Trusting the Truth that Resides in My Bones
Shamanic wRites #1
Welcome to another offering from The Sober Shaman, where I invite you to shift your perceptions, gain new awareness, and strengthen your connection to spirit. Whether you join me for a Shamanic wRites or a Medicine Drum Journey, both of these experiential methods will provide you with practical ways to receive information, knowledge, and healing power from your helping and compassionate spirits.
First time here? Check out the guides to Shamanic wRites and The Medicine Drum Journeys for an overview and step-by-step directions
Welcome to the first wRites offering of The Sober Shaman for 2025!
I’m rolling out a new format, where I’ll be providing you with an original Shamanic wRites prompt and/or Medicine Drum Journey in each post.
Because I want this work to continue growing, it means I must keep growing too. I’ll be exploring and discovering right alongside you. I’ll report back, and together, we can share the insights and medicines we receive.
Today’s topic and pre-prompt thoughts
How much do you trust yourself?
This question is especially slippery in early recovery, as the consequences of addiction are still fresh in everyone’s memory, proving just how untrustworthy you can be.
So, how do you separate the part of you that truly knows and has the ability to “do the next right thing” from the incoming messages of the slippery, shadowy desires of addiction?
How do you awaken the part of yourself that can hear, recognize, and trust the truth that resides deep within your bones?
For me, it was simple, but it certainly wasn’t easy.
I had to set clear boundaries around the self-trusting, self-knowing part of myself to protect it from the well-meaning but unsupportive suggestions of professionals and loved ones—and then immediately prove it to myself.
And not for them, but for me.
The path I chose was a spiritual one. I doubled down on what had worked—and what had kept me alive—through my active addiction: Chinese Medicine and core shamanism.
Not topics that earned many looks of understanding or vocal support in group rooms or personal therapy offices, but... I knew it worked for me.
Cutting to the chase...
It did work for me. And from that, I’ve witnessed how it’s worked for literally thousands of others during my honored and special times working at various treatment centers.
But as I’ve said, it’s time to keep moving forward and not rest on the laurels of my past work (The Program).
In that spirit, I’ve come up with this premise:
Stop searching. Start trusting.
Stop searching for one more quick-fix promise from another internet expert or the latest scientific breakthrough.
Instead...
Start trusting.
Trust the truths that you already know.
It’s what...
Speaks to your heart,
Touches your soul, and
Resides in your bones.
And while I put a lot of time and effort into playing with the words, rhythm, and flow, I have to ask myself...
“That sounds great, but what exactly does that mean?”
And...
“How am I supposed to do that—let alone ask it of someone else?”
Let’s wRite.
Let’s dive into the Shamanic wRites prompt, so we can experience and explore the answers to these questions.
If you’re ready, go ahead and do whatever prep is necessary for you to begin. Or, if you’d like a quick overview of the directions and step-by-step guidance, you can find it here.
Put simply:
Prepare your writing space.
Prepare your mind (breathing, conscious relaxation, etc.).
Start the drum audio file.
Read the prompt.
Go! Put pen to paper—no editing, no stopping.
End when the drums end.
Send thanks into everything you’ve seen and done.
Feel yourself fully back in your body and in your room.
Drumming Audio File: Just Drums
Shamanic wRites pPrompt:
If I trusted the truths that reside in my bones I would…
Post-wRites
Here is what I received from the prompt:
If I trusted the truths that reside in my bones I would…
Go there.
And sit in the cavern of the hollow.
Like a limestone cave these bones have been carved by experience over time.
The carry the weight of wisdom
The haul the magic of the body
They know the hard, foundational truths
If I trusted these truths I could stand, like I never have before.
Like a mountain.
While inside travels the marrow of nourishment
So much happening behind the walls.
The beauty is in the spaces
The structure is in the open spaces
If I trusted this…
I would rest into this space
Without fear of the empty
And not enough
The Bones of Earth hold me
The Bones of Others turn into mountains of beauty
We meet inside, in the space
This is trust.
Not in conquering, climbing, achieving, upscaling on the outside
That’s the surface
It has its place
But we’re talking about these bones.
“And trusting Us means
Trusting yourself
And what and who got you here
Everyone
And
Everything.”
I loved this one. While I’m not going to go into the details of what I received from the prompt in writing right here and now, I’ll give you this bulleted outline:
Going to where the truth resides
Merging with my spiritual bones
Writing from this place
Receiving the messages of truth
We will explore all of this in the accompanying podcast for this post.
You’ll find it in the podcasts here when it’s released this time next week.
I invite you to share and collaborate.
Connection is Medicine, and I’m putting out a call for collaborators!
Do you want to present or respond to a prompt?
Have a shamanic concept you’d like to explore?
Want to talk about it in an interview or respond in writing to a few questions?
I’m all for it and would love to feature kindred journeyers in this space. Let’s discuss the possibilities. Email me here: spirit@randallyons.com
Want more? There are 52 interconnected Shamanic wRites and Medicine Drum Journeys in The Program. Feel free to explore and share what you discover.
With blessings,
Randal
Man, that was deep.
I particularly enjoy and resonate with the ideas of a truth being in one’s bones. Like a knowing exists in the very fibres of who you are. Brilliant.