Saraswati is beloved by schoolchildren, poets and musicians.  Anywhere there is this transmission of inspiration, knowledge and information.  She resides in libraries, bookstores, amongst artists, performers of art and ceremony and scholars.  (more…)

If you’re wondering how is it that someone with my last name also ended up with a name like “saraswati” - this is the story of how I realized the power of a name.

While attending yoga teacher training in Kerala, India with the Sivananda organization in 1990, I requested a name initiation. This is a common practice for many in the yoga community as you recognize that you are entering a different life- hence the idea of being “initiated.” Some students receive it and then don’t use it but for others a lifetime journey begins of discovering the significance of your name, and the energy it brings. (more…)

Honoring Saraswati for three days. I’m happy to do so, having been blessed with saraswati energy in my life.
She is goddess of the arts and science, knowledge, learning, music, sound, poetry, medicine. Saraswati is also the name of an actual river that used to run in India and that is now considered to be underground. (more…)

As I did for the three previous days devoted to Durga, I silently repeated the Lakshmi mantra during these 3 days devoted to Lakshmi. During the first day, I felt “off” - it took me another day to really better align with the rhythm and cadence that felt different from that of the Durga mantra.
Mantras are a science of sound. Mantras that are connected with specific energies, like Lakshmi, are a combination of Sanskrit syllables that have a certain inherent energy to them because of this combination. The idea is that the sounds themselves are powerful on a vibrational level. (more…)

Prosperity can be a difficult idea, if not an outright taboo subject, in some spiritual circles - including in yoga communities.  While renouncing all worldly pleasures, including the enjoyment of being comfortable and well physically, can be a yogic path-it is by no means the only or even the ultimate path.  (more…)

Today begins the next 3 days dedicated to Lakshmi energy.  I remember seeing an image of Lakshmi on many cash registers in Indian shops.

Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity and well-being.  She understands how life energy flows in the material world.  She is pictured with the elephant, sits on a pink lotus and often has gold coins streaming from her palms. (more…)

To explain why viewing the divine as dynamic female really does matter - especially to us human females (who are often accused of being too “dynamic”!), I use an example from my own life.

Many of my friends and family know that I am also a playwright and that I wrote a play while a resident artist at Mabou Mines in New York called “Daddy meets Durga.” The play centered on a young woman trying to survive the domestic, political and cultural violence she experienced around her-violence directed toward her because she was a woman.

I wrote this play several years after returning from Yoga Teacher’s Training in India where I witnessed and felt the power of living traditions that had female-centered deities. Durga is everywhere in India- painted on trucks, in field shrines and tea shops. (more…)

One way of celebrating Navaratri is by participating or performing a puja. This can be as simple as offering flowers or incense to a picture or statue of Durga. A special rock or coconut can also become the Durga energy we honor. (more…)

Today begins Navaratri, a nine day celebration dedicated to the female energies named Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. In light of my last entry (”Considering Gender in Yoga”), I always welcome this chance to reclaim the feminine in spiritual practices. Navaratri is celebrated by men and women, young and old. (more…)