28/02/2023
https://www.facebook.com/202528521192/posts/10158806424761193/
DR Chaudhary is an inspiration; her books are awesome.
It’s surprising how long it took me to really understand the concept of Shakti. Shakti is the feminine energy in nature that powers everything…and I mean EVERYTHING. It is present in men and women, but it is naturally more concentrated in women due to our ability to have children. That intelligent, creative energy of Shakti is needed to grow a human being within our wombs.
The reason it’s so odd that it took me over a decade to understand the concept of Shakti is because I was on a Shakti spiritual path for quite some time. What that means is that my spiritual practice involves connecting to the energy of the Divine Mother as a way to ultimately connect to that same energy within myself. For those coming from a Christian background, if you feel very connected to Mother Mary, you would be considered to be on a Shakti path from a Vedic perspective.
Before I entered the Shakti spiritual path, I was on the Shiva, or Divine Masculine, path for several decades. That path involved rigorous practices like prolonged meditations; regular, extended fasting; a disciplined yoga practice; restricted diet, etc. It was a very structured and strict path — and when I had built the physical and mental structure to hold more spiritual energy, I suddenly found myself (rather unexpectedly) in the lap of the Divine Mother’s energy.
The Shakti tradition was extraordinarily different and it took me some time to adjust. It was much softer, more nurturing, focused more on devotion, filled with tasty foods — and yet despite all of these unexpected perks, at the same time it felt so much more powerful. It took me years to accept this loving and compassionate feminine energy as a “legitimate” spiritual path. It is not that there weren’t plenty of ego-bending lessons involved, but they came with such a tender, gentle energy that it was easier to accept. The maternal love flooded me and initially it was more love than I could integrate. The ease of the Shakti path confused me for years, but when I became a mother, I could finally relate to the unconditional love of the Divine Mother in the way that I parented my son. For me, the Shakti tradition has been a path of increasing love for myself, my family and the world with less judgement and criticism. It’s been an extraordinary journey, and continues to be.
As my understanding matured about the gift of Shakti energy, I slowly became more and more protective and nurturing of the Shakti energy within me. I realized that this treasure that I came into the world with had the capacity to heal myself and others, and is an energy that needs continual tending to grow stronger and stronger. When our Shakti energy is strong, we feel clarity, compassion, unconditional love, wisdom and strength. When it becomes low, we feel weak, insignificant, depleted, powerless, pessimistic and mentally stagnant.
It’s important to protect and nurture your Shakti energy so that you can radiate it to every aspect of your life and share it with your family and community, which spontaneously and effortlessly happens when our Shakti becomes stronger. If your Shakti is weak, it cannot flow from you to the world because it is not flowing within you enough to nurture your core. Here are some general guidelines I follow to keep my Shakti strong — these are recommendations for men and women because we all have access to Shakti energy.
Building and Keeping Your Shakti (Power) Strong:
• Take time to meditate for at least 20 minutes a day. You need time to connect to your Self to power up your Shakti.
• Do something every day that expresses your love for yourself. For me this includes a daily oil massage and applying essential oils like rose, sandalwood or jasmine.
• Eat foods every day that boost ojas such as ghee, dates, almonds, saffron and honey. These foods nourish the body and build strength.
• Say no when you want to say no. Becoming depleted by trying to please everyone around you by being a “yes person” weakens your Shakti.
• Avoid relationships that are depleting and disharmonious. Breaking out of toxic relationship patterns helps you to pull your Shakti energy back into your own body and mind, rather than throwing it away trying to “fix” someone you think is broken.
• Keep your work in line with your heart. Shakti flows through all of the chakras, but it gets concentrated in the sacral chakra (which is our reproductive and creative center) and the heart chakra. When our creative power and heart come together, Shakti can flow through our work, bringing life and vibrancy to what we share with the world.
• Keep your gut healthy and elimination regular. There’s a physical aspect of keeping Shakti flowing and the stronger your digestion, the more ojas you create, which in turn builds up more Shakti energy.
