Monday, September 19, 2011

A Shaman in town!


The great Mexican Teacher, Shaman and Healer Monyca Bouras, is in Athens! I feel blessed to have the opportunity to benefit from the teachings of this conscientious and powerful “curandera”!

For those of you not familiar with the term, the word shaman comes from the Tungusic language of Siberia and now a days is used to describe a practitioner. Yet, I prefer to have my teacher explain that which she understands all about: 

Monyca, what is a shaman?
Monyca - The Shaman in the old days, was the lawyer, the physician, the priest all together, the same person. In the original communities in human kind, it was the king and the shaman. The king was the leader and the shaman took care of all other parts of the community.
Shamans are found in all societies. A shaman is someone who understands reality in a wider way. By understanding it one can move it. Understanding is the power! Shamanism is the path of wisdom.



When you say one can move it, do you mean the energy?
Monyca - For lack of a better word, I would say affect or modify energy and therefore, reality. The actual healing, the cleansings, the understanding of situations and illnesses does this.

Why would someone see a shaman today?
Monyca - Shamanism is valuable to the everyday person for it transmits / teaches a different view on life. In life we have certain things we feel we HAVE to do (find a job, buy a house, get married) and if you’re still not happy when you achieve these goals, you feel lost.
The shamanic point of view is wider, more open and permitting. It is limitless, not in the way that one doesn’t strive to have a house or a partner but in that it recognizes that these are just pieces of something bigger. Widening your comprehension of what life is, eases tension.

Can you further explain what you mean with limitless?
Monyca - OK let me give you an example: a person can be very worried and stressed out because they gained weight, or their boyfriend left them and then one day a doctor tells them: “you have brain cancer”! That really puts things in perspective.
Of course you don’t have to get cancer to widen your perspective. One of the great teachings of shamanism is that at the end of the day, the understanding that there are more meaningful things in life, gives you the freedom of not caring so much and not taking things so seriously. And that is a beauty!

How did you come into this path?
Monyca - My grandmother was a healer although I didn’t know it because I never met her.  It became obvious that it was there, not only genetically but in the family system. I had little hints when I was a little girl, like knowing when the phone was going to ring. My mom tried to stop this from happening, by being very reactive towards it (due to fear) so it closed that opening. Then I bumped into my main teacher, Carlos de Leon because I wanted to study martial arts with him but he probably saw something in me and said I should practice shamanism.

What is it that you do exactly?
Monyca – I do healings and cleansings of spaces and people, rituals like the ceremony of light, and spiritual development counseling.  I teach Ontogonic Shamanism since 1994.  
What I found through the years is that this path has given me an enormous amount of joy. It might sound cheesy but seeing people smile again and tell me how I changed their lives is something I couldn’t live without anymore. Sometimes it is very tiring and freaky but all in all I have always had a lot of fun.

What d you mean with tiring?
Monyca - Although as shamans and healers we are taught how to handle our energy, I can get very tired after a day of many cleansings or after cleaning a big building. There have been cases when I had to sleep for 2 days after a particular cleansing. Yet, actual patterns change and people and situations do get healed and this is what’s wonderful about what I do.

Moyca will be in Greece until the beginning of October.
For a consultation call: 6970 475 857



Monday, September 12, 2011

Regrets, I had a few...

Sometimes I forget I am only human! 


Sometimes I expect so much of myself and am left dumbstruck when I make a mistake. As if mistakes are only acceptable when others make them. 


Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt the weight of regret so heavy on your shoulders you wish you could just lie in bed and wait for this feeling to pass...in 100 years preferably! 


Feeling a little blue, I stumbled across the following quote:


"Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future" 
Sivananda 


I couldn't control my feeling of anger towards this enlightened being who so simply put forth the command to "not repeat them in the future"! How dare he make it sound so easy?! 


Choosing to ruminate over the deplorable mistake kept me stuck in thoughts of self aversion. How could I have been so wrong? How could I have done something so bad? Judgement, judgement, judgement!


It took me a few days to realize that what would really help me get over dropping the ball, and moving on to simply "not repeating it in the future" is to evaluate how useful was it? 


How useful is  bringing into my life more of what I don't want? Like author Caroline Myss once said in a lecture, our life is like an investment. Who would keep investing in shares that don't bring them sufficiently high returns? If the return on investment in not high or satisfactory, one simply does not invest again. Simple as that! 


Humans make mistakes. It's part of being human! We are constantly on the road to growth and evolution, and there is usually little growth without pain and suffering. 


So next time you, like me, make a mistake, simply thank the heavens for the teaching and do not repeat it again. Like a wise investor, take it as a lesson, keep on investing else where and don't waste your precious time judging yourself. 


To our prosperity! 







Tuesday, September 6, 2011

We are all in this together!


I have come across an African word and concept that describes what I wish for the world today.

UBUNTU


Although Ubuntu has a much more profound and broad meaning, one interpretation that serves my purpose is:



"I am what I am because of who we all are." Leymah Gbowee

As previously mentioned, I believe Ubuntu has a very profound meaning. Today, it resonated in my heart when listening to a new friend talk about her life. I tried in vain to hide my tears while listening to the sheer hardship she endured as a child and the extraordinary abundance that she created for herself ever since. 


Yet the magic lies in that she was willing to generously share her story and help me earnestly understand that if she has done it, I, or anyone for that matter, can do the same! Not once did I see a hint of regret or bitterness for what fate dropped in her arms as a little girl. On the contrary, I saw appreciation for hardship, I saw gratitude for life just as it is.  I admired as I felt her eagerness to share these feelings with others.


We talked about the power of our dreams, "Never be afraid of dreaming" She so wisely said "For your dreams will feed your soul and that will keep you moving". We talked about the power of our positive thoughts and how angels speak through those we interact with.


For a moment I wished with all my heart that everyone around me shared in this generosity of spirit. Like the Africans, we can learn to take part on others' happiness and prosperity and know that one's success does not mean his neighbor's failure. Quite the opposite.


Kindness generates kindness and love only spreads out to more love. 


We are all interconnected! 


"I am what I am because of who we all are!"