loving and grateful attitude as our baseline. Instead of succumbing to the despair and worry which surround us, we must dare to think, feel and act in a loving manner!
Dr. Candace Pert is an internationally recognized pharmacologist who has published over 250 scientific articles. Many of you may have "met" her through the movie, What the Bleep Do We Know? and Bill Moyer's series, Healing and the Mind. According to Dr. Pert, feelings are the neuropeptides and receptors which carry the information that links the major systems of the body into "one unit that we can call the bodymind." She says, "We can no longer think of the emotions as having less validity than physical, material substance, but instead must see them as cellular signals that are involved in the process of translating information into physical reality, literally transforming mind into matter. Emotions are at the nexus between matter and mind, going back and forth between the two and influencing both."
In other words, our feelings have a direct impact upon the maintenance, repair, growth and defense system of every cell. If one chooses to be grateful and loving, we can program our bodies to be healthier, more robust and more resistant to disease and injury.
Insert toddler hugging bunny
In his book Love, Medicine and Miracles, Bernie Siegel reported a study about the profound effects love has for healing. The study involved feeding two groups of rabbits who were placed on a high cholesterol diet. One group was also given a "daily dose of loving." This group was handled, petted, played with and talked to each day. At the end of the trial, the rabbits' bodies were examined. The rabbits that had been loved showed 60% lower levels of atherosclerosis. In other words, they were healthier--showing a significantly lower amount of arterial damage than the other group.
Even observing loving acts may improve immune function. It was reported that people shown documentaries of Mother Teresa's work had increased levels of immunoglobulin-A in their saliva. This is an easily measured immune marker and the body's first defense against upper respiratory infections such as colds and flu.
Indeed, the act of loving can become an incredible force in our lives. This miraculous vibration has the ability to heal, restore and transform. By generating grateful, loving energies, we have the ability to counteract the effects of the loneliness, isolation, anxiety and depression that are so prevalent in our culture.
We realize that there is suffering around us and we want the world to be a better place. If you would like to be a part of the solution, I challenge you to take the time everyday to experience feelings of love and gratitude. Become a warrior for the best and highest good of All That Is and lavish feelings of love on ALL the beings you with whom you come into contact.
When we choose to love a friend, a pet, the Earth or ourselves in a conscious and active way, we change the world in and around us. We produce inner harmony, peace and well-being. We also create a healthier environment for those beings we most care about - our friends and family.
"In order to create there must be a dynamic force,
and what force is more potent than love?"
- Igor Stravinsky
© 2009 Evelyn C. Rysdyk
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Evelyn C. Rysdyk, author of Modern Shamanic Living is a nationally recognized presenter. Included in the book Traveling Between the Worlds she is among the world’s most influential writers and teachers of shamanism.
Originally trained in core shamanism, she has integrated practices taught to her by elders from North and South America, Central Asia, Nepal and Siberia. She is also a Medicine for the Earth Teacher--teaching ways that transfigured human energy can heal our planet.
With her partner C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW she presents
eco-spiritually focused training programs--which include advanced shamanism and shamanic healing---across the USA and Canada. In addition, as a founding member of True North, a unique, integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine--she collaborates with physicians, nurses, a psychiatrist, a naturopath and several other complementary healthcare practitioners to provide a new model of health care that includes Spirit.
www.spiritpassages.org
www.spiritliving.org
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