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
How Lakshmi Teaches Us Discipline, Gratitude, and Abundance
A long time ago, a dear friend of mine called me up, excited and ecstatic. She was engaged! But instead of immediately being happy for her, my mind went to my own life. How I was single and not even close to being married. A lifestyle I thought I should have been living by that point in my life. I was blinded by my own narcissistic tendencies and unable to feel true happiness for this woman who has, over the years, done nothing but generous, sweet gestures for me.
 Fast forward to over a decade. I did yoga, and I chanted. But I also discovered that chanting to Lakshmi was helpful in invoking certain energies I wanted to embody. She is the goddess of adornment and beauty. She also asks us to use discipline to stay IN the practice. To feel abundance by focusing on what we HAVE versus what we are missing. She also allows us to feel true happiness and gratitude for people. She dissuades us from focusing on what we don’t have and instead on what we do.
I chanted and sang to her, Om Shreem Maha Lakshmiyey, calling upon the great goddess. As I chanted the mantra, which loosely translates to ‘my salutations and adoration to the great Lakshmi,’ I looked at my life and my choices. I was finally able to feel grateful for my individual path and appreciate the abundance of my life.
Lakshmi and Discipline
One day, Lakshmi woke up and felt the need for some time alone and space away from her duties. She decided to take a dive down into the deep milky ocean waters to take a long nap and a much-needed break.
Many years later, some demons started attacking the Universe. Demons often represent our negative thought processes and debilitating narratives. The demons were starting to win the battle. The gods spoke with Vishnu, Lakshmi’s husband, beseeching him to find her to help defeat the demons.
Vishnu, The Sustainer of the Universe and member of the Holy Trinity, acquiesced. He knew what ocean Lakshmi was in but not her exact location, so he found a stick and started churning the waters, hoping to rouse her from her self-retreat.
