Core soul loss happens in traumatic situations such as childhood abuse, a serious accident, or loss of a loved one. A piece of our soul goes away when an overwhelming conflict occurs between how it would like to be treated and the reality of how it is being treated. With core soul loss, a shamanic practitioner would perform a soul retrieval to reunite us with our missing soul piece and support us in our return to wholeness.
We also potentially lose pieces of our self in very common, everyday circumstances when we live, speak, act and think in ways not in alignment with our highest truth. Every time we worry or berate ourselves, we may lose a bit of ourselves. When we compare ourselves to others or ask for input on a decision that’s really ours to make, we give our power away. We may step out of our center during a disagreement, when someone makes an unkind remark, or when our buttons get pushed.
Here a form of “maintenance” soul retrieval is helpful – a way that we can pull back parts of our self on a regular basis.
A technique called recapitulation helps us reclaim our lost power. When used regularly, this simple tool from the Toltec tradition supports us in remaining centered and claiming our inner authority. In giving us a concrete action to take, it helps us be empowered and responsible for our healing. It fosters feelings of wholeness and well-being through calling back lost power and soul essence.
A nightly recapitulation practice pulls back those parts of ourselves that have been lost or given away during the day. Here’s how:
· Get comfortable.
· Take a few deep breaths to ground and center yourself.
· Set the intention to recover whatever parts of your essence have left.
· Reflect back over the day, allowing your awareness to be drawn to scenes where you lost power.
· Each time your knowingness alights on a place you stepped out of your center, pause, and pull back the power you lost in that scene.
· Hold the intention that your essence is returning to you and feel it coming back. You might imagine pulling it back, similar to reeling in a fish, or you might visualize it being drawn back by a powerful magnet.
· As those parts of yourself return, welcome them home. Feel them coming back to you and reintegrating into your body and your being.
· Pause, breathe and feel the shift in energy.
· Continue recapitulating until anything lost from the day is returned.
If you notice a common theme to where you lose part of yourself, you might devote several days to recapitulating around that topic. For instance, if you give your power away by worrying, you might practice the recapitulation technique for a week, pulling back power lost throughout your life to worry.
When we recapitulate, we receive a burst of energy. Because this is our power coming back to us, we can use it to create in our lives. What would you like to create with this boost of energy? What would you like to use it for?