Sandra Ingerman

Interview with Sandra Ingerman

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Part I of III

I was fortunate to have an interview with Sandra Ingerman today. She is a gifted shamanic practitioner, licensed therapist, healer, author and for 30 years has taught others shamanic practices. I enjoyed talking with her very much, and it was obvious she practices what she teaches. I hope you enjoy the insights that she shared with me.

I mentioned to Sandra Ingerman that I have recommended her books to many others, especially Shamanic Journeying because the book is comprehensive enough for a person to learn to shamanic journey.

Sandra responded, “One of the reasons I have written alot lately, is that people often cannot afford to attend workshops, or for other reasons can’t attend. I recently wrote two books: How to Thrive in Changing Times and Awakening to the Spirit World. The first book was written on how to get the Global Community to work together. The second book was for those who can’t attend a workshop to have another avenue to learn about shamanism.

“Ten years ago, I got a strong message from my spirit guide that I needed to train local shamanic teachers. I started teacher training and a website, shamanicteachers.com, with over 200 teachers listed. There is no right way to shamanic journey, so I teach teachers to follow the spirit and not copy what I do. It is really great to be able to teach the same basic principles, but also to be led by the spirit guides.

“If you look around the world, you don’t see two shamans working the same. In our Western culture, we put a lot of power on learning the method, but it’s not the method that is important, but rather being led by the spirit. You need to get out-of-the-way, and let the spirits show you a unique way of working. That’s where the power is.”

What inspired you to write Awakening to the Spirit World?
“There were a few things that inspired me to write this book. My passion has been bringing together the Global Community. To honor our differences and to be a service to the planet. There is quite a bit of division in the spiritual community. Some say their method is better or one teacher is better than another. What we are doing is diffusing the power of the positive change-makers on this planet. There isn’t one right way… they all lead to the same place.

I asked the question… what would happen if the spiritual community united and chose to honor our differences? And to focus our spiritual work on helping the planet. The purpose of the work was to bring together shamanic teachers, who I know personally and know that they teach differently than I do. They have different traditions and ways of working. I wanted to show the shamanic unity that we could weave together in a book. To talk about our differences and show that together it weaves a beautiful fabric.

Another passion for me is that shamanism is a way of life. Often when people show up for workshops they are given methods, but don’t translate it into a daily way of living in the world.

If people would wake up every day and honor the earth, give appreciation for the earth, sun, water and the spirit that lives in everything. And if we started to live a life of honor, learn to respect nature and that we are connected in a web of life… I believe the planet would change very rapidly, living this way.

Shamans have always understood that we are part of the web and live in harmony with nature. They recognize that they are part of nature, unlike the Western culture which lives as if we are separate. We are seeing the consequences of that belief.

If you don’t live a spiritual life moment to moment, and carry it over to how you act at the bank, gas station and grocery store… we won’t have a shift in conciousness.”

Different Paths, One Destination with Sandra Ingerman

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Part II of III

I was fortunate to have an interview with Sandra Ingerman today. She is a gifted shamanic practitioner, licensed therapist, healer, author and for 30 years has taught others shamanic practices. I enjoyed talking with her very much, and it was obvious she practices what she teaches. I hope you enjoy the insights that she shared with me.

When talking with Sandra Ingerman, I brought up the topic of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), which is a book where Jesus was channeled by a Columbia University professor beginning in 1965. I read the book during a road trip two summers ago to see how this book stated miracles occurred and compare its teachings to shamanism. I was startled to discover that the ACIM teachings were a perfect companion to my shamanic practice. I could find no differences between them. This was surprising since one is an ancient practice and the other a fairly recent channeling. It really helped me to see that although they had different forms, each was leading to the truth and there was no conflict. I was also surprised to learn that Sandra’s husband follows the ACIM teachings as well.

Sandra responded, “I think people have to find what they are passionate about. If you find a path that speaks to you, stick with it. It will bring you to the same place that all spiritual paths lead. If you are in a shamanic workshop and after a couple of days it’s not speaking to you and it doesn’t feel right. Then explore another path that you feel passionate about.

Shamanism, A Course in Miracles and others speak of love, not in an artificial way, but about a true place in the heart and the transformation of healing that happens from love. We also need to recognize that the world we are living in is a dream, and learn how we can work together to create a dream of harmony for all of life.

We all talk about the mind, body and spirit, and often say those words without really thinking about what that means. If you dissolve the body and see the body as a temple of the spirit, you will find that you are a spirit made of divine light. We are just spirits who chose to come into a body and learn how we can manifest our dreams into form. I believe our original intent was to create beauty, but we forgot that. The spirit guides are also divine light and don’t actually have a form. One task I give my students, when they shamanic journey, is to ask their spirit guide to drop their form and show their true selves. They are just divine light as we are. I believe that it is a core teaching to remember that we are spirits with the same power as our spirit guides. Our spirit guides have a bigger perspective and can provide insight that we don’t have, but the power is the same. It is our egos and bodies that limit us. Shamans have learned to let go of their mind and connect with the divine source which is where the power is. This is where the clarvoyant and healing powers come from.”

A Life of Integrity with Sandra Ingerman

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Part III of III

I was fortunate to have an interview with Sandra Ingerman today. She is a gifted shamanic practitioner, licensed therapist, healer, author and for 30 years has taught others shamanic practices. I enjoyed talking with her very much, and it was obvious she practices what she teaches. I hope you enjoy the insights that she shared with me.

I brought up a vivid dream I had (see Gas Station Dreams), in which I experienced myself as a spirit helping a pastor reach an important spiritual decision. I was fortunate enough to actually meet this person a few months later, who remembered the experience! It helped show me that any one of us can act as a spirit to help others, and that we are not limited to this body, time or space.

Sandra Ingerman, responded by saying, “I have a lot of letters from people who saw my picture in a book or article, who stated that I was a person who showed up in a dream and had given them guidance. It’s not something that I am aware of in my daily life, but it does occur outside of time and space. We are multi-dimensional beings and we can help others, even if we are not consciously aware of it.

When I mentioned that I had later met the person from my vivid dream and that it provided a wonderful confirmation, Sandra replied, “In our Western culture, we are taught that if something can’t be seen, heard or touched, it doesn’t exist and it is your imagination. There has been a brain washing in the West that the spiritual world doesn’t exist. The spirits continue to give us affirmations, so that we can start to shift our conciousness from believing only that which is tangible is important.

Shamanism provides a structure that makes it easier to connect and to provide guidance. The key is… you have to bring it in to your day-to-day life. You have to become a more conscious human being. You’re the one who has to watch your thoughts and words, moment to moment. Live a life of honor and respect. Ultimately, we have the responsibility to live life in conscious way. The spirits can’t do that for us.”