Video Summary:

The bear is the Spirit Keeper of the West in my tradition. The archetype of bear medicine is pure strength. When we do ceremony, I call in the bear medicine in the west, I often say, "The bear has no natural enemies, so it can be the clown of the forest."

In other words, it can be itself. It can be purely genuine and vulnerable. And by having no natural enemies, it needs no defenses. Since the bear has nothing to be afraid of, it can be true to itself. This is the essence of bear medicine.

Some examples of bear medicine include being really honest with someone. It could be saying no, or even stronger saying, “No, I won't allow you to treat me that way.” People can feel the intention of that energy. It's saying no and really meaning it. It's saying, “No, I won't allow this.”

The true secret of bear medicine is the bear allows her strength out. She doesn't withhold her strength, she allows it to flow. She allows her beauty and power out. She doesn't hold it back to protect people.

By protecting people, I mean most of us were conditioned to not allow our strength, power, and beauty out. This is because when we allow our power out, people may be threatened by that.

It's threatening because first of all, it's powerful, and people can't control it. They also may be afraid of their own power, and when they see you in your power and it's frightening to them. It may also show them that they're not allowing their own power out which they may not want to look at.

So the first thing that you have to realize when you let your power out is that it's going put people through changes (including yourself perhaps). You might have to do it ten times or so before you get used to it.

What often happens is we do it a few times and people freak out, or we freak out, and then we say to ourselves, “Well, I'm not gonna do that again." But if you just stay with it and allow your power out enough times, you get used to it. You realize that some people are going to have issues with you, and you learn to let them have their issues.

And please know that you couldn't offer a better gift than bear medicine. You're being real with people. You're being strong, honest, vulnerable, and speaking your truth. It models it so other people can feel free to be in their power. They may not appreciate it at first, but it's ultimately a beautiful gift.