Long before I trained shamanic techniques I had to struggle with my own experiences and difficulties of loss of a soul part. Sadness and Aggression filled my daily life. I didn't know how to feel healthy and vital in my body for a long time.
It was my body which forced me to recognize my repressed trauma. Physical pain at my belly tormented me but the doctors found no cause. My last hope was a psychotherapist. Many years of psychotherapy facilitated my life and let me find my "inner light". This opened the door to spirituality.
Spirituality was no subject in my life. One night I dreamed of a certain animal that spoke to me. It told me its name and asked me looking for him. Puzzled I sat in front of my PC and typed the name of the animal. It found out it was a term coming from the language of the Native Americas. The name is the Lakota signification for the animal's species. I was flabbergasted.
With a lot of prejudice I typed the word "spirituality" to the search engine. To my surprise I found a website about "power animals". On the first page I saw the image of the animal from my dream. My interest awakend because my subconscious wanted me to turn over a new page. Power animals became my first access to the subject.
Sandra Ingerman's book "Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self" helped me to realize that my inner child was split off. I lost a part of my soul on due to a massive trauma at my childhood. I asked a shaman for a Soul Retrieval. After the session I intensively dealt with the returned unharmed soul parts and felt better week by week. As a person who likes to help oneself it only was a small step to train the shamanic methods.