Lessons About Healing From a Wiener Dog
About 5 weeks ago our little dog friend Maynard was bitten in the head and almost died. I had no idea at the time of that horribly traumatic incident that I'd be learning a whole bunch about how healing works from a wiener dog.
Maynard's skull was fractured and his brain injured. After performing skull surgery, the vet said that he had no idea if Maynard would recover. In the two weeks following the surgery, Maynard was barely able to lift his head. I imagine that the pain was intense. It was at this point that I attempted to do some shamanic healing work for the little guy. My spirit helpers went to work mending and creating new neural pathways and they retrieved a piece of Maynard's soul that he lost as a result of the trauma. After the healing work was finished my helpers told me to let him rest for a few hours. So we left him alone.
Later that afternoon, my husband heard a squeak upstairs where Maynard was camping out. We ran upstairs and found the little bugger about 3 feet away from his bed facing the opposite direction. We were blown away. Not only did he make a sound for the first time, but he was able to move (more like drag) his body. About an hour later, Maynard started lifting his head and pushing his upper body off the floor. His head was pretty wobbly, but he was doing it all by himself. Amazing. Then he barked when a train went by. Maynard was on his way back!
In the weeks that followed Maynard has continued, and continues, to make mind blowing progress - which got me thinking . . . why has he responded so well to shamanic healing? I've concluded that there are two primary reasons: 1. Maynard loves being alive and he's one of the most determined creatures I've ever met, and 2. Maynard doesn't have all the mental trappings that we humans have. He doesn't have insecurities and doubts clouding his desire to get back to digging holes and hunting for snakes and mice.
This is something I think I knew intellectually, but wasn't able to really understand until I went through this experience with our little punk. Since I started on this shamanic path, I've wondered why some people have incredibly powerful healing experiences while others don't experience lasting effects. And now it's quite clear - how successful healing is depends greatly on how badly the person wants to heal. If someone requests that I do healing work on their behalf, but gives me all the power to make it happen, then the results are temporary. It's not up to me. I'm not that powerful. However, if the person uses the shamanic healing session as a jumping off point because there's nothing he/she wants more than to heal, then miracles happen.
It reminds me of when I was learning how to fight. During our courtship, my husband John taught me how to spar the old school way (some people go to movies and out to dinner - we went in the back yard and hit each other). He had a 3rd degree black belt in kung fu. I was a lowly first degree black belt. John was a really cool, sweet, and kind guy . . . until we bowed in and began a sparring session. When he rose from his bow, his eyes were different. And I got scared. And he kicked my ass - repeatedly. I watched him fight other people. He could get his opponents to flinch and turn their heads away from him just by looking at them with those crazy eyes. yikes.
And that's when I learned that fighting is only about 20% technique and 80% attitude. I believe the same is true for healing. If you approach your desire to heal like a warrior, you'll move right through the middle of your festering, oozing wounds and out the other side, all scarred up but with a ton of character. Now Maynard, he has some bad ass scars. And you know what that means? Serious character.
Here's to Maynard and his continued progress. May he get back to biting ankles soon . . .
Maynard's skull was fractured and his brain injured. After performing skull surgery, the vet said that he had no idea if Maynard would recover. In the two weeks following the surgery, Maynard was barely able to lift his head. I imagine that the pain was intense. It was at this point that I attempted to do some shamanic healing work for the little guy. My spirit helpers went to work mending and creating new neural pathways and they retrieved a piece of Maynard's soul that he lost as a result of the trauma. After the healing work was finished my helpers told me to let him rest for a few hours. So we left him alone.
Later that afternoon, my husband heard a squeak upstairs where Maynard was camping out. We ran upstairs and found the little bugger about 3 feet away from his bed facing the opposite direction. We were blown away. Not only did he make a sound for the first time, but he was able to move (more like drag) his body. About an hour later, Maynard started lifting his head and pushing his upper body off the floor. His head was pretty wobbly, but he was doing it all by himself. Amazing. Then he barked when a train went by. Maynard was on his way back!
In the weeks that followed Maynard has continued, and continues, to make mind blowing progress - which got me thinking . . . why has he responded so well to shamanic healing? I've concluded that there are two primary reasons: 1. Maynard loves being alive and he's one of the most determined creatures I've ever met, and 2. Maynard doesn't have all the mental trappings that we humans have. He doesn't have insecurities and doubts clouding his desire to get back to digging holes and hunting for snakes and mice.
This is something I think I knew intellectually, but wasn't able to really understand until I went through this experience with our little punk. Since I started on this shamanic path, I've wondered why some people have incredibly powerful healing experiences while others don't experience lasting effects. And now it's quite clear - how successful healing is depends greatly on how badly the person wants to heal. If someone requests that I do healing work on their behalf, but gives me all the power to make it happen, then the results are temporary. It's not up to me. I'm not that powerful. However, if the person uses the shamanic healing session as a jumping off point because there's nothing he/she wants more than to heal, then miracles happen.
It reminds me of when I was learning how to fight. During our courtship, my husband John taught me how to spar the old school way (some people go to movies and out to dinner - we went in the back yard and hit each other). He had a 3rd degree black belt in kung fu. I was a lowly first degree black belt. John was a really cool, sweet, and kind guy . . . until we bowed in and began a sparring session. When he rose from his bow, his eyes were different. And I got scared. And he kicked my ass - repeatedly. I watched him fight other people. He could get his opponents to flinch and turn their heads away from him just by looking at them with those crazy eyes. yikes.
And that's when I learned that fighting is only about 20% technique and 80% attitude. I believe the same is true for healing. If you approach your desire to heal like a warrior, you'll move right through the middle of your festering, oozing wounds and out the other side, all scarred up but with a ton of character. Now Maynard, he has some bad ass scars. And you know what that means? Serious character.
Here's to Maynard and his continued progress. May he get back to biting ankles soon . . .
Labels: shamanic healing
posted by wendy at 11:17 AM
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