Over the past few days, quite unexpectedly, I have had the opportunity to speak with several women who walk the path of shamanism.

The more I listened to their stories, the more clearly I began to understand something.

A woman’s strength is not simply her ability to endure.

It is her ability to gather herself again after life has broken her down, to rise again, and still find the courage to love, to care, and to help others.

I even found myself asking:

If I were a woman, would I have been able to rise again after carrying so much pain, responsibility, emotional hardship, and so many blows from life?

Perhaps I would not have been able to.

And yet, they rose.

They did not simply survive.

They transformed their wounds into wisdom,
their fear into courage,
their loneliness into understanding,
and the hardest chapters of their lives into a deeper ability to understand the suffering of others.

That is no small thing.

That is inner transformation.

Someone who has walked through darkness often understands the value of light more deeply.

Someone who has experienced pain can recognize the pain of another with greater depth.

And someone who has once fallen apart may understand better than anyone what it means to help another person stand again.

So do not be too quick to see what you have been through as a weakness.

When it is understood and transformed consciously, even the most painful parts of your life can become part of your strength.

Your sensitivity is not necessarily a weakness.

Your vulnerability is not necessarily a weakness.

Even the many inner changes you have experienced are not necessarily weaknesses.

When they are supported by a strong foundation, proper knowledge, discipline, and ethics, they can develope into profound sensitivity, intuition, resilience, and a deeper understanding of others.

Throughout life, a woman’s body and mind pass through many cycles and changes.

A woman who learns not to fear those changes, but to observe and understand them, may gradually develop a very subtle awareness of her own inner rhythms.

In my experience, this can become a remarkable strength on the path of shamanism.

But there is something important to remember:

Natural sensitivity is only the beginning.

Knowledge gives it direction.
Ethics proteicts it.
Practice strengthens it.
Self knowledge purifies it.

Do not rush to become powerful!

Rush instead to understand yourself.

Do not rush to become extraordinary!

Strive first to become grounded and true.

You do not need to become greater than anyone else.

It is enough to become a little more conscious, a little more stable, and a little more responsible than the person you were yesterday.

No one can bring your inner strength to you from the outside.

It is already there...

Knowledge helps you understand it.
Discipline helps you hold it.
Ethics teaches you how to use it wisely.

So if life has been difficult for you, do not assume that this has made you less.

Perhaps some of what you have lived through was not only there to break you.

Perhaps it was also shaping your depth, your understanding, your compassion, and the person you are becoming.

If, after everything you have been through, you are still standing today, then there is already tremendous strength within you.

Now learn to understand that strength.

Build your foundation.

Deepen your knowledge!

And, step by step, discover what your true strength can become.

To the women who carry such extraordinary courage, love, and strength within them and who still choose to walk a path of helping others I bow with sincere respect.