Musings on balancing shamanic work and daily grind
I am amazed at how my practice has blossomed in just two years.
Back in 2012, I graduated from Caroline Kenner's Two Year Program at Gryhpons Grove, and began receiving individual clients at my home. From that moment, I felt like a beacon had been turned on over this website, and my practice has expanded to Group Healing Rituals, Crystal Ceremonies, Soul Retrieval classes, House Clearings/Blessings, and presenting at Spirituality Conferences. I work at home and travel to Delaware, Virgina, DC, and Maryland. My use of Skype allows me to work internationally with clients.
I love doing this work, and I love working with others (and their own Helping Spirits) for healing and connection.
However, I am quickly becoming booked for 3-4 weeks out, and while this is fantastic, I want to learn how to re-balance everything and keep room open for emergency shamanic appointments.
In talking with friends and peers, as well as pulling Tarot Cards and Runes, I've discovered that working 60+ hours per week in the mental health field is no longer feasible for me. Especially as I'm inching towards 15 hours a week for my shamanic practice (can you imagine working 75+ hour workweeks?! No wonder I'm out of balance!). I think I need to reduce my workload in mental health in order to increase my flexibility in scheduling shamanism appointments.
But, it is a terrifying prospect to willfully reduce a steady paycheck in this current economy, and hope that enough balance is retained to be able to pay bills and afford groceries.
Fellow Healers, Ritualists, Astrologists, and Spiritualists: What would you do? What have you done? How do you make it work? How do you find balance?
Back in 2012, I graduated from Caroline Kenner's Two Year Program at Gryhpons Grove, and began receiving individual clients at my home. From that moment, I felt like a beacon had been turned on over this website, and my practice has expanded to Group Healing Rituals, Crystal Ceremonies, Soul Retrieval classes, House Clearings/Blessings, and presenting at Spirituality Conferences. I work at home and travel to Delaware, Virgina, DC, and Maryland. My use of Skype allows me to work internationally with clients.
I love doing this work, and I love working with others (and their own Helping Spirits) for healing and connection.
However, I am quickly becoming booked for 3-4 weeks out, and while this is fantastic, I want to learn how to re-balance everything and keep room open for emergency shamanic appointments.
In talking with friends and peers, as well as pulling Tarot Cards and Runes, I've discovered that working 60+ hours per week in the mental health field is no longer feasible for me. Especially as I'm inching towards 15 hours a week for my shamanic practice (can you imagine working 75+ hour workweeks?! No wonder I'm out of balance!). I think I need to reduce my workload in mental health in order to increase my flexibility in scheduling shamanism appointments.
But, it is a terrifying prospect to willfully reduce a steady paycheck in this current economy, and hope that enough balance is retained to be able to pay bills and afford groceries.
Fellow Healers, Ritualists, Astrologists, and Spiritualists: What would you do? What have you done? How do you make it work? How do you find balance?
Hi Monica
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a good problem to have in a way. On the one hand, you are obviously very firmly on your life path with all the client healing opportunities coming your way. On the other hand, you could rapidly be approaching burnout.
Is your day job something you could do on a private practice basis? I don't know much about what you do and if it is dependent on a specific workplace. Perhaps branching out on your own as a private practitioner and controlling your hours that way could be an option?
It is so risky to leave a steady paycheck behind in today's economy. If it tanks again, which is quite possible, then many potential customers would not be able to afford the luxury of alternative healing practices. Here in Oregon, our economy has not recovered anywhere near what is being claimed. Most jobs created at this point are low-wage service industry jobs. What high tech jobs there are, are being snatched up by transplants from California and Washington. If i tried to rely on my healing practice, which is almost nil at this point because people here just don't seem to value this kind of work enough to want to pay a decent fee, i would be facing certain homelessness. So i hold on to my day job, marking time until i can retire in the next three years.
My only other suggestion, i guess, would be to do healing around money deprivation (which i certainly need to do for myself!), and to have a serious talk with your guides about what to do. Even though Spirit is not concerned with money matters, they do understand our quandary.
Respectfully,
Colleen
Thanks for this-- gonna make the leap August 1st!
DeleteI made the leap about 7 years ago and haven't regretted it at all. Like you I would have had a regular income and to go from that to being self employed is scary. I made the whole jump though, no reduced hours or anything, after a year of working full time and seeing clients in the evenings plus workshops and courses at weekends.
ReplyDeleteThe best advice I can give you is to see the year as a whole, not week by week or month by month as this can stop you panicking in down times and we all have them. It can be feast or famine.
I have got to love the famine as much as the feast though as it has given me space to grow and also focus on other aspects of my work. I'm not rich but nor do I want to be. My work/life balance is what is important plus doing what I love.
Not an easy decision to make but I haven't regretted doing it at all. Since making the leap I have written a book, started a blog, written articles, seen clients for Reiki, Chios, Past Life Regressions, Shamanic healing and counselling, taught all of these, made Shamanic drums, run a healing drum circle, had time to do readings for people and have rediscovered my love of painting. None of this would I have been able to do without compromising my health if I had continued working full time.
Blessings
Yvonne
Great advice-- thank you so much! Making the Leap 8/1!
DeleteMonica, I have resources to share on resolving this conflict. I will bring them with me in bits as I attend Caroline's classes.
ReplyDelete