2020 Vision - the year ahead.

If you found 2019 to be a most challenging year, you are not alone!

Many people I know have chosen to address the "shadow" side of life – both personally and collectively. The shadow is our unconscious mind, the storehouse of every memory of every experience that's ever happened to us. For the past six years, I’ve stepped into the dark reaches of my individual psyche walking amongst a grove of sorrow and joy with awareness, purpose and curiosity. It's not been an easy ride, but I’ve learned a lot more about myself from this journey. Some personal traits I can genuinely appreciate, other aspects I still grapple with.

Yet, as 2019 rolls to a close, there is optimistic about 2020.
There’s a deep significance to consider about the year ahead. A“2020” vision is not just about having perfect eyesight. It’s an inner clarity, or spiritual insight, that arises from knowing who you are, why you were born, understanding your life purpose and culling a greathearted conviction to step on your unique path and allow it to unfold.

This is not a journey for the faint of heart!
It requires clear intention, inner strength, and unending adaptability. Are you up for that?

Culturally, we’ve seen a huge unveiling of what I call “Big White Male Privileged” behavior and separatist/racist/elitist patriarchal ideology. From politics to media to sports to business, unacceptable behavior is being called out in all arenas of our culture, by average people rising to the challenges of our times. And not only in the USA, but globally. People are coming together to push back against big pharma, big money, big politics, etc...

What does this have to do with yoga? 
What I love most about the Tantric yogic philosophy I’ve studied for over two decades, is the presiding ideology that honors the Divine Feminine & the Divine Masculine on equal footing. Neither a Patriarchal nor Matriarchal system, Tantric teachings encourage us to consider and practice an holistic way to embrace, respect and balance these two opposing forces within ourselves. The ultimate practice is to bring that knowledge into the way treat ourselves, behave towards others, and act in the world.

On my journey, I’ve explored the ways in which, as a white American female, I’ve both consciously and unconsciously embraced a patriarchy which suppresses the Divine Feminine in every aspect of our culture. I’m coming to know the best and worst within myself in an ever-deepening pursuit of awakened living. What better self-knowledge could there be?

It’s said that the world around us is merely a reflection of what we each hold inside.
So if you don't like what you see around you, discover where that same aspect lives inside you, then learn to love it and let it go.
Easier said than done, I know!

When we embark on the “hero/heroine’s journey plumbing the depths our own psyche to uncover all that is present – the beautiful and the ugly – our life will be enriched. Self-knowledge, self-love, and self-compassion are but a few of the jewels we'll discover. Over time, we'll learn to bring ourselves and the world around us, into greater harmony.

Here’s to “out with the old” and “in with the new” as we cross the threshold from 2019 to 2020.
Hold on to your mats, because it’s going to be a transformative year, in so many ways.
Om Namah Shivaya!!