We all know that Native American culture is intimately linked with the natural and spiritual worlds. They believe that our guides can reveal themselves to us in many different forms. One of which is as a ‘spirit animal’. This animal or animals will not only reconnect you to the earth plane but will help to empower you to lead a more purposeful life.
The shamans know that when we identify with our power animal, it provides us with deep insights into the subconscious mind. Because your spirit animal is the embodiment of your subconscious mind it cannot be chosen. It must choose you.
Your spirit animal may make itself known when your mind is relaxed in alpha state, such as during dreams or meditation. However, it may also appear in physical form, trying to capture your attention with strange behavior.
One of my spirit animals is a turtle. This is one of the oldest living animals on this planet. The turtle symbolism offers me wisdom on persistence, endurance and longevity and helps me navigate life with deeper faith. It helps me stay true to my path and makes me feel at home anywhere in the world.
Remembering your spirit animal can help you restore your energy, unveil new life directions or align with your soul strengths and skills. I remind myself of the qualities of my spirit animal with a small statue of a turtle on my desk. The Native American tribes called these animal totems. They were deeply sacred and passed down through their ancestral lineage.
Your spirit animals will teach you about yourself. It will vibrate at a frequency that aligns with yours, emanating traits that will support you along the way.
If you don’t know what your spirit animal is or what messages it has for you, then please listen to my guided meditation which will help you to re-establish a bond with this powerful ally.
1. Reoccurring Dreams & Encounters
Do you ever dream about animals? Perhaps there is one that keeps reappearing when you are deep in your unconscious mind. Keeping a dream journal will help you to notice which animals show up time and time again. It may be their way of getting your attention.
Become an active voyeur of nature and be aware of which species keep appearing and if they are behaving in unusual ways.
2. Childhood Connections
My favorite animal when I was a little boy was a zebra. This unique animal guided me to seek freedom, ignore rules and not stay in one place for too long. I had a restless spirit that yearned for adventure but also loved the security of the family unit. What was yours? Did you have a beloved pet or was there a wild animal that you had unusual encounters with during your upbringing?
3. Meditate & Visualize
To connect with the wisdom of your spirit animal it is essential to mediate with intention. Going deep into the realms of the subconscious mind in a relaxed state will help you to observe a specific animal that wants your attention. Try not to force the outcome. Opening your heart will help you to bypass the egoic mind and trust which creature has guidance for you.
Spirit Animal Meditation
Please find a space you won’t be disturbed for the next ten minutes and when you are ready, close your eyes and begin by slowing down your breath. Set an intention that you wish to meet with your Spirit Animal and receive a message from it today. Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold and then slowly breathe out through your mouth.
Any thoughts or feelings that come in, just observe them, without judgment. Just allowing them to be there. Any that linger, imagine wafting them away with a paper fan. Feel the weight of your body in the chair or on the floor and listen out to any sounds you can hear both close-up and far away.
Take another deep breath in, hold and slowly breathe out any tension or anxiety that you may be holding onto today. Now imagine a beam of golden white light moving down through the top of your head and into your face.
This light feels like liquid sunshine and you watch it traveling down behind your eyes, your nose and into your mouth, loosening your jaw until it feels floppy and warm. Now watch as this beautiful radiant light travels down through your neck and into your shoulders, releasing any areas of tension you may be holding onto today and replacing it with golden-white light. Breathing deeply again and feel the light now traveling through your arms and into your hands and fingers, filling this whole area with this soft, soothing golden light.
Now take another deep breath and see your light moving down into your heart, opening the heart with a soft pale pink light as far as you feel comfortable. Watch as this blissful light, continues into your solar plexus, sacral and into your hips and thighs, loosening all of your muscles and relaxing you so you feel loose and floppy, heavy and warm.
Now observe this light, beaming down through your legs, into your shins and calves and finally your feet and toes until your entire body is now radiating with this beautiful, golden-white light. Just rest your mind in this sense of spaciousness. Just breathe in peace as a white light and breathe out any last remaining tension or anxiety as a dark cloud.
Next, imagine this white light splaying out all around your body as far as you feel comfortable. It may fill the whole room around you or even beyond the whole building. Trust whatever comes up for you.
You now find yourself walking through a dense forest, lush with emerald-green ferns and rainbow-colored flowers. The fresh fragrance of the lush vegetation teases you move further and further into the tall trees. You can hear the sounds of the landscape echoing all around you and the warmth of the sunshine on your forehead which is now beaded with sweat. This environment is magical and strangely you feel as if you have been here before although you cannot remember when.
Deeper and deeper you travel into the woods and the further you go the darker it gets. Healthy plants are teeming with harmless insects and they are gently waving in the breeze.
Although there isn’t a path for you to follow, you feel guided to keep trekking further and further into the forest, lured by the sound of a river in the distance.
It gets louder and louder the deeper into the forest you go, so much so that you realize that this river is in full flow after a storm. You can hear the water crashing over the rapids and descending over a large waterfall.
All of a sudden you find yourself outside of the forest and on the bank of the river. The raging torrent is powerful and exhilarating to watch. You hesitate for a while, knowing that if you fall into the water you will be swept along and over the side of this immense waterfall. But you know intuitively that you must face your fear to get to the other side.
Without thinking you jump into the fast-flowing stream of water and are quickly carried downstream. It is a struggle to keep your head above the water as the undercurrent is pulling you down like a magnet. The edge of the waterfall is approaching fast. If you don’t do something soon you are likely to plunge over the edge and onto the rocks below.
In sheer desperation, you feel inspired to call out for help, remembering your intention to meet your Spirit Animal. As if my magic you feel the energy of this creature supporting you from underneath. It is dragging you to the other side of the river and keeping you afloat.
Breathless, you take your first look at this magnificent specimen. Your Spirit Animal has saved you. You feel the unconditional love of this protective animal shining into your heart. What is it? Take a few moments to connect with this incredible creature and thank it for guiding you safely to the other side. This animal has been guarding you the whole time and will not let any harm come to you. All you have to do is call and it will be there, right by your side. Listen intently as your spirit animal offers you a message to keep you safe for the rest of your journey through the forest. What are you being told?
You spend a few more moments together whilst you are both drying off before continuing your journey through the forest on your way home.
As I count back from 10 to 1 you will return the space around you feeling better than before with a new awareness of the guidance you received from your spirit animal.
How did you get on?
Now that your spirit animal has revealed itself to you, it is time to find out everything you can about it. Research its core traits, behaviors and characteristics. Why did this animal choose you? How do you connect with it? Do you like all of its attributes or are you frightened of some of them? Which traits do you identify with the most? Which ones the least? Your relationship with your spirit animal is unique and carries a deeper meaning. While the type of animal reflects your inner self, it is just as important to appreciate how you actually connect with that species.
Please leave a few comments below to let me know what your spirit animal is and the message it had to help you move forward in the next chapter of your life.
