personal growth

The Rest and the Reckoning: A Call to the Divine Feminine

Michele Ashley May 21, 2021
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The Rest and the Reckoning: A Call to the Divine Feminine
In a world that is constantly telling us who we should be, to hurry up and wait for the manifestation of that narrative, it is no wonder it took a pandemic to slow us down and provide us an invitation to become. It was, and has been, a harsh and yet necessary pause; a diversion in this road of life to bring to our attention what has been wholly out of balance and what is looking to be birthed, nurtured, and manifested in its place.

We lived in a world of “to-do-lists” and deadlines with little time for breath or the witnessing of the world we have created. And, as we watched the world take a serious “time out”, we also exhaled audibly and collectively. As the world paused and came to a halt, space opened for more nurturing for some, more space to simply be for others, and time to feel into the intuitive wisdom that lives within us all. We were given the chance to sit with the discomforts we had suppressed for far too long; a direct result of living from actions and not always from our hearts. And, we could no longer deny that which had been calling to us from the depths of our being, that wondrous, silken, nurturing energy of the Divine Feminine.

This was a call to feel what we had become.

A New Path to Witness, Feel, and Experience Our Being



There’s no denying the past year has given us all an invitation to pause and reflect, while trying our hardest to juggle the demands of our lives as we watched through our zoom lens our reality shift, transform, and change. In a world where multitasking and “burning the midnight oil” were status updates to take pride in, opening up space from within, to allow the Divine Feminine to take up to space and flourish, felt nuanced, tricky, and illusive as hell. As our world came to terms with the firm grip we have had on hustling, doing, and feeding a culture of “hurry up and wait” it took a pandemic to provide us all with a mandatory “time out” to witness, feel, and experience the call for a different way; a new path that asks for us to pause, breathe, and flow.

This mandated rest and reckoning, by way of a virus, became our unofficial reawakening to the Divine Feminine and a call to witness the discomfort that followed. This invitation to sit with the silence and release what we thought we should be doing, this call to nurture that which we had neglected within ourselves and allow space for what was seeking to be birthed into the world, felt gentle and yet urgent all the same. I watched as the world, myself included, found our schedules and a sense of urgency about our lives crumble and fall. And in one collective breath, a nurturing, tender energy took its place, settling deep in our hearts.

A Revolution of Consciousness



We do not always recognize a revolution when it arrives. And yet, a revolution of consciousness erupted as the Divine Feminine arrived forcing each of us to become more mindful in our movements and aware of how we took up space. We became more conscious of our breath, learned to nurture what was asking to be healed, and gave comfort to those who felt out of place. We began to embody a level of love that honored all lived experiences regardless of the narratives that have governed our lives for so long. The Divine Feminine called to us in a time where we had become so busy ‘doing’ we forgot how to ‘be’, it was a call to open our hearts in a way that had been forgotten.

As our movements became slower, a new flow emerged creating space for inspiration that read “Black Lives Matter”. An illumination of truth that all beings have the right to take up space in whatever way they choose regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. We acknowledged, by way of mandates to the opposite, our need for community and connection: we reached out in whatever ways we could. And with each breath we took collectively, we realized the inequitable conditions that demanded the breath of others to be minimized or disappear altogether. There were conversations, finally being listened to, that spoke open and honestly about our historical trauma. We humbly released our grip on doing and began embodying the practice of being; opening space for the nurturing and healing that continues to take place.

Life became precious once again. Or at least, the vision of the preciousness of life had been seeded: the harvest for the next generation to take place.

Cultivating Life and Sustenance in Our Hearts



As the energies of nurturing, creativity, passion, and all things that give life and sustenance found their place in our hearts, minds, and souls, a pathway emerged in our consciousness. It showed up at our dinner tables, through zoom meetings, our rallies, our marches, our conversations, and in our intentions and manifestations of new ways to reach one another that had not been thought of before. It manifested in the connections we sustained through one of the hardest times of our lives; as a collective and as individuals.

So, as I move through my asana practice, feeling into my breath, and leaning on the intuitive wisdom that moves through me, I am reminded this is all yoga. This life I am blessed with, is my yoga. And, it is your yoga as well. Each time I step on to my mat, I am invited, as is the world, to breathe, to feel into my body, welcome what arises, embrace the nuance of it all, and release the need to judge or create a story or narrative, and instead to simply flow. This is our pathway and embodiment of the Divine Feminine through practice. The opportunity to create something new out of the ashes of what has been and to hold space for the healing of those ignored and marginalized is my choice; my dharma.

The Felt Experience of the Divine Feminine



The Divine Feminine is not always seen, but felt. This energy arrives on the whispers of the wind, the twinkle of the light in the new dawn, the warmth of the sun as it sets. It is the power of water that splits the rock, the quiet yet resilient strength of truth, and the eternal spark that is us.

In connecting with this subtle energy we've opened our hearts to inspiration for a new way of being in the world, holding the space of comfort—without judgment—for those seeking healing. As we continue to learn from the ways the Divine Feminine has emerged in us all, we embrace rest as a form of nurturance for ourselves and others. We create space to sustain live-giving work that honors all beings, and we become what we have always been.

How we each choose to engage with life is our dharma. Our embodiment of our practice is the work. Our outward lives will continue to be the reflection of our inner world and the invitation to rise and fall, expand and contract, embrace and release our Divine Feminine.

Join Alicia Keys and Deepak Chopra in the 21-Day Meditation Experience, Activating the Divine Feminine: The Path to Wholeness to bring healing to your life and our world, available now in the Presence App.

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