Shamanic journey is present across all shamanic cultures. Shamanic journey is the heartbeat of shamanism. 

When journeying we enter altered states of consciousness where we can connect with other worldly beings to ask for information, support or healing. 
 

The shamanic world is made up of three parts, the lower world, the upper world and the middle world.  The Upper World is the realm of unrealised potential, higher knowledge and enlightenment, the Middle World is our reality as we know it, it is our day to day lives and the residing place of our physical bodies and our normal waking consciousness and the spiritual dimension of our physical world. The Lower World is the realm of animal, plant and nature spirits, spirit guides and the land of the dead.  

Sandra Ingerman, a world-renowned teacher of shamanism, in her book Shamanic Journeying a beginner's guide says that “the practice of shamainc journey helps us to part the veils between the seen and unseen worlds and access information and energies that can help awaken us and restore us to wholeness.” 

Sandra also says that “when we travel to non-ordinary reality in our shamanic journeys, we learn how to communicate with the spirits of trees, plants, animals, insects, birds, fish, reptiles, and rocks, as well as the spirit of the elements of the earth, air, water, and fire. We directly experience the web of life.”

Shamanic journey is a valuable tool that can help restore balance in our lives. It also gives a profound sense of self-empowerment as we understand that the answers to our questions lie within ourselves. “The helping spirits have a great deal to teach us about restoring balance and harmony into our lives by reconnecting with nature’s cycles and by living in unity with the natural world.” (Sandra Ingerman)

The shamanic journey varies from one individual to the other, some will be more visual whilst others will have a deep sense of knowing what is going on. During shamanic journeys we can hear, smell, taste, feel things like we would in ordinary reality. To better understand what senses are the most acute during the shamanic journey and how our allies communicate with us we must practice. As we journey we will develop our own unique language that might not be how we experience ordinary reality, although the benefits of it will spill over into our regular life.
 

Something that it is important to make clear is that allies/spirit guides communicate using metaphor and symbolic language during the journey, weaving together many layers and many possibilities to deepen our understanding on a subject.