Connect To Your Spirit Animal

Just for a moment,

Close your eyes,

And take three deep breaths,

Let your shoulders drop,

Let any tension that you are holding in your body,

Let that go,

Soften the muscles,

And all of the external stimulation,

The chatter,

The sounds,

The noise,

Just for now,

Give that permission to move away,

Or move along.

Take three more deep breaths,

Enjoy the fullness of your lungs,

Enjoy that sensation of the inhale coming into the body,

And really enjoy the exhale,

Make it a sigh,

Sigh with a smile,

You are here,

This is your time,

And if you wish you can set a little sankalpa,

A little intention for this gathering,

And know that this is a beautiful space of light and love for this journey and this connection.

And you don't have to open your eyes,

You can keep your eyes closed for a moment,

This is your sacred time,

And I welcome you with my heart,

My light,

We are gathering here to meet and receive the wisdom from our spirit animals,

Our guides,

And it's going to maybe highlight for you today your strengths,

Or lessons,

Or remind us that we are never alone,

And whether in this practice you might meet a familiar animal or creature,

Maybe a mythical animal or creature,

Or just something that surprises you altogether,

Trust that whatever appears is exactly what your soul needs in this moment.

Okay,

So you can continue to just listen now,

As I just share a little bit with you about spirit animals,

And also our power animals too,

If any questions come up,

Or you just want to share something,

Then feel free to pop it in the chat,

And after this we'll go into our deeper meditation practice,

So I hope you feel like you've arrived now,

You're here,

I'm here in this practice,

Ready to go.

In the shamanic and indigenous traditions,

Animals are very much respected and seen as sacred guides and teachers,

And they sometimes appear in our dreams,

They can appear in meditations,

They can appear when we are performing ceremonies,

And sometimes they just pop into our conscious awareness on an everyday level to give us messages,

To give us strength,

To remind us of lessons,

And I'm using the phrase spirit animal and power animal,

And I know that some people might use different terminology,

But just for the sake of not confusing it too much,

I'm going to talk about spirit animals as one kind of area,

And power animals as another.

Feel free to jump in and share your thoughts on this too,

But this is how I kind of work with this,

So spirit animals,

Spirit animals are symbolic guides,

Connecting to you on the life path and the journey that you're on now,

They come in when you need them,

They come into a particular moment of your life to highlight maybe what you need or what you need to embody,

So for example,

Just kind of off the top of my head,

A butterfly spirit guide might appear at a time when you're going through a transformation,

And it's encouraging you to embrace change.

Spirit animals can change throughout your life,

They're not fixed,

Different ones might step in at different stages,

Different challenges,

Different experiences,

And they're like our spirit guides,

They come and walk this section of the path with us when we need them,

And the energy that they bring when we need them,

So you could think of spirit animals like messengers,

Or even mirrors of what's going on in your life,

And we can connect to them through meditation,

In our dreams,

Or you know,

You might just suddenly just feel the presence of one,

Or see a picture of one,

And it starts that connection.

So that's more our spirit animals,

Now our power animals,

They're much more deeply rooted and connected to us,

And a power animal is more,

It represents your essence,

It kind of stays with you throughout your whole life,

And in a lot of shamanic traditions they believe that you have one power animal through your whole life,

One that represents your strengths and your wisdom,

And empowers you,

So when you receive a connection to your power animal,

It is reminding you of your essence,

You know,

It's reminding you of who you are,

And what strengths or knowledge or wisdom that's already within you,

You just need to pull it forward now,

And quite often your power animals come to you,

Maybe when you're doing a healing session,

Or meditations of course,

They can come to you in visions,

And similar to the spirit animal,

It's just distinguishing the two,

It's like working out,

Okay,

Are you my spirit guide,

A spirit animal,

Or are you my power animal?

And once you've kind of opened up that relationship with your power animal,

Then you call on them whenever you need to be reminded of who you are,

And your essence,

And your energy,

And it's kind of like that constant guide,

So you can think of a power animal as your lifetime ally,

The one that keeps nudging you back on track,

And reminding you of who you are,

And that's in a nutshell the spirit animals and the power animals,

So with your spirit animals,

You're listening,

Reflecting on the wisdom that you need in that moment,

With your power animal,

It's almost like you want to build this lovely relationship with them,

And call upon them time and time again,

Just that reminder of who you are,

And the strengths that you have,

Okay,

So that's a little bit of the difference,

Because this evening in our,

Or sorry,

This morning,

Whatever time it is for you,

Or this afternoon,

We're going to go and take a journey,

With an opportunity for your spirit animals,

Or animal,

And your power animal to connect to you,

And at the end of this practice,

We will have some time to either journal,

Or to reflect internally,

And then if you want to share,

You can,

I'm excited for you,

What I will say is from my own personal experience,

Sometimes if you've never met your power animal,

Or your spirit animal,

You sometimes have this idea that it might be a wolf,

Or a tiger,

Or a bear,

And then when you're actually in the practice,

And something comes forward,

And it's something you're totally not expecting,

You'd be like,

Oh this is it,

And then when you read about the qualities,

The wisdom that it's bringing,

Then it makes so much sense,

So whatever comes up,

Please just trust that the right energy,

The right animal has come,

Sloth,

Hey look,

Sloths,

They take their time,

They don't rush,

They're not,

They're not hurrying are they,

So sloth is cool,

A monkey,

Full of energy,

And life,

And giggles,

And laughter,

Okay,

So in a moment we're gonna start our journey,

And I'm excited for you to see what comes up on this one,

So as always,

Get comfortable,

Okay,

Just snuggle in,

Settle in,

Eye mask maybe,

Oils,

Protective moment,

Yeah for sure,

I agree,

I agree,

So just get yourself comfortable,

Get yourself snuggled in,

Settled in,

However you meditate,

Allow your spine to be long,

Whether you're lying down,

Or sitting,

And anything else that you use to help you go internal,

And to let go of the external a little bit,

Do whatever you need to do,

And if you have just joined,

We're just about to start the journey,

The meditation,

And if you haven't got your journal or pen,

Maybe have it near,

Just in case,

Our breathing now,

Is going to guide us into a soft still place,

Take a deep nourishing breath in through your nose,

And sigh it out through your mouth,

And breathe in through your mouth,

Breathing in light and calm,

And sighing out again,

And wherever you are resting,

Let your body sink down into the earth,

Let the earth hold you,

And support you,

And nourish you through this journey,

You are safe,

Grounded,

And connected,

Visualising a golden cocoon of light all around you,

And the surroundings that you began your meditation start to gently fade,

And now as you look beyond the light around you,

You see that you have arrived in a sacred space in nature,

And within this space there is only love,

There is guidance,

And there is light,

And now as you look beyond the light,

Call upon your higher self,

To gently arrive into this space,

And we open the invitation to your guides to gently arrive in this space,

And say how loud or internally I am ready and open to receive my guides wisdom and energy and love,

Imagine yourself walking along a forest path at twilight,

The air is fresh,

Scented with pine and earth,

The soft rustle of branches and the leaves under your feet,

And the gentle song of birds as they settle into the evening,

The forest feels alive as if it is breathing with you,

And each and every step you take brings you deeper into a connection with nature,

And a deeper connection to yourself,

See yourself looking up and looking down and looking around you and connecting with each and every part of this journey,

Your forest,

Your path,

The evening light,

You see along your path now that there are delicate little candles flickering around you,

Either side of your path,

Guiding you further along,

The candlelight flickering,

And then it leads you to a clearing in the forest,

And in this clearing there may be a small fire lit or there may be a pool of still water,

There may be an altar of flowers or crystals,

There may be all,

Take a moment to see what you see,

And gently an animal begins to appear into the clearing,

And you can trust the image that appears,

Trust the first sense that comes to you,

The first feeling,

The first image,

Whether it's perfectly clear or very subtle,

Trust it,

For this is your spirit animal for this moment in your life,

Observe,

Notice its movements,

Its colours,

Its eyes,

Feel its energy,

You may even hear a message,

A whisper,

A teaching,

Allow yourself to receive,

Become so open,

And when you are ready,

Thank your spirit animal for stepping forward,

Thank them for their wisdom,

And embracing their energy,

Now we continue the journey,

You move slowly from the clearing in your forest,

Following a new path that leads deeper into the woods,

And this path now winds downward,

Almost as though you are moving into the roots of the earth,

Into an ancient cave or cavern,

You're going down into Pachamama,

Into Gaia,

And wherever you arrive it's warm and it's glowing with golden firelight,

In the centre you see a great flame,

The Agni energy,

And as you stand by this fire feeling its heat,

Its strength,

Its light,

An animal begins to emerge from the shadows,

This is your power animal,

Your protector,

Your ally,

Your guide,

Who has always been with you,

Always been with you,

Feel them as they step forward,

Feel their presence,

Strong,

Loyal and deeply connected to your soul,

Hear the sounds that they make,

Feel their breath,

Feel them to touch,

Take time to connect with them for they are you,

Ask them,

What medicine do you carry for me,

What gift do you bring me,

And then simply listen,

Offer gratitude for their presence,

For even when you don't see them or feel them,

They are always there with you,

Now imagine both or all animals that have presented themselves to you in this journey,

Standing beside you or sitting beside you now,

You may have your spirit animal or animals on one side and your power animal on the other,

Honoring the balance of the ones that are guiding you through this chapter of your life,

And the other that's holding you across all times,

Breathe in their energy,

Breathe in their qualities,

Breathe in their wisdom,

With each inhale you weave their medicine into your body,

You weave their medicine into your heart,

You weave their medicine into your soul,

And with them either side of you now,

Bring together their wisdom and messages,

What is it that both or all of them are sharing and showing you now,

See yourself maybe holding or letting the animals hold you,

You have opened a beautiful portal of connection now,

You've opened the channels of communication between you and them,

With your cocoon of golden light around you,

Gently allow the forest and the cave to soften and fade,

And start to bring your awareness back to your breath and your body,

And this is now a moment of reflection at what you may have seen or felt or heard,

What animal came forward as your spirit animal,

And what animal revealed itself as your power animal,

How did you feel their presence,

Through sounds,

Through words,

Through sight,

Images,

Sensations,

And what message or medicine did they offer you,

And how can you honour this connection in your daily life,

And how will it support you moving forwards,

May the wisdom of your spirit animals and your power animals walk beside you,

Guide you,

Remind you of your own strength and wisdom and internal medicine,

Take a deep breath,

And with a smile sigh it out,

Namaste