Hummingbird Courage

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Monday, 09 January 2023

Written by Alberto Villoldo PhD

In Hummingbird Consciousness, we engage life from the level of the soul. Just as that tiny bird finds the valor to take his monumental journey, we can discover the courage to perceive our own lives as journey of growth and discovery, of spiritual maturation.

We don’t fuss about the details of our flight because we feel confident that regardless of what the weather is over North Carolina or how few resting spots there will be as we travel across the Gulf of Mexico, we’ll make it to our destination.

The hummingbird isn’t even supposed to be able to fly given the shape and weight of its body. Likewise, some of us feel that we weren’t made to soar through the air; we’re certain that we were designed to trudge through the mud or wade through the swamp. But despite thinking that we don’t have enough time, enough money, or enough “wings,” we each have a great journey that’s available to us should we choose to accept the invitation from life and respond to the call.

It can be very difficult to let go of our everyday worries and allow the courage of the soul to arise within. Our habit is to perceive problems in our lives and then think and work harder in order to solve them and create happiness for ourselves. As my shaman mentor once told me, “Alberto, you’re always rearranging your sandcastles on the edge of the lagoon that is your life.” He was comparing my life to one of the oxbow lakes in the Amazon, all of which seem separate and independent but are in reality all fed by the mighty Amazon River. He went on to say, “And then there is a surge of water from the mountaintops, the river rises, and it washes away all of you dreams and plans. If you want to change your life, you must travel upstream. There, you could divert the water easily with only the palm of your hand.”

Hummingbird courage can empower us to rewrite our stories to be mythical ones of s/heroism. Looking at life as a journey of discovery and growth – and ourselves as determined hummingbirds willing to trust that we’ll have all we need on our journey – we start to paint a very different picture of who we are and what the events of our existence mean. At this level we find the courage to be the dream weaver. Thus, the story of a failure can become one of rebirth and discovery; the saga of a loss or illness can now be one of initiation into the tribe of survivors who can wisely guide others through this passage. Even when we’re suffering greatly, we can access hummingbird courage and begin to tell a tale that eases our pain and reminds us of our resilience.

Are you ready to dream your world into being with Hummingbird courage?

Credit

Alberto Villoldo PhD is a medical anthropologist who has spent the last 30 years investigating the healing practices of the shamans of the Amazon and the Andes. He is the founder and director of the Four Winds Society, and author of Shaman, Healer, Sage, Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, The Four Insights and Yoga, Power and Spirit. Alberto is founder of the world-renowned Four Winds Society and of the Light Body School. In his teachings and writings, he shares the experience of infinity and its ability to heal and transform us, to free us from the temporal chains that keep us fettered to illness, old age and disease.