New Moon – Navaratri or Nine Nights for the Great Mother begins!
Three Essential Universal Navaratri Practices we can begin now.. read on my friends.
The Fall Nine-Night (Nava-Ratri) Sadhana (spiritual practice) Festival begins today around the world and you can tap into the transformative power till Oct 11th and beyond. It is an extraordinary time to see what arises and can be transformed in our life, the world and how our personal practice can make a difference from moment to moment in the fast-moving Fall season. I enjoy honoring Navaratri for the last 20 years and want to share with you some universal background and a distillation of three ways anyone can tap into the healing and empowerment of Navaratri.
No matter what our background, we can open to the seasonal wisdom of the Fall Navaratri as we all share the endarkenment of the Fall season as leaves begin to change and fall like the the letting go and transformation we can undergo at this time. The seasonal wisdom of the Fall is found cross-culturally as the fast of Yom Kippur or the facing of our fear of the dark and the dead with Halloween/Samhain in the Celtic tradition. In Kerala where I am now, Navaratri is a time of going into greater practice, healing, empowerment and devotion to the Great Mother as a place of refuge for men and women.
So here are three essential practices that anyone can activate as a tapas (practice of dedicated change over a cycle or period):
1) Healing Food Practice: Navaratri is a time for raising the vibration of your food – the energy that goes inside you and propels the quality of our journey. In India, some people fast for nine days, some have only one meal or fruits, some eat vegetarian with no processed foods or sugar, some just simply choose the food that doesn’t serve their vitality for the nine day period. Choose what is right for your body and life right now and then maintain for the 9 days. You will notice that your body doesn’t want what is not good for you right now. Write down your balanced food sadhana that you can maintain for these nine days and place it in a sacred place and commit to that process till Oct.11th.
2) Transforming Regressive Habits practice: This is one of the easiest time to let go of any toxic habits of speech, hearts, awareness and actions. Most of the symbolic aspects of Navaratri sadhana and the weapons of consciousness – swords, clubs, bows and arrows are to address the benfits of this kind of clear – as it one stroke or as in a nine day dedication and beyond – for letting go. Particularly our “outer mind/ego” obstacles. Write one to four regressive habits that you want to transform and place it in a sacred place and commit to that process for the next nine days.
3) Cultivating Transforming and Balancing Practices & Seva (giving back):
This is one of the most auspicious – fruitful times to engage in practices that are healing, transformative and connect us to the Great Mother. There are specific practices that are suggested from meditation, mantra, mudra, puja, svadyaya (reading sacred texts) and I offer namaskars or salutations to Ma Shakti. On a more universal level, being committed to “sacred training” that which transforms and nourishes not just our soul but leads to being able to serve your famly, friends and world around you is the calling. This is a great time to get involved with your sacred activism and doing seva – selfless service for the One. Write down one – three healing practices that you can commit too and a way to give back (seva) and place it in a sacred place and commit to that process for the next nine days.
New Moon and Navaratri Blessings as we all go upon the journey of the next nine nights in our own way and tradition. Let us connect with the ripple effect beginning with our own heart, body, and life.
I will be keeping a blog during this transformative time on Navaratri micro-practices that are both universal and here in Kerala, South India where I am beginning our Navaratri retreat through Oct. 12th on www.pranavinyasaflow.com.
Jai Ma! Victory to the Great Mother!
Love all ways
Shiva
Shiva