Shamanic Healing: After Effects

[marylouise]

I'd appreciate any thoughts about my experience. I'm baffled about what's happening now, worried but hopeful.

I choose to see a shamanic healer as an alternative to EMDR after experiencing a shamanic journey at my yoga center and revisiting Peter Levine's "Waking the Tiger". I went hoping for some movement around one specific memory that is keeping me stuck creatively and professionally. The session was intense. I responded immediately to its rituals, and tears leaked steadily from my eyes during most of it. I believe the shaman guided me through an extraction, in which energy "from" my immediate family members was removed from my energy field. It seemed to have little to do with my initial "request," but did resonate with me emotionally.

Immediately afterwards, I was shaky and tearful. However, I had a busy day and weekend. Honestly, I recovered quickly and I wondered if the shamanic session would have any long-term effects at all. I was skeptical.

On Monday however I had a strange experience, unlike any I've had before. I was writing (as I do every morning), and wasn't able to continue. I felt physical pain, and fell into a strange state that felt something like dreaming but I wasn't actually asleep. I experienced more physical pain during this state and I cried a lot, but it has faded in my memory like a dream. I came out of it and ate lunch, but fell back into this state in the afternoon. I "woke" (if that's the right word), and was shocked that the time was 7:00 at night! I felt that barely any time had gone by at all. It scared me, like I lost time. I slept for a full 7 hours that night.

I was busy on Tuesday and Wednesday, but had episodes of feeling physical pain, intense sadness and crying. Today I again experienced physical pain, exhaustion, and deep sadness, though nothing as extreme as what happened Monday. I'm mostly so tired.

Are these effects from the shamanic healing session? Is this actually healing? Has anyone else been through something like this? I have experienced after effects from EMDR, but they come in the form of body memories and flashbacks and a tendency towards dissociation, things I'm familiar with after many years of struggling with trauma. This is so different. Obviously, these experiences are interrupting my life, but it'd be worth it if it was healing. Is it? Or, have I just been triggered? I don't know how to make sense out of it.

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

Being a former Wiccan, shamanistic healing might not be the right thing for you depending on the degree your PTSD is. Being emotional in regards to the pain you've experienced is expected however, I am concerned about this interrupting your life. Shamanistic healing is for those who have minor issues, not PTSD I don't think however I could be wrong. I know that alternative medicine is the way to go but with PTSD being so complex in the different degrees we've all experienced, it may not be the right thing you could've done.

I would see a doctor immediately and see what they say. I am not a doctor so I don't know but being a former Wiccan and believing in shamanistic rituals, this might have been too much for you.

 

[marylouise]

@Ladyghosthunter, I understand your concerns. I should have clarified that I have had many years of traditional therapy, including EMDR. I am usually symptom-free of PTSD, except when actively working on recovery. I am interested now in working on a specific, particularly brutal experience that occured over multiple days and brought me near death. I want to work on this because it is preventing me from moving forward in my life.

Modern shamans definitely feel that shamanic healing is useful to people who have undergone trauma. The Shamanic tradition even includes a specific practice, soul retrieval, that is meant to address the "splitting off" that occurs during trauma. Peter Levine, renown in the field of trauma, has even called out shamanic practices as effective means of addressing trauma, at least in their original context (within indigenous tribes). I don't think it's accurate to say that shamanic healing is not intended for PTSD, since shamans themselves definitely have this intent.

I'm honestly not sure that it's possible to deal with an experience as brutal as the one I endured without having my life interrupted. My daily routine was certainly interrupted by EMDR. It was interrupted by somatic processing. It's now apparently? been interrupted by shamanic healing. I would love to move forward with my recovery without having my life interrupted though. I just don't know how that is possible.

 

[Meadowsweet]

What happened on the Monday that you describe sounds like flashbacks. There is often confusion about what a flashback is, but that what you describe is what I think of as a full on flashback. When they happen they also make me extremely exhausted.

I don't know if it's healing, I'm thinking that if you cried lots maybe it is. But I'm only guessing.

 

[Springer80]

I would say that seen as you had to go and be functioning right after the session, then you probably backed up what needed to come out for a few days anyway.

I would also say, stop wondering if it was healing or not and rest with your body more and give it time.
It sounds like you've been in therapy for a while so you know there aren't any miracle shifts that make everything better all at once.

 

[Seasounds]

Having had two shamanic healings, and from having studies with a shaman, I'm venturing to propose that the extraction both released and opened a wound, and that you, being somewhat overwhelmed, may want some help to shift, to a calmer emotional state, so you can function easier?

It is one thing to have the scab lifted, and the puss release, to allow a new tissue to form, compared to the scab lifted, and the pus keeps churning upon itself, and the wound not healing. Basically, a healing process vs an aggravation.

You"ll be able to distinguish between the two. If it is the later, you may want to involve a therapist, to complete the shamanic healing, to help you settle into a more comfortable place.

I'm all for opening up the depths, dealing with painful emotions, etc, if I feel it is progressive. I also need help, from time to time, to shift into a more emotionally stable place, this prevents me from feeling stuck in a painful process, and it prevents (the prolonged releasing of) painful memories making me more depressed.

I've found shamans better at 'opening processes' than 'processing and completing processes'.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

I would say that seen as you had to go and be functioning right after the session, then you probably backed up what needed to come out for a few days anyway.

I would also say, stop wondering if it was healing or not and rest with your body more and give it time.
It sounds like you've been in therapy for a while so you know there aren't any miracle shifts that make everything better all at once.

Agree with Springer. Also, to me it sounds like healing, like finally some s*it was able to pour out of you. It's only logical that it would make you so tired. When I had somebody send me Reiki, I also felt superweird, like I was breaking down, and cried, and felt tired afterwards, although not as strongly as you have experienced it.

I'm actually happy for you :)

 

[marylouise]

@change, I really appreciate you giving your perspective after experiencing shamanic healing yourself, and @Radise, I also appreciate you sharing your experience with reiki, which I also considered doing. I wanted to try something that addressed the "subtle" body. @Springer80, your words resonated with me about not focusing on whether it was healing and giving my body more time.

Something I've noticed with this process is that it has not included dissociation or flashbacks, unless @Meadowsweet is correct & I experienced a different kind of flashback than ever before on Monday. But that felt more like dipping into a trance state, something I've experienced in the past only with EMDR sessions and with the shamanic journeying. What happened scared me a bit, but because it was unusual. I invited it though, by opening myself up to my unconscious processes through free-writing. It didn't feel bad, though it was exhausting.

I know that it's now seen as primarily important with trauma work that sufferers avoid being retraumatized through intrusive memories or flashbacks. But what is the line between that and processing? I have had flashbacks and dissociation with EMDR. I have also had experiences that are similar in quality to what I've been experiencing this week: body pain, strong emotion, exhaustion. I woke up today in incredible, full body pain, but pain that I can relate to the experience I'm trying to work through. It's horrible, but is it necessary? I've had a lot of health issues - autoimmune & fibromyalgia - the kind that used to be labeled "somatic". Maybe my body needs to express this pain?

I'm hoping this weekend and the following week will be a break. I'm preparing for a trip. I would have liked to be more prepared by now, if not for all the crap going on with me, but hopefully it will all work out. I'm grateful to be going away right now.

 

[ombm]

I've done shamanic extractions and soul retrievals and I have severe PTSD and a dissociative disorder. The shaman I worked with is also a psychotherapist who does EMDR. I had some severe reaction after the extraction. The extraction was done at a retreat and I felt as if I was journeying for the entire night afterwards. In the morning when I got up, I was very shaky and nauseous and anxious. The shaman spent some time with me, brushed excess energy away from me using Reiki. I eventually sobbed for about 20 minutes and vomited twice. And it was all over. Leaving me very peaceful and content for the rest of the day.

If I were you, I would call my shaman and talk over what is happening. Maybe you need some additional journeying or herbal medicine.

 

[marylouise]

@ombm, thanks for giving your perspective! That's so interesting that you worked with a shaman who was also a psychotherapist who did EMDR.

I definitely haven't had an emotional resolution (is that how it works?). I have a vague sense of energy around me that isn't mine, though it's strange to put that into words. I'm going to see the shaman again tomorrow.

 

[Journeys Massage]

Yep, I'm a shamanic practitioner and bodyworker, and I have PTSD, though it is much less influential on my life these days. It once completely owned my life for a long while, as I had multiple traumatic moments from childhood. Thanks to shamanic healing, EMDR, counseling, and bodywork, I was able to gain a stronger foothold on my life. This did not happen immediately, but over time, and it was not always a bed of roses. Actually, it was never a bed of roses, haha. I've had similar moments that you have described. And I've always felt better afterwards. A good indicator if its something you should be concerned about or not. A great teacher once told me that the body is the first thing trauma enters, and the last thing it leaves.

 

[ChloeCelesete]

Oh, absolutely, my friend! Your body is undergoing a healing crisis! And that is a wonderful thing (though it certainly is disconcerting and not necessarily fun). After my first shamanic healing session I felt very ill for several hours. I experienced nausea, profuse foul-smelling sweat, shakiness; I even broke out in a strange symmetrical rash along both arms. Afterward, I felt exhausted for about nine days, sleeping for eleven hours a night on average. My motivation plummeted and I worried about a worsening of my condition (complex PTSD and chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia). The healing crisis (actual name) was temporary, however. It is a good indication that there is a purge happening, and that soon you will feel the effects of the healing. I am so happy for you that you have decided to take your treatment to the shamanic level. Good luck, and hang in there. You will feel better soon--better than you have in a long time. (post-script: After you feel better for a time, do continue your shamanic journey. I found that with each treatment, I experienced a different healing crisis, and felt better in different ways after the energy purge. Cumulatively, it has had such a positive affect on my life. Keep it up!)