Shamanic Exercise 2: Stopping The World

Shamanism depends on altering our state of consciousness so that we can experience non-ordinary realities. In order to shift our consciousness, we first need to rest the Mind and slow down mental activity. The shamans call this Stopping the World which means bringing your body to rest and disengaging the Mind from the world. In natural settings, the shamans did this easily by meditating on nature with little or without any formal instruction, because they are not mentally stimulated/agitated as we are today. So for us, it takes a bit more effort.