u/BullfrogOk7121

Hi everyone :) hope you are all well. I’m new to this space but I wanted to ask a question. I know everyone sees these things differently, so I would love to get some input here.
On my father’s side, my grandfather, his mother and her lineage are Native American (Apache and Choctaw). There’s some lingering Native in my mother’s side as well, but farther out than what my immediate family is aware of (discovered this through haplogroups). I’m not shocked because I’m from southeast Louisiana and Native is intertwined with Cajun creole.

Since I was very young I have been drawn to native culture, symbolism, and feel a big resonance with teachings and how they view our relationship to earth and the world around us. I have felt some sort of inner responsibility to carry that torch to some degree. I never want to claim myself as Native American, at least not all of me because I have not experienced the struggles of people who live on reservation or those who are 100% Native American, nor do I have the proper blood quantum that’s required to be recognized federally, and other members of my family are not 100% native and some have no native (to my knowledge). I never want to impose or step on toes. I’ve continued to follow my path as cleanly as I can in a way that feels in integrity to me and respectful to others while still honoring my lineage that I feel closely related to.

My question I guess is, is it “wrong” of me to lean into Apache specific or Choctaw specific practices/traditions? I would love to connect more as I continue to discover more, but I also understand appropriation versus appreciation. I just want to be respectful and honor everything in a proper way. I’ve struggled with this for a while and really finding my place within it. Or should I keep it more broad than specific?

I guess not a super clear question but just knowing this information, if anyone has any words of wisdom I would love to hear. I hope no one takes any of this the wrong way, I just want to learn and move with grace. My grandfather only remembers so much and the work my great grandmother and my dad were putting together with her lineage information and her families tribal information was destroyed in a flood so it’s been a journey of gathering information and doing as my research as I can, but of course going into native history since names were changed and people were displaced it can be difficult…🙏🏼 thank you

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here and was looking through older threads about a question I have but figured I may as well share my own story to get some opinions. It’s a long read but the info is important to get a full bodied answer imo.

Since I was about 15 I have been engaging in spiritual practices and over time I have learned more and more and really started devoting myself to spiritual work when I was in my early 20s (29 now, 30 soon so I am not particularly new to this lol). I first was introduced to energy and energy healing through books and research of my own and pursued energy healing training officially in 2020. I got my Holy Fire Usui Reiki level 1 attunement and practiced and it was amazing but something about it didn’t feel like it clicked fully. Fast forward later on about 2022?, and I pursued Marconics, got level 1, also didn’t feel like it fully clicked but I did have powerful experiences for both myself and clients receiving and giving, but something about it just didn’t resonate entirely. I then pursued and am continuing to pursue a shamanic practitioner apprenticeship as that resonates with me and my lineages in my family. I completed level 1 which was very intensive and I am moving to level 2 this year and will continue to pursue that to complete the full training over time.

The thing here is, is that when I started to do journey sessions with my shamanic training, I was guided to pair it with energy work, however the hand movements and placements and the way that I have felt the energy moving through me and guiding me while I work on others has shifted immensely from just the normal hand placements and protocols that I learned previously. I have been SCOURING the internet and social media trying to find energy healers that are already doing something similar to what I have been naturally doing, or others who have visions like I have when I work on others, when I connect to that space and provide work on close friends and I have found nothing that seems similar to what I do so far. So my question is, what are opinions on creating your own energy healing modality and way of working with energy when you have prior education, but what you do and are guided to do seems so different than what else is around you… some things are similar but other things are different and it doesn’t seem to entirely fit into these other modalities (as far as I know).

I don’t ever want to step on toes of modalities that are well established, I don’t ever want to claim to be someone that has all the power because I know it does not come from me and I am not the one doing anything, I’m merely just a channel for it to move through. But I’ve struggled to find something that really clicks with me that already exists, unless there’s something out there I just haven’t found yet. I never want to have some sense of inflated self importance, but also all energy modalities do begin from someone starting them, so a part of my heart is like, well why not me too? And then another part of me is like oooou but credentials and blah blah blah… but it just feels so… intuitive. I’ve been really trying to find my way here and would love to hear if anyone has their own experiences like this or if anyone has opinions.

THE ENERGY HEALING: this is what happens in my sessions and what I do/see/hear for those who want to know what is happening.

So I always open the space and call on spirit teams, guides, etc, set my own energy and really open and clear my channel and make the intention that I am merely open for only benevolent energy to move through, etc etc similar to how you safely open in any space. Introduce myself to the individuals energetic field and also call on their team etc.
I begin with a scan of the body and feel the energy, and then I’ll naturally be pushed or pulled in certain directions that I’ve noticed follow the meridian lines and also how the fascia moves around the body which has been interesting to take note of. I am in constant communication with the energy and how it wants to move and asking okay where are we at, what’s here, how can we unblock and get the energy moving again. I’ll receive messages and words, phrases that give intel into what the individual is experiencing such as what they are holding onto, patterns, etc. I will also get visualizations of animals that come with messages, gods, goddesses, even sometimes mathematicians and astronomers which is also interesting. I will be led to pull energy out, cut cords of negative energy or attachments, and just help the flow, you know the vibes. A lot of spiral hand movements, pulling, twisting, etc. So a lot comes through as far as what’s happening and the way that my hands move, it feels like something is moving me almost like magnets under someone’s skin. I will be also intuitively guided to hum, sing, use sound to help the energy move, hands on and off, various pressure, really just communicating with the energy and the body at all times. To close I work to seal the aura, give my thanks, ground, and I will move myself out of the energy and back into my own energy and call the client back to the space.