What shamanic wisdom has to teach us about healing mental illness

Lian in conversation with her shamanic teacher Jez Hughes.

This is a powerful episode, looking within a shamanic context at a topic affecting society in so many ways, with British shaman, Jez Hughes (having studied intensively the path of shamanism for 30 years).

In this conversation, Jez and Lian explored shamanic wisdom when it comes to mental illness. They spoke about how out of balance with the natural world we are as a culture and how that manifests as mental illness, amongst other things, that although we tend to see mental illness as a personal issue, its really a cultural issue being expressed though individuals, and lastly, how some form of more extreme mental illness may actually be shamanic sickness - seen as an important and necessary part of the initiation of indigenous shamans.

And the show ended with Jez giving some practical suggestions for moving towards balance and healing.

Jez's healing journey began when, as a teenager, he experienced a fit that propelled him into an altered state of consciousness. It took a long time to integrate that experience and find healing for the physical and mental disturbances it initiated. This journey that he now understands as a shamanic one lasted for around 17 years and took him through healing and spiritual traditions across the earth until he finally came home to shamanism and found practical methods to cure himself. He has studied with various teachers and indigenous elders across the world.

Jez's work has featured in the national press, as well as TV and radio and magazines including Sacred Hoop, Natural Health, Kindred Spirit and Soul & Spirit. His first book, The Heart of Life – Shamanic Initiation and Healing in the Modern World, was published in 2015 and his new book The Wisdom of Mental Illness – Shamanism, Mental Health and the Renewal of the World was published by Watkins. Jez’s passion is empowering people to reawaken their ancestors, the land where they reside and their spiritual heritages to heal the relationship between the human and natural world.

Thank you!

[gameasabagel]

bring up the thing/thought that ails you. Embrace it. Squeeze love out of your heart whilst hugging yourself.Send the love energy to your pain....Dissolves psychalgia...Soul pain. Usually we try to run and hide from painful feelings. The last thing that people think of is to hug the pain and love it away. This is the world's oldest medicine, taught from mother to child in infancy.