During these times of intense global and personal changes, you may feel as if many deep issues are rising to the surface to be healed. Or perhaps you’re seeking clarity on patterns in your life that are causing you pain. I share this insight in the hopes it helps you on your path as profoundly as it helped me on mine.

I have spent time over the last several years in the Amazon jungle and around Peru, continuing my training and path as a shaman and medicine woman. One night while we were in the Amazon jungle, we went deep into ceremony with the curanderos—the medicine men—for healing, for awakening, for truth, and for a deeper connection to the greater world in which we live, both seen and unseen.

My specific intent on this night was to learn about divine love and the release from suffering. But at one very specific moment, I was begging to be released from the pain I was experiencing. In ceremony, the pain can be overwhelming: I moved from states of total bliss and divine love to overwhelming pain—physical, emotional, and energetic pain. I felt true divine love in moments of complete ecstasy, understanding what it meant to live with a pure heart and light soul. But in contrast, I also had moments where my physical body was twisted and contorted in a heap on the floor, wretched in pain, my heart and mind overwhelmed with grief. It was not always fun, but the lessons were profound.