Following is a list of the most common techniques that may be incorporated into a Shamanic Healing Ceremony.
Please note, that these techniques are not chosen by the practitioner or the client. Which techniques will be included or not are determined through divination and consulting with the healing spirits.
  • Spirit Channeling- This is a very common part of our practice. We work with taking a step back from ourselves so that the healing spirits can take a step forward and work through us. By letting the healing spirits merge with and inhabit us they are able to come into direct contact with a client- offering healing, nurturing, compassion, and soothing comfort. The spirits will often bring their medicine through healing songs that are then sung directly to the client.
  • Limpia- This is a purification technique to cleanse a person's energy and aura. We most commonly work with a fan of dried leaves from the jungle called a chacapa or with bundles of fresh leaves. The leaves are shaken like a rattle and used to sweep a person down, drawing harmful energy away from them as this is done. The process is commonly accompanied by challay, which is the ritual spraying of a person with flower waters. Sometimes eggs are also used in this process to draw illness from the body into the eggs- which are then buried in the woods after the ceremony.
  • Extraction Healing- Through people's lives and their daily contact with the physical world they are bombarded by energies and thoughts that do not belong to them. These energies can attach themselves and take up residence in a person's energy field or body. This foreign energy can then create blockages and imbalance that leads to physical illness, emotional blockages, and a lack of mental clarity. Through the process of Extraction Healing we connect to our helping spirits and scan a person on an energetic/spirit level to detect where these energy intrusions reside. We then let the helping spirits draw out these energy intrusions from a person so that they can be returned back to the universe and go where they are needed.
  • Drum and Rattle Doctoring- The soul doctoring spirits will often come through the vibrations of the drums and rattles to heal a person. The vibrations of these instruments break up dense energy and carry power from the spirit world into this one.
  • Khuya Rumi- Roughly translated into "impassioned stone" or "stone of love", this is a technique from Peruvian shamanism that works with healing stones that have been awakened to radiate spiritual medicine. The khuya stones are placed on a client and prayed with to infuse their healing into the client. Some of these stones have been collected from very sacred sites in North, Central, and South America and then awakened for their healing medicine. While other khuya stones that we work with have come from Lake Titicaca and the Andes in Peru and been passed down from medicine person to medicine person, being worked with for healing by several generations.
  • Chumpi (Apu) Stone Healing- The word Chumpi translated in the "Quechua" language to the word Belt.  The word "Apu" refers to spirits of the sacred mountains in Peru.  In Peru, a Curandero or Chumpi master uses these very unique healing stones to create what is called the "bands of power" around a person.  This process can create bands of protection around a person to shield them from any unwanted energy they may encounter during their daily life. Chumpi stones are also used in balancing and clearing a person's energy centers. The healing power of the Apu (mountain) Spirits also helps is grounding, stabilizing, and fortifying a person's energy. We work with Chumpi sets made of meteorite and alabaster that were attuned to us by a Q'ero (traditional Andean shaman) while we were visiting the Peruvian Andes.
  • Power Animal Retrieval- Everyone has helping spirits and guides. One form of guide is a person's Power Animal, which is a spirit guide and protector in the form of an animal. Power Animals are also referred to as Totems, or a Nagual in some traditions. Our Power Animal is our main guide and spiritual ally and if a person is not connected to their Power Animal they may suffer from a loss of energy, a weakened immune system, a sense of loneliness, and a lack of personal power. The process of Power Animal Retrieval is a technique where the shaman sends their consciousness to the spirit worlds while drumming or rattling on behalf of my client. The shaman then works with the spirit helpers to track down a person's Power Animal and return that energy to the client. This can also be done for a client who is already connected to their Power Animal but needs that connection and energy reactivated.
  • Soul Retrieval- This is a process of returning fragmented, stifled, or "lost" aspects of a person to them to restore wholeness of the soul. Through trauma, extended neglect, or mistreatment we may suffer from what is known as Susto or Soul Loss. This is a sense of feeling like part of us is missing or no longer accessible. We may feel "dead" or "numb" inside, apathetic about life, or as if we are a passenger in our own body. Through Soul Retrieval a shaman enters a trance state to find these missing or fragmented parts of the soul and return them to a client with the aid of the healing spirits.
  • Divination- This is the process of asking the spirits for guidance on behalf of a person. This is not "predictive" work to be used for "what will happen" questions. Instead it is worked with to gain guidance into what a person needs for healing and what shifts or changes they need to make to live a healthier and more joyful life. We most commonly work with candle divination, drum divination, throwing of stones, or Mayan Day Keeping.
  • The Sacred Pipe- This is one of the most sacred items and rituals of indigenous North America. Different nations have different stories, but all agree that at a time of suffering a spirit being came into our world and delivered the first Sacred Pipe. They taught the first nation people how to restore harmony with the pipe. From that time on the Sacred Pipe has always been a bridge between our worlds to carry prayers. In my experience the Sacred Pipe brings a great deal of power to a healing session. The spirits come forth with the pipe in a way that is very humbling to witness and often brings people to tears and deep gratitude.
  • Tibetan Bon Soul Healing (Tse Dup)- Healing practices from the Bon tradition of Tibet. Incorporating the accumulation, balancing, and harmonizing of the Five Elements (earth, air, fire, water, space) within our being; calling forth the restoration on our life force, longevity, and soul essence; and working with various ancient mantras to affect healing.