Sneak Peek…Shhhh! Don’t tell!
Jodi Aman let me interview her about narrative therapy. This form of therapy helps us to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves and assign different meanings to our personal history. As you can imagine, this is especially helpful for former and present targets of abuse because we’re so hard on ourselves.
Here is a piece of the interview I took out of the newsletter, but want to share with you anyway. So without further adieu…Jodi Aman on Shapeshifting!
Shapeshifting
Me: Jodi, you are a Master Healer and Shape Shifter. My knowledge about shape shifting is limited, but I know some people shape shift to imbue themselves with the power of an animal they feel can help them. I’ve also shape-shifted my abuser down to the size of a fly, picked him up and flushed him down the toilet! Mentally, of course (Hypnosis for Abuse Victims and Recovering Survivors). Am I on the right track in my understanding? What is shape shifting and how could it help us?
Jodi: Shapeshifting just means transforming. Transformation is a conscious change. For healing, the most important aspect to change is our beliefs. Our beliefs affect us on every level. We experience what we believe rather than believe what we experience. So shapeshifting our beliefs can change our whole life.
You shapeshifting your abuser into a fly was meant to take away his power over you. There is huge meaning in metaphor. This probably shifted some energy that had been keeping you feeling subjugated, flushing him had you feeling empowered. Our thoughts has vast effects on our emotions.
We can shapeshift our attitude, our actions, our self-identity, our relationships, our physical body (as is healing a cut), but we can also shapeshift a system or organization as in washing hands campaign in schools during the swine flu decreased the magnitude of the epidemic.
Also, like you said, we can connect with our Spirit Guides and feel energized by their presence during hard times. The word shapeshifting seems steeped in mysticism, but we do it every day and it is very powerful.
Newsletter Scheduled for Thursday
I’m excited for you to read the rest of Jodi’s interview, full of helpful advice for those in and out of abusive relationships. The first newsletter is almost complete and will be in your inbox Thursday morning, bright and early. [update: read it here] I hope you will give me your feedback after you read it – after all, this newsletter is for you and it should reflect what’s on your mind.