My journey of healing in Guatemala is something that I will truly never forget. It’s one of those pivotal lifetime moments that completely transformed the world as I knew it.
I’ve put off writing this blog while I let the whole experience really settle in. A few months ago, I received an email inviting me to Guatemala for a spiritual retreat to spend time with the many indigenous Mayan shamans there and gain a deeper understanding of their people and their way of life.
A Shaman in the Western World
I saw the word “shaman” and immediately jumped at the opportunity. It’s a word that has always felt so right to my Soul. That day, I paid my deposit and began planning my journey.
I expected to learn some things, and have an adventure, but I didn’t fully expect what the experience turned into. I myself, am a “shaman” (or someone who works with the spiritual world in order to receive guidance, etc). Not everyone believes in this kind of thing, and I didn’t until only two years ago when I received the call. But I am now given guidance every day.
The Mayan communities living around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala live a life surrounded by Shamanism. When a person becomes ill, these people do not call a doctor – they call the local shaman, and pay a visit to Maximon (their deity).
Follow Your Inner Guidance
I went on this journey, alone, butwith strangers. I knew the owner from having a couple of calls, and from a mutual friend, but that was it. By nature, I can be very shy. I don’t put myself out there often and I still have some social anxiety at times. Somehow, leading up to this trip, I had absolutely no fear. It was shocking. The only worry that I truly felt was leaving my child for that amount of time, for the first time since his birth.
In the months before the trip, I tuned into my inner guidance and was told many great things about the healing that this adventure would bring both myself and others. I was told that I would learn, and grow, but also that I would help the others going on the trip at the same time. I didn’t fully understand it, but I knew that going on this healing journey in Guatemala would be life changing.
And it was.
I met nineteen incredible people – all with different gifts that most would not believe. I witnessed an entirely new way of living, by locals who had close to nothing. And I was accepted, for exactly the person that I am. I healed, transformed in a way, and came home able to navigate my own new way of being. This also affected the symptoms I had that the past can cause.
These people quickly became my family, and I will forever hold each of them in my heart. I can’t wait until our next adventure, but until then, I will continue to marvel over our last.
Great job sharing your feelings, observations and pictures! Thanks!!