There are parts of ourselves that cannot always be reached through thought alone.

We may understand a situation intellectually. We may have talked about it, written about it, or turned it over in our minds many times. And still, something remains just beyond our awareness. A feeling we cannot name. A pattern we cannot fully understand. A truth we sense but have not yet been able to see.

Shamanic journeying offers another way in.

Through rhythmic drumming, intention, and deep inner listening, a journey quiets the everyday thinking mind and creates space to access parts of the psyche that are often hidden beneath language and conscious thought.

This is one of the reasons I believe journeying can accomplish so much work in a relatively short period of time. It does not rely solely on what we already know about ourselves. It allows the unknown to come forward.

What Happens During a Shamanic Journey?

A shamanic journey is an intentional exploration of the inner world, supported by the steady rhythm of the drum.

We begin with an intention or question, but we do not try to control what happens next. The journey unfolds in its own way, often bringing forward images, memories, emotions, landscapes, guides, animals, sensations, or symbols that the conscious mind would never have thought to construct.

Sometimes the connection to our original intention is immediately clear. At other times, what emerges may initially feel mysterious. The meaning often begins to reveal itself when we stop trying to understand the experience literally and begin listening to its symbolic language.

The psyche does not always communicate through direct explanations. It speaks through imagery, feeling, metaphor, and relationship. A closed door, an unfamiliar landscape, a particular animal, or a guide who appears only briefly may hold more meaning than we first realize.

The journey gives these unknown parts of ourselves a way to be seen.

Journeying With Plants

Plants are central to the way I guide this work.

Each journey is undertaken in partnership with a plant through its essential oil. I do not work with the plant only for its known therapeutic properties. We approach it as a living presence and a source of wisdom.

The plant is chosen through a combination of the client’s intention and my own intuition. Before the drumming begins, we spend time with its aroma, allowing scent to create a doorway into the journey.

Our sense of smell can move beneath the thinking mind, stirring something within us before we have words for what we are feeling. During a journey, the plant may become an anchor, a guide, or a companion. Its presence may influence the landscape of the experience or reveal another way of understanding the intention we have brought forward.

Rather than asking the plant to provide a particular answer, we enter into relationship with it and listen.

Guides and Inner Wisdom

Guides may also appear during a journey, sometimes in forms we expect and sometimes in ways that surprise us.

A guide may offer direction, reveal something we have been unable to see, or simply accompany us through an experience we were not meant to enter alone. What unfolds may feel spiritual, psychologically meaningful, or both.

I do not believe we always need to define exactly where these guides come from to receive what they offer. What matters is the relationship that unfolds and what becomes possible through the encounter.

My role is not to interpret the experience for the person journeying. It is to support the journey, help them remain connected to it, and listen closely to what emerges.

The Importance of Integration

The journey itself is only one part of the work.

Afterward, we sit together over a custom-blended herbal tea and revisit the experience in detail. We explore the images, emotions, guides, plants, and symbols that appeared. We look at what stood out, what felt familiar, what felt unexpected, and how it may connect to the client’s life.

This is not about assigning fixed meanings to symbols. A river, an animal, or a particular color will not mean the same thing to every person. We work together to extrapolate as much as we can while honoring the personal nature of the experience.

Sometimes an image makes sense immediately. Sometimes its significance becomes clear later, through a dream, a conversation, or a subtle shift in perspective. Integration allows the wisdom of the journey to enter conscious life while continuing to unfold over time.

We may ask: What was I shown? What is asking to be acknowledged? What do I understand differently now? How can I carry this insight forward?

Why Journey?

People are often drawn to shamanic journeying when they sense that something lies beneath the surface but cannot reach it through ordinary reflection. They may be moving through a transition, repeating a familiar pattern, seeking clarity, or feeling disconnected from their intuition.

A journey does not always give us the answer we expected. Often, it gives us access to a deeper question, a forgotten part of ourselves, or a perspective we could not have reached by thinking harder.

That is its particular gift.

Shamanic journeying invites us beyond what is already known and into relationship with the quieter, symbolic, and intuitive parts of the psyche. When we are willing to meet what comes forward, a single journey can create space for profound clarity, healing, and change.

My private Guided Journeys are offered to returning clients who have first experienced a Foundational Healing. Sessions take place in my Woodside, California studio and may also be offered on location by request. Learn more hear.