How to Balance Your Divine Masculine and Feminine Energies
As children, many of us are pushed into the box of male or female. Many cultures struggle with the ‘in-between’ and so pink-painted bedrooms lead to frilly lace dresses and a whole laundry list of stereotypical female expression while blue walls and toy motorcars lead to defining the stereotypical male expression. Meanwhile the ‘in-between’ – trans-gendered or non-binary – are often pushed to the fringes of expression.
Often this push to associate with the one or the other gender identity begins the difficulty in feeling whole and balanced. The qualities that belong to the divine feminine are not the sole possessions of women no more than the qualities of the divine masculine belong solely to men. So what helps integrate these two powerful energies?
Try This Exercise
Sit towards the edge of a chair with your back straight, your knees at 90 degrees and your hands resting on your knees. Close your eyes gently and breathe easily. Feel into the left side of your body. Notice any fullness or emptiness that might be present. Now, feel into the right side of your body. Notice any fullness or emptiness there.
Imagine a showerhead above you. In front of you, there are knobs for masculine and feminine ‘water.’ Reach out and turn on the divine water, allowing it to flow over and through you. Notice how the water easily reaches some places within you and that perhaps there are areas of resistance. Invite those resisting areas to open and allow the flow of divine energies.
Now imagine you are completely full of the divine masculine and feminine water. Allow the energies to mix from side to side and top to bottom. Notice the feeling of fullness. Embody the following mantra:
I am a being of light and energy. Masculine and feminine energies fill me and it is through these energies that action is possible.
About the Author
The Power of Lakshmi: Confronting Negativity in Your Life
My first encounter with the goddess Lakshmi was, as a child, watching my mother dress in her finest silks and taffeta dresses for parties and going to the symphony, as well as her financial contribution to the arts and education. While my mother modeled Lakshmi, at sixteen I dressed in oversized khakis and my father’s flannel shirts. I wore just about anything that would cover up my piston thighs and my discomfort as my body was changing.
While I was an avid athlete and modern dancer, it wasn’t until I started formal yoga practice in my twenties that I began to confront my negative body image and to have reverence for myself. Each inhale asked me to fill up with gratitude for breath, for life, for this body. Every exhale invited me to let go of my negative self-talk.
Each posture evokes positive attributes such as the strength and elegance of a mountain, the uprightness of a regal tree, and the wisdom of a sage. Through yoga practices, we begin to recalibrate our inner map and rewrite the story we wish to live, one of vibrant creativity, joy, and reverence for life. As one of my teachers Douglas Brooks teaches, “Turn your Klesha’s (pain) into Lakshmis ( jewels).” Take your negativity and pain and get creative with life. Make more beauty out of our pain.
It’s said that anytime Lakshmi is disrespected she leaves her human form and takes refuge and protection in nature. The way in which humans disconnect from the life force in themselves and consequently in everything else has caused us to be in a deep, heavy sleep and living in denial.
Environmental devastation, indecent treatment of animals, and catastrophe will persist until humans wake up to the feminine essence in themselves and in everything. This is what the word yoga insists upon, the integration of the masculine and feminine within every human being. We need the masculine to hold a boundary, to help us act in the world, but without the feminine, we lack the ability to reflect upon our actions and speech, and the ability to nurture and sustain. Without the feminine human beings very well could perish.
