what is shakti?

I have had some inquiries from supporters asking what is "Shakti?”

It’s kind of a loaded question because the word itself is Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan dialect. It is one of the oldest languages of the greater Indian subcontinent and today is only spoken formally in the scriptures and hymns expounding the glories of the Hindu pantheon. Those people I have come in contact with who are learning Sanskrit for "fun" are hands down devoutly dedicated to living the beautiful spiritual legacy of India.

Yoga practitioners in the west hear this word and recognize it as a term to denote energy or power.  more often than not, we accept the definition and stop exploring. Another way it is commonly used is to describe the feminine creative force. You can see where this is becoming a rather deep well! 

What draws the well even deeper is the fact that the Sanskrit language is a language based on the sound and vibration of 50 letters. It is said that the alphabet was handed down to a Rishi (aka a "seer" who was essentially downloaded full of cosmic information while in a deep meditative state) through the combination of drum beats from the Lord of Yoga himself. The thing with Sanskrit is that if you chant a word regularly, the vibrations will sing an energetic song that when tuned into, can reveal the meaning of the word. This is so much more complex than the English language, so it becomes very difficult to distill the meaning of this poetic language into a simple English translation. There is no easy way to do it justice. You kind of have to experience it for yourself.

Ok, I am completely geeking out here, so let me come back to the point.

What is Shakti?

Best for me to put it in terms of what Shakti has been in my experience. Shakti is---and please keep your mind open for all of this to evolve---a life giving force. Without Shakti, we could not breathe. Shakti is that which empowers all of creation to fulfill its purpose for any given time, and than transform into new beginnings. Watch nature and you know Shakti. Shakti is not a fixed immovable object, although Shakti was involved in the creation of said immovable object.

So in my experience, Shakti is the very life force inspiring this body to behave as it does, right down to the cellular level. It has its own intelligence, it is dynamic yet subtle, and yes,  I believe it to be the essence of the feminine. Which is to say, that which is powerful because it is soft, magnetic because it is still, receptive, supportive, intuitive; ever evolving thereby imbibed with the capability to create sustain, transform, reveal, and veil at will. I could go on and on and on...but for now, this is enough.

I named my dance company "Shakti Moves" because about a decade or so ago, I became keenly aware of all of this moving through my life. It then became very important to create something tangible to watch that play come manifest as well as a way to honor that force which moves through the cosmos with total care and precision.