What If Shamanic Journeying Isn’t for You?

Daniela Hills Author

Sep 03, 2026 |

Not drawn to shamanic journeying? Explore how other spiritual practices can offer different paths toward similar goals.

What If Shamanic Journeying Isn’t for You?

Shamanic journeying can be a beautiful way to explore your inner world.

The rhythmic drumming can help you relax, quiet your mind, enter a light trance, and allow images, feelings, symbols, or inner knowing to appear.

Some people absolutely love it.

They hear the drum and something inside them immediately responds.

But what if you don’t?

What if you listen to shamanic drumming and instead of thinking, Yes, I want to explore this, you think:

No. This really isn’t for me.

That’s okay.

You don’t have to do shamanic journeying.

And more importantly, it doesn’t mean that you are missing out on spiritual growth, inner healing, intuition, or deeper experiences.

There may simply be another door that works better for you.

Different Methods, Similar Intentions

This is something I have learned through exploring many different spiritual and healing methods over the years.

Sometimes the techniques are very different, but the intention behind them can be surprisingly similar.

For example, perhaps you want to connect with your Higher Self.

You could explore this through a shamanic journey.

But you could also use a guided meditation.

Maybe you want to connect with your inner healer.

Again, you could journey with the drum, but you could also explore this through meditation or trance work.

Perhaps your goal is stronger intuition.

Shamanic journeying can be wonderful for that.

But so can Reiki, meditation, energy work, Tarot, or simply learning to become quieter and more aware of your own inner responses.

The experiences don’t have to be exactly the same.

They probably won’t be.

But sometimes there is more than one way to explore what you are looking for.

Maybe the Drum Just Isn’t Your Door

Recently, someone who had taken my shamanic journeying course wrote to me about his experiences.

For him, the drumming music seemed to be exactly what he needed.

He had meditated before, but with the drum he found it much easier to enter a trance-like state and experience inner pictures and visions.

For him, the drum opened the door.

Someone else may have exactly the opposite experience.

Maybe you prefer soft, ethereal meditation music.

Maybe you love silence.

Maybe Reiki immediately makes you feel peaceful.

Maybe visualization works beautifully for you.

Or perhaps you need something more active and find ordinary meditation incredibly boring.

We are different.

So why should we expect the same spiritual practice to work equally well for everyone?

Start With What You Want

Instead of beginning with:

Which method should I learn?

Sometimes it helps to first ask:

What do I actually want right now?

Do you mainly want to relax?

Reiki or meditation might be a wonderful place to begin.

Do you want to explore your inner world?

Shamanic journeying or guided visualization may appeal to you.

Do you want to become more aware of your energy?

Perhaps Reiki, chakra meditation, or another form of energy work feels interesting.

Do you want to develop your intuition?

There are many doors into that too.

These are not rules.

They are simply possibilities.

And what works beautifully for you today may not even be what you need five years from now.

Give It a Chance - But Don’t Force It

I do think we sometimes give up too quickly.

Someone meditates once and says:

Nothing happened.

Someone begins Reiki and says:

I can’t feel anything.

Someone listens to a shamanic drum for ten minutes and decides:

I can’t journey.

Sometimes we need a little time.

If shamanic journeying interests you but you struggle with it, try simply listening to the drumming for a while without expecting a journey.

Relax.

Let your mind become quiet.

Get used to the rhythm.

If you are learning Reiki, give yourself time to practice and experience it rather than judging everything by the first session.

But there is also a difference between giving something a real chance and forcing yourself to follow a path that simply doesn’t feel right.

If you have explored something and there is still no curiosity, no connection, no little inner yes...

Maybe try another door.

Pay Attention to What Calls You

I believe we are often drawn toward what we need at different times in our lives.

Maybe you suddenly become interested in Reiki.

Maybe a book about shamanism keeps catching your attention.

Maybe you find yourself watching videos about meditation.

Maybe Tarot suddenly fascinates you.

Maybe you don’t even know why you are interested.

You just are.

Pay attention to that.

You don’t have to understand everything before you begin exploring.

Sometimes curiosity is enough.

There Is More Than One Path

Personally, I love learning different methods.

Reiki, shamanic journeying, meditation, trance healing, Tarot, intuition work, energy healing, and many other practices have all taught me something.

I don’t feel that I have to choose only one.

For me, they are different tools and different doors into a much bigger journey of becoming more aware of ourselves.

And that is really what matters most to me.

Awareness.

Learning to notice our thoughts, emotions, reactions, beliefs, intuition, and subconscious patterns.

The methods can help us explore these things.

But the method itself doesn’t have to become the destination.

So if shamanic journeying calls you, explore it.

If Reiki calls you, explore Reiki.

If meditation feels right, meditate.

And if none of those feel right today, keep looking.

There are many doors.

You only need to find the one you feel curious enough to open.

Categories: : Meditations, Mediumship, Reiki, shamanic, spiritual work, spirituality