Every day, I meet patients seeking relief from pain – tight shoulders, sore backs, migraines, or exhaustion. Yet as we talk, it often becomes clear that what’s hurting isn’t only the body. Beneath the discomfort are deeper layers – grief, fear, or long-held stress – that have quietly settled into the nervous system. These hidden burdens can create energetic blockages that drain vitality and prevent true healing. Recognizing this, I began offering shamanic energy work to help people restore flow and reconnect with their natural ability to heal – body, mind, and spirit.
Shamanic medicine, one of humanity’s oldest healing traditions, teaches that true health depends on harmony between the physical, emotional, and energetic aspects of life. When that balance is disturbed by trauma, stress, or disconnection, our natural life force becomes blocked or depleted. Shamanic energy work helps reopen that flow through rhythm, sound, and focused intention, allowing patients to release stagnation, regain clarity, and experience peace.
Core Shamanism
My training through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, founded by anthropologist Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman and Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality, focuses on Core Shamanism – nondrug techniques such as rhythmic drumming and journeying to access spiritual guidance and awaken inner strength.
Each session begins with divination – a quiet, intuitive process of connecting with compassionate healing spirit allies to receive guidance beyond the five senses. This “hidden information,” as Michael Harner describes it, reveals what kind of healing is needed and which tools will best restore balance.
From there, I often begin with the drum, whose deep rhythmic beat mirrors the heartbeat of the Earth. Its vibration moves through the body, awakening energy, grounding the spirit, and bringing a sense of calm renewal. Patients often describe sensations of warmth, lightness, or deep release as their bodies begin to flow again.
I also use rattles to stir and loosen stagnant energy. Their crisp, percussive rhythm helps break up dense emotions that often collect in the chest, abdomen, or joints. Once this energy begins to shift, I may perform extraction work – a gentle process of removing lingering blockages or intrusions that no longer serve the individual. These can stem from old pain, fear, or limiting beliefs carried long after their purpose has ended. Extraction clears space for new light, power, and vitality to flow in, leaving the person feeling lighter, clearer, and more at peace.
Sometimes, spontaneous singing arises during a session – tones and sounds that carry vibration and healing intention into the body’s energy field. These intuitive songs help integrate and calm the energy, bridging movement and stillness. Many patients describe this as deeply soothing, like being sung back into balance.
Soul Retrieval
In deeper sessions, we may engage in soul retrieval, calling back aspects of the self that were lost through trauma or heartbreak. These parts often carry joy, creativity, and courage. When they return, patients frequently say they feel whole again – like something essential has been restored.
This work isn’t about mysticism; it’s about awareness, presence, and connection. My role is not to fix but to help people remember their own capacity to heal. As energy begins to move, breath deepens, posture softens, and pain diminishes. What follows is often a renewed sense of peace, purpose, and self-trust.
Shifts in energy and awareness can be profound. Grounding practices such as mindful breathing and gentle movement allow the body to absorb the healing and translate it into lasting transformation. This period of reflection also invites new insights, clarity, and gratitude to surface, deepening the connection between inner healing and outer experience.
Shamanic energy work often opens a doorway, and each session reveals another layer of self-awareness, guiding you toward greater balance. Over time, relationships, work, and sense of purpose may naturally shift as well.
If you’ve been feeling heavy, disconnected, or uncertain, know that healing is possible. Through rhythm, sound, and light, shamanic energy work helps clear what no longer serves you and restores your natural flow. When that flow returns, you don’t just feel better – you come home to yourself.
Dr. Brian Ruggiero is the owner of Ruggiero Family Chiropractic & Rehabilitation Center, located at 935 Main St., Suite b104 in Downtown Manchester. Dr. Ruggiero has been helping patients heal for over twenty years. As a chiropractor, acupuncturist, hypnotherapist, energy worker, and Qest4 bioenergetic practitioner, he takes a holistic approach to uncover and address the root causes of pain and imbalances. If you’re ready to explore personalized, integrative care for body, mind, and spirit, contact Dr. Ruggiero at: www.ruggierofamilychiro.com, drbrianmanchester@gmail.com, or 860.643.2888.
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