MedShieldReg

The Native American warrior societies of old taught us about personal discipline. The truth is, fear is an emotion that can be put to good use; it can be used to develop compassion and wisdom. It can be mastered through awareness and commitment.

Uncertainty results form a lack of confidence. It manifests when we buy into what is going on "out there," rather than relying on the strengths each of us has "in here" to create the reality we want, regardless of what is happening around us.

Medicine Shields takes the approach that fear is an emotion that can be managed through a form of self-generating discipline, that it's an energy we can harness to work for us. We just need to learn how.

More often than not, irrational fears and phobias result from trauma. There are techniques available, such as Traumatic Incident Reduction, that can help us identify these traumas, no matter how remote they might seem, and release the emotional charge they carry. This is a technique and not a "therapy," and with a commitment to heal one's self, it can be a remarkably fast way to move through the traumas that fostered the fears to begin with. There will be some discussion of this technique, as it fits perfectly with the Shields work. As one elder put it, "This is traditional healing..."

You will put together a medicine shield at the beginning of this workshop. While it sets, we will build into it the knowledge that will help you navigate Life with confidence and certainty, no matter your age, no matter your experience. You will be taught about your personal Medicine Helper, how to establish that relationship, and how to finish out your Shield to maximize its capacity and your ability to understand and use it.

Fear and uncertainty. Topics we'd rather not have to deal with. Where fear has oozed its way into the collective psyche in unhealthy, destructive, and largely unnecessary ways, uncertainty has become its traveling partner.

It does not have to be this way. Even though the warriors of old were subjected to far greater reasons to fear and conditions of uncertainty than we are, what was it that enabled them to move forward anyway?

Yet, we've come to wear fear like a watch, and we check in with it about as often. We're subjected to a constant stream of fear-filled stimuli, saturated in fear imagery and verbiage.

What gave the warriors of old the courage to defend their people, even if it meant certain death? Where did that confidence come from? A genuine personal self-confidence, not some short-lived, hyped-up kamikaze state of mind? And we can know these warriors developed these qualities because along with their great commitment and determination, came equally great compassion and wisdom.

It is the conversion of fear to inner peace and the mastery of the impulse to flee that fosters wisdom, for that is when we come to truly understand our own power. We must master our emotions if we expect to master Life.