Creation, devotion, discipline

Sometimes in the stream of life, we find ourselves moving away from the creative source, without even noticing, 

Many tributaries enter into the stream and underneath what seems like smooth water is swift movement, currents pulling us off course, making It easy to become diverted and lost along the way. 

There are times when life is moving and flowing , then all the sudden an onslaught of the most difficult obstacles resurface, all of them familiar and all of them looming, each tenacious in its own right. The choice comes, fight or surrender.

For me, unfortunately fighting is my first instinct and usually I get my ass kicked.

Eventually, when fighting the current becomes too exhausting a surrender is the only way through, and a return to course becomes imperative.

But how does one return to source, when there are so many paths to choose from.

What struck me at depth this week, through art, yoga, recovery work, and life, is that we don’t have to come from the same place or travel in the same way, to arrive at something sacred. 

The path of the heart and the path of the will can look vastly different, but they both lead home. 

Almost everyone, I know, seems to be facing something that that they are tired of looking at or something that they have been running from and can no longer avoid.  

From my own perspective, I can say that there are things I am utterly exhausted by. Patterns that have persisted for years , and yet i’ve come to believe in the work that I am led to do. It is not linear, sometimes it’s messy and often times it doesn’t make sense, especially to onlookers.  

This week, I had the gift of a perspective shift. I realized that the issues Ive been “dealing with” that NEVER seem to resolve is not a tally of failure, They are doorways waiting for the power necessary to transform then. .   

The most deeply rooted issues require not just strength, but presence focus and persistence. They also require softness so that new insight solutions can enter, Its not one or the other, its both.

Sometimes in my artwork starts with reckless abandon and a wild messiness, full of false starts and layers that seem aimless

I draw, paint, rub out and scratch into, until finally something of substance emerges, something of substance and true.

 In my yoga practice, I like to create several different yoga flows to work with throughout the month. Once a week I create a new flow, and one finishes its time, it’s an ongoing cycle of deep exploration and refinement.   

One recent sequence I created, included poses that had similar physical attributes, but held vastly different energies. Hanamun and Vishvamitrasana.

And in a kundalini class that I took with my friend Valentine, we were introduced to the goddess Inanna,, whose archetype represents heaven and earth.  

These mythic characters allowed me to access different parts of myself and each helped lead me back to the sacred.

HANAMUN and VISHVAMITRA  and INANNA as inner archetypes

In the west, it’s easy to overlook, the deeper meeting of yoga favoring the physical. I love the physical practice. I came to yoga after being in the fitness world but what has changed my life is the richness of the whole.

Looking at Hanamun, Vishvamitrasana and Inanna

HANAMUN is a bold hearted and fueled by devotion.

As a young being, he thought that the sun was a mango, and about eating it. With unshakable faith, he  leaped with great strength, towards it, and while he found no mango, only heat, this act revealed his divine gift. 

Years later when his beloved Sita was lost, it was Hanuman who dared to cross the massive ocean to find her—not because he knew he could, but because love gave him the courage to try.

His leap wasn’t about certainty—it was about love and devotion and demonstrating that strength is not about dominating others, but it is within the ability to uplift them.

VISHVAMITRA moves from a strong will and an inner fire, and is very action oriented.

Vishvamitra was born a king, but worldly power and comfort were notenough to satisfy the longing he felt.

After witnessing the spiritual strength of a humble sage, he renounced his throne and began a fierce, lifelong practice to become a rishi (an accomplished and enlightened person). His path was not quick or easy. It was a slow burn of failure, effort, and finally, transformation.

He earned his sagehood through tapas—the fire of inner discipline.

Inanna is one of the most radical, creative archetypes.

  She’s not just a light loving goddess, but embodies light and darkness, joy, beauty, chaos and shadow.

Inanna listened a strong call, and she made  a decision to take the heroins  journey,  go to the underworld. ,  In so doing she would abandon what could be seen as conventional, material success  and prestige ,  to expand on a deep internal level.  

Inanna heard a deep inner call and willingly descended into the underworld, not to escape but to elevate her life  experience.  

In order to complete her aim, she was charged to go through seven gates.  

At each gate, she made a sacrifice of something that was important to her. These were  things that Inanna  believed gave her power, status or identity.   

At the final gate stripped bare , Inanna met her shadow and died , but from death, she reborn with deeper wisdom and integration.

She teaches us that creation includes destruction and rebirth requires radical acceptance full surrender. 

  A CREATIVE WEAVE

There are so many ways to experience an examine divine  truth, these are just a few examples to reflect upon.

Sometimes I feel like Inanna, stripped to bear, feeling undone and vulnerable. Sometimes Hanuman inspires  my heart to open, allowing me to trust love, to carry me forward . And som sometimes VISVAMITRASANA sets me  on fire and I’m able to get shit done.

My path is not just Yoga, or myth or healing, it’s a creative weave

The canvas, paper or yoga mat are all sacred space.

 My art practice gives me a portal into deeper layers of my mind. Often I don’t know what I’m working with, but I trust this process more than anything.   

Through my art and through physical movement, I’m able to express in ways that I can’t through words. 

These archetypes aren’t only alive in mythic stories, they live n the marks of a drawing, within flow of a sequence, and in the rise of strong emotion or great effort. , and in the surrender of an exhale. 

It’s not necessary to be an artist or a yogi to work with this approach.  The idea is to find a way to witness yourself and bring the sacred to it.   

It could be gardening it could be through music, it could be within silence. The point is to bring awareness to the sacred nature of what you are doing and let it reflect you back to yourself.

I’ll leave you with a question.

How do you realize your divine connection day to day?