Why LionHeart?

The name LionHeart first came to me when I was on a four-day shamanic retreat back in 2019. This was a solo retreat, as in I was alone in the mountains of northern New Mexico. I went without food and stayed within an area that was about 30 feet in diameter. The four days included periods of meditation, qi gong, communication with Spirit, deep boredom, and working through my "stuff."

On the fourth morning there, as I was sitting in a state of gratitude for so much of my life, this name "LionHeart" appeared spontaneously. This did not show up in response to any direct question I had asked myself or Spirit, but rather out of the blue it appeared.

My practice has shifted over the few years since that day, primarily by bringing in a greater focus on connecting to and working with the natural world. This shows up with individual healing sessions, in classes and training, and the shamanic woodcraft I do.

In addition, my view on healing and personal growth has shifted to highlighting the need for a more open heart. It is through our heart that we give and receive love, set intentions, communicate with Spirit, and bring our inner world manifest externally.

As I have combined my healing and woodcraft businesses into one, the name LionHeart returned as a leading candidate to encapsulate the essence of what I offer, how I resonate, and how I will then implicitly invite my clients and students to embody as well.

So, what does it mean to be LionHeart?

Confidence

Confidence is self-trust. It is knowing what you are capable of, and trusting that you are able to face whatever challenge life throws your way when it shows up. It is not a belief that everything in life is perfect, or that you are perfect. It is self-acceptance, including the places of insecurity.

Strength in Right Action

Right action means that words spoken and behaviors acted are done so with a level of integrity and soulfulness. It is action rooted in what is right, adhering to a moral code that is soulful and honorable. LionHeart energy means that you are able to hold true to right action even when others don't understand or advocate for walking a lower, baser path.

Healthy Pride

Healthy pride is a sibling to these. It is knowing what you have overcome in your life, the places where you were once asleep, ashamed, or in victim mode and have moved into a space of aliveness and empowerment.

Humility

Humility comes alongside pride. Unhealthy pride believes the work is done; humility understands that no matter how far you have come, there are more steps on the journey. Continuing on the journey of life and self-expansion will require continued facing of what lingers in your shadow, what you do not know, and a bow to the forces of life which are greater than you.

Lions are not the fastest animal, nor are they the strongest. But they are still considered royalty.

The path of opening your heart is one that takes great inner strength, resolve, and courage. It is beset with challenges - internal and external - that require determination and a faith that walking this path is worth it. Knowing that opening your heart is an unburdening of what subtly (or sometimes, painfully obviously) weighs you down and holds you back from being your fullest, truest self. Opening your heart frees your will, radiates love where once fear reigned, connects you to the heart of Mother Earth, and makes you an agent for positive, loving change in the world.

It is because I walk this path, challenging myself to open my heart further, that I feel called to help others do the same. I am proud of what I have cultivated within myself and humble in the face of what lies ahead of me.

Will you join me on this path? Are you ready to roar?