on one of your posts, you mentioned a "process" pshifters have made as a guide to pshifting. what is that process? could you share it?
thanks!
Of course I'll be glad to share! Obviously it's just a guide to follow to help you p-shift, most people move on to do their own thing and p-shift without it. Also please do note that this isn't the exact replica of like a process within the community, this is an elaborated version that is inspired and mostly drawn also from my own experiences and extra reading I have done thar has worked for me.
(Whole thing under cut, it's long)
So the most basic process you will find is PhMP, which was a method initially developed and named by Phenexus Weyr (as far as I know). It means mental, phantom, and then physical (all out of order which is ANNOYING.)
Obviously you need to find out what the hell you are before you can even think about p-shifting. Figuring out your identity is so much more important in the long run then p-shifting. Your identity will last forever, and p-shifting can consist of less than 1% of a shifters whole life.
Search, research, attempt to mental shift, and repeat until you find out what works for you. The most important part out of this is to remember that you can do whatever you want forever. Figure out you might be something else but have already mental shifted? Just start over! It's okay it's not like it's a race.
First, once you understand your identity, you will then mental shift, like fully.
There is indeed a difference between mental shifting itself, and doing it fully. Sometimes, others animal selves are extremely repressed / is very weak, and mental shifting helps strengthen that bond and eventually fully m-shift. When you ffully do so, this is usually from years of work to a point where you no longer can recognize your past and future self being the same people mentally.
Some people do though, fully mental shift at a young age (very rarely as far as I know) and don't need to do this step at all.
Next, there's phantom shifting, which can be done at the same time as mental shifting. The main goal here is to get incredibly good at completely feel your animal phantom over your body (from what I remember) with ease. It has been argued though that phantom shifting is unneeded, so do it if you feel like you do need to.
And finally physically shifting is the last step, and it takes years for your average shifter to even think about being close enough to reach this goal. The most common signs I have ever seen for when someone is successfully ready to p-shift is when they begin to get long, animal-like hairs on their body that are just like their animal. Usually. I've only seen it 3, 4 times with successful p-shifters. I've also had it, but haven't p-shifted just yet. Other things may include more dream shifts and even shifting in your dreams (I had a partial p-shift irl that was also in my dream and I could feel it. It woke me up though and stopped the shift)
P-shifting at the end of the day, to me, is something that not everyone can accomplish and isn't even that big of a role in being nonhuman, a shifter, a shapeshifter, a supernatural, a werewolf, whatever. It's euphoric, it's amazing, but it also can become obsessive and toxic to people.
I'm not going to deny or try to hide it - p-shifting can easily lead into a rabbit hole of obsession, apathy, disconnection, misanthropy, and escapism. You must watch yourself while following this journey, because it's just too easy to slip into toxic territory with shifting. Anything that allows escapism, can be abused. (Drugs, alcohol, reality shifting, overeating, overconsumption of social media, etc.)
A life lesson to everyone here - check yourself to make sure you aren't trying to escape or cope by using things that allow escape from your life, even if it's a part of your identity. Anything can fall away and become sour if you don't establish healthy boundaries with yourself.
Take breaks, check yourself, breathe, and reroute yourself back to healthy ways of coping. I promise you can both p-shift and be healthy about it, like I am! (At least, I'm trying my best here)
Thank you for asking anon! I hope this answered your question accurately ♡
As always, you can also do your own research if you know where to look. I'll be happy to share some resources if enough people ask!!
And finally if any other p-shifters remember something different / would like to add on, please do. It's incredibly helpful to have a second word and opinion ♡♡♡