Travel the unique terrain of your soul.
The origins of Inner Territory work:
This is not a new perspective. Shamans and spirit workers have spent centuries traveling through inner worlds. In almost every culture, you can find evidence of this practice and it can be adapted to varying archetypes, landscapes, and inherited traditions. It is important that every guide works from within their own culture and that they create mutable space for the cultures of their participants.
Befriending the Whole Self
Integral to this practice is the belief that even our inner monsters are simply parts of ourselves that have adapted over time in an attempt to protect us. The worlds within us are not patriarchies. They do not require the slaying or conquering of monsters. Instead, we practice curiosity and self-compassion. We learn to soothe our shadows, our creatures, our beasts, and to invite them to sleep.
What does Inner Territory work look like?
Inner Territory work is guided visualization - a form of deep meditation - that is done with energetic consent, with self-sovereignty, and with a basic responsibility to the collective. Like all ancient spirit work, it centers both the individual and the community.
We work with archetypes, vivid visualization, meditation, breathwork, and deep reverence for humanity, the Earth, and our unique expressions of Self.
The goal is not that you learn how to follow a guide through the vast, endless terrain of your soul. The goal is that you learn to follow and trust your own intuition.
We view this work as ongoing, slow, deliberate, and paced by each person’s own readiness and willingness. There is no rush, no perfect way to do it, and no expectation that you have any experience at all. It is enough to be present.
Three Archetypal Journeys:
We operate within three distinct archetypes of visualization.
Cord Cutting
We don’t cut healthy, thriving cords with people we’re actively in relationship with. Some cords are mutually nurturing to both parties, and we carry those ones with gratitude because we need people.
We sever the connections that have grown narrow, stagnant, one-sided - the ones that drain us dry without replenishing in return. Most often these aren’t even connections we spend much time thinking about. We don’t really always consider how they impact us because we haven’t seen that person or talked to that person or cried over that person in a very long time. But when we think of them we might still feel nauseous or angry or bitter or resentful or afraid or angry or uncomfortable or restless - and that is a clear body signal that there is a cord, operating more like a straw, that has anchored into our energy bodies, impacting how we move through the world.
Self Reclamation
We journey inward on behalf of exiled or frozen parts of ourselves with the intention to gently observe where they are frozen or where they have been exiled to. Rather than forcing or attempting to control these parts of ourselves, we notice what we once needed and what those parts represent now. If possible, we meet that need and then either invite them to travel with us or leave a map of where we are. This is very similar to IFS or ‘parts work’, which was created from the same shamanic template as Inner Territory work.
The Way Changer
In this type of Inner Territory journey, we navigate the real realms of manifestation. Not the kind of manifestation that overlooks the collective for the individual. We work with the manifestation of old, old traditions. The kind that sits inside the five ancient laws of: to know, to will, to dare, to be silent, and to manifest. We hold up patterns, belief systems, behaviors, and more. We observe them without judgment, and, drawing from the sovereignty of Self, we begin to change them.