A very important aspect of Shamanism is the idea that we are not separate from nature, but that we are totall a part of it. At first glance, most people would probably say, "Yeah, I get that", but do they really? Look around and you'll see that they don't.

What is it to be totally a part of nature? Does that mean living off the land? No, it has nothing to do with living "off the land". This is a thought that came from settlers observing the indians and not understanding their culture, so deciding that they were living off the land...the closest thing the settlers could come to understanding the indian, with the experiences the settlers had to that point.

Being part of nature means being able to close your eyes and to feel the ebb and flow of life around us. It means being able to sense the life in a single blade of grass or a stout strong tree. It is the knowledge of knowing that everything on Earth is interrelated; every rock, stream, tree, bush, animal, person...all of these are touched by the web of life, and what happens to the most insignificant of these can have an enormous empact on all of the others. It is the idea that all things should be done with thought and with thanks. Can all of this be practiced in our daily lives? Absolutely, and in some ways, many people already do, though probably without a much larger view of why they do what they do.

A good example is when we sit down to eat. Perhaps we take a few moments to consider how tasty the potato looks, or how wonderful the meat smells. Many people even give thanks for the meal, where they thank God or the Goddess or Mother Earth for the food. This is all good. But fewer give a moment of reflection to think about how that wonderful tasting potato is helping us to keep strong and do the things that we must do, or how it was the grass that fed the creature that gave us the meat that is allowing us to survive. Yet is it not so? It is customary for a shaman to take a few moments to consider everything they consume, before they eat or drink it. If they don't feel comfortable with prayer, it need not be prayer, just an acknowledgement of all the millions of little steps that were necessary in order to bring us something so 'simple' as a potato.

This is constant work in action and it is a constant learning experience, because everything going on around us is made up of many many steps, never just a single one. It is that thought that lets us see how each thing around us is interrelated to each other, and this is part of what gives a Shaman their balance. I will explain more about balance at another time, but suffice to say that ALL troubles we face; mentally, physically, and spiritually, are caused by balance. Western thought is to heal the biggest problems first and work backward. This is not the shaman way. The shaman realizes that our lives are built by tiny links that form chains, and the chains weave a fabric, and that fabric fills us and surrounds us, and ultimately is us. For any problem, the shaman first looks for the weak links. Once those are strengthened, the chains become stronger, and the fabric more enduring. The larger the problem, the more weak links there will be that need to be strengthened. And once the links become stronger, and the chains become stronger, and the fabric becomes stronger, and WE become stronger, the problems resolve themselves. To the western thinker, this is backward and incomprehensible. So they fix their big problem only to find that another takes it's place, because the links are still weak and since they interrelate to so many others, the pattern of that weakness can take an infinite number of paths. Western thinking is to make it look like there is balance and harmony. Shamanic thinking is to BE in balance and harmony.

Here is a very brief and interesting little exercise for you, that can be done anytime, even many times a day, and even if you are doing many other things...or especially if you are doing many other things. If you find yourself rushed or harried or feel mental confusion due to doing too many things at once, try this:

Pause. Stop doing what you are doing for a moment. Feel your breathing slow. Then reach out with your mind and see what you can feel with your eyes closed, of what is around you. Try to feel the life in the grass or tree just outside, or the house plant across the room. Visualize that life, don't open your eyes and look at it, use your mind to create the image of that plant. You can do the same thing with an animal; a robin out in the yard, the cat curled up in a ball, a dog...the point is, first feel the life, then let your mind create the image. Feel how that plant or animal is vibrant with life, expecting nothing, demanding nothing, but happy for it's existance. Then open your eyes and continue what you were doing.

The whole exercise should take no more than 2-3 minutes to do. But see if you don't have less stress and more energy when you do this.