How a Shakti takes care of Herself
THIS ARTICLE IN A NUTSHELL:
Beauties, it’s time to embrace a new love affair: one with your own well-being. Start falling in love with taking care of yourself—mind, body, and spirit. AND:
Real self-care isn't just about bubble baths and face masks; It’s about gently yet firmly acknowledging your own areas for growth. Taking care of yourself means embracing every part of you, including the bits you’re working on improving. Let's start to nurture ourselves with kindness and honesty, moving towards our fullest, most vibrant selves with every step.
In the sacred journey of unveiling one's divine feminine essence, self-care emerges not just as a practice but as a vital pathway to spiritual and personal growth. For a woman treading the path of Tantra, self-care is the foundation upon which she nurtures her sacred feminine nature, allowing her to deeply connect with and manifest her Shakti energy. This holistic approach to self-care—encompassing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness—enables her to harmonize with the universe's rhythms, fostering a profound transformation and unveiling the full spectrum of her luminous, sacred femininity.
Here are some key aspects for a beautiful and spiritual self-care practice:
Meditation and Visualization: Practices centered on connecting with the divine feminine within. Focus on balancing and opening your chakras, meditation with uplifting energies (like the Godly Attributes), Laya Yoga with the Mantras of the Great Macrocosmic Powers, Transfiguration meditation.
Nature Connection: Spending time in natural settings to ground and align with Earth's energy. Connecting with Earth's energy involves engaging deeply with nature to ground yourself and align with its rhythms. Practical activities include walking barefoot on grass or soil, which helps to literally ground your energy. Spending quiet time in natural settings, like forests or by bodies of water, allows for meditation and reflection, facilitating a deeper connection to the Earth. Gardening or planting trees can also be a hands-on way to nurture this bond, offering a sense of unity and care for the planet. Engaging in these practices can rejuvenate your spirit and bring you closer to the essence of your being by aligning with the nurturing and restorative energies of the Earth.
Yoga Practice: Yoga helps women discover their sacred feminine energy through practices that enhance self-awareness and connection to the body's natural wisdom. Techniques such as breathwork (pranayama), physical postures (asanas) designed to open and energize the body's energy centers (chakras), and meditation deepen the understanding and embodiment of Shakti energy. Specific sequences like those focusing on the chakras can awaken the divine feminine within. Yoga, particularly when focused on the Chakras, aids women in tapping into their sacred feminine energy by enhancing flexibility, vitality, and erotic attraction and what lies under, enhanced vitality and improved well-being. This practice ignites self-confidence, courage, and assertiveness while also fostering love, empathy, intuition, creativity, wisdom, and a sense of mystery and sacredness. Through the alignment and activation of the Chakras, yoga offers a holistic approach to unlocking the profound layers of the feminine spirit, embodying its strength and softness in harmony.
Sacred Movement: Incorporating dance that honors the body as a temple of Shakti. To connect with Shakti energy through sacred movement and dance, consider practices that emphasize intuition and the expression of your inner divine feminine. This could involve dancing freely to music that resonates with your soul, allowing your body to move without inhibition, symbolizing the flow of Shakti energy. Incorporating rituals or intentions into your dance, honoring the goddess within, enhances the sacredness of the movement, making it a powerful tool for embodying and celebrating Shakti.
Nutrition: Emphasizing foods that nurture the body and spirit. Nutrition that nurtures both body and spirit is key in connecting with the sacred feminine energy. Incorporating a vegetarian diet with whole, natural foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts, which are rich in life force, can enhance this connection. Also herbs, aphrodisiacs and superfoods (such as rose, lavender, sage, macca, Goji berries and many others) known for their healing and energizing properties, can be integrated into teas or meals for spiritual and physical nourishment. Supplements like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and adaptogenic herbs (of course anything that is individually needed for your personal well-being and checked with your nutritionist and/or doctor) can support overall well-being, vitality, and balance, further fostering a deep connection with the sacred feminine.
Rituals: Creating personal rituals that celebrate and invoke the essence of Shakti, like for example evoking the energies of the Great Macrocosmic Powers of the Dasha Maha Vidy system.
Moon Cycle: Honor the phases of the moon, reflecting your own cycles and transitions, through meditation or setting intentions during the important astrological moments like the time before new moon (Shiva Ratri) and the most beneficial moment before the full moon (Tripura Sundari)
Sacred Bathing: Infuse your bath with herbs like rose petals and lavender, and crystals to purify and reconnect with your essence.
Altar Creation: Dedicate a space in your home with items that represent your feminine spirit, such as candles, flowers, and symbols of the goddess.
Creative Expression: Engage in activities like painting, writing, or dancing that allow you to express and explore your inner Shakti.
Community Engagement: Connecting with a supportive community for shared growth and reflection.
Engaging with a supportive community fosters a deeper connection to sacred feminine energy through shared experiences and collective wisdom. Here are some practical ways to engage:
1. Join or Form a Women's Circle: Participate in or start a group focused on spiritual practices, discussions, and rituals that honor the feminine.
2. Attend Workshops or Retreats: Seek out gatherings focused on women's spirituality, yoga, or tantra to deepen your understanding and connection.
3. Practice Group Meditation: Meditate with others focusing on raising feminine energy.
4. Teach and Share Knowledge: Whether formally through workshops or informally in gatherings, share what you've learned about connecting with the sacred feminine with other women. This can deepen your own understanding and foster a supportive space for collective growth.
5. Offer Support, Not Criticism: Make a conscious effort to uplift and support other women in your community, choosing encouragement and positivity over judgment or gossip. This practice strengthens the bonds of sisterhood and amplifies the collective feminine energy.
While all the above mentioned are beautiful and practical hands on tools to foster feminine energy, the most crucial point for self-care is the continuous personal transformation. The most pivotal aspect of transformation as a self-care practice for a woman aspiring to unveil her ultimate feminine nature, Maha Shakti, lies in embracing transformation as an integral path to self-realization and empowerment.
TRANSFORMATION
True self-care transcends mere pampering or relaxation; it embodies the courageous act of confronting and transforming one's limitations and negative patterns. This transformative self-care involves a deep, honest reflection on one's behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that hinder growth. It's about recognizing these elements as opportunities for profound personal development. This transformation involves a deep internal journey of letting go of old patterns and embracing one's true essence, embodying the qualities of Maha Shakti, such as unconditional love, creativity, strength, compassion and detachment (just to mention a few of it). By committing to this inner alchemy, a woman aligns with her highest potential, becoming a vessel for profound spiritual and personal growth.
Following the essential aspect of transformation, integrating awareness into true self-care involves recognizing where challenges lie and at what level. This process includes:
Discernment and Wisdom: Identifying the difference between superficial desires and fundamental needs, focusing on genuine self-care. Like for example becoming aware of the difference between a desire for love-making and a fundamental need for physical touch and (soul) intimacy.
Self-Love: Affirming one's worthiness of self-care and compassion for oneself.
Discipline (Assertiveness): Committing to and maintaining self-care practices.
Trust and Surrender: Believing in the sufficiency of what you already have and maintaining faith in yourself and the larger journey. You can manage your doubts through positive affirmations and trust in the chosen path.
MY PRESENT SELF-CARE PRACTICE: RHYTHM & ROUTINE
On my personal journey of better self-care I was asking myself the following question: what is the ONE thing that I could do to improve my self-care and love for myself? And the answer was: “Go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 5am”.
I am a very flexible and adaptable person which is great and sometimes hinders me on following through because I get too easily distracted or caught up in other things. This might lead to disregarding my self-care and the things that are essential for my self-care, like my daily spiritual practice and me-time.
Therefore I discovered getting up in the morning at 5 am. In this way I have some silent hours in the morning for me. I do what I do during the day I don’t have time for, I meditate, I practice Yoga, I journal, I do other spiritual techniques, I take time for my beauty routine, taking supplements, enough water and tea and sometimes go running or work out. These hours in the morning are magical to me and make me start into my work day in a state of euphoria and satisfaction. I feel like I have already accomplished so much by 9am that I feel happy and content effortlessly. The getting up at 5am routine also requires going to sleep at 10pm, which is a conscious effort as I was used to stay up late. But putting an emphasis on my bedtime and very qualitative night sleep (before 24.00 is best!!!) is a wonderful and efficient self-care practice for
me.
Therefore I have to sacrifice other things like chatting, social media or other not so important things that I would eventually do. With awareness I plan my day so that I can be in bed at 22.00. This feels so good to me and like I am taking care of myself in a way that benefits me on several levels, physically (better night sleep, good hormones,
excellent regeneration), mentally (I choose consciously what I do and feel more calm, less distracted), emotionally (feeling love for myself) and spiritually (time for spiritual practice and connecting with my Self). What I feel right down to the tips of my toes is the saying "the early bird gets the worm". The discipline of early rising and early sleeping has become my most cherished self-care practice, emphasizing quality sleep and meaningful mornings over late-night distractions.
With Love,
Brynhilda