Shiva and Shakti Dancing

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AShiva_dancing_Tandava.jpg

Shiva Dancing

I found these awesome photographs of statues of Shiva dancing that I thought I would post today. This is definitely in the zone. This is how the body feels when it is free and light and dancing, when you let go and become one with your movement and your life force.

These beautiful statues led me on a journey to re-look up Shiva and Shakti, who is his counter-part. I love it when mythology shows up and calls out. There is always some morsel of something potent that is there.

This is some of what I found:


On Wikipedia:

"Shiva (ta: சிவன் ) ; ( /ˈʃɪvə/; Sanskrit: शिव Śiva, meaning "auspicious one") is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a sage at Mount Kailash.^[2] In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is regarded as one of the five primary forms of God.^[3] Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit Śaiva).^[4] Shaivism, along with Vaiṣṇava traditions that focus on Vishnu and Śākta traditions that focus on the goddess Shakti, is one of the most influential denominations in Hinduism.^[3]
Lord Shiva is usually worshipped in the abstract form of Shiva linga. In images, He is represented as a handsome^[5] young man^[6] immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon Apasmara, the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the Lord of the dance, goodness, humility, and every good quality a human should have. It is said that He looks like an eternal youth because of his authority over death, rebirth and immortality. He is also the father of Ganesha and Murugan ; (ta முருகன் ) ;(Kartikeya)."

and

"Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति) from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism.^[1] Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as 'The Great Divine Mother' in Hinduism. On the earthly plane, Shakti most actively manifests through female embodiment and creativity/fertility, though it is also present in males in its potential, unmanifest form.^[2]

The Kundalini-shakti from the Yoga tradition: life force/sexual energy that can be awakened for conscious creativity.

Not only is the Shakti responsible for creation, it is also the agent of all change. Shakti is cosmic existence as well as liberation, its most significant form being the Kundalini Shakti,^[3] a mysterious psychospiritual force.^[4] Shakti exists in a state of svātantrya, dependence on no-one, being interdependent with the entire universe.
In Shaktism, Shakti is worshiped as the Supreme Being. However, in other Hindu traditions of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Shakti embodies the active feminine energy Prakriti of Purusha, who is Vishnu in Vaishnavism or Shiva in Shaivism. Vishnu's female counterpart is called Lakshmi, with Parvati being the female half of Shiva."

More simply,  the male Shiva, embodies transformation, and the female Shakti creativity.

I found a poem on http://swamij.com  (http://swamij.com/loop-secret-shiva-shakti.htm):

The Secret of Shiva and Shakti Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati(endless audio loop*)

Shiva and Shakti are one and the same. There is no place that He is not. There is no place that She is not. They are one and the same. She is in every thing. She is in every word. She is all there is. See Her in all things. Hear Her in all sounds. Know Her in all thoughts. Feel Her in all feelings. She is all there is. She is the one in the three worlds**. Shiva and Shakti are one and the same. That is the secret. (Shiva is the universal latent or masculine energy, and Shakti is the universal active or feminine energy.)

 But, for me, it feels very much like the statues tell it all. There is beauty that dances, life in movement and movement in life.

On the dancing path, one may only sense that freedom at first, but as the body lightens up, when one begins to embody that lightness, the dance become exquisite.

What's not to love about a dancing entity?

-bbffair

Chola dynasty statue depicting Shiva dancing as Nataraja (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva

Breast Cancer Hurts

Breast Cancer Hurts

 I have had 11 radiation treatments out of a prescribed 30 treatment schedule so far that I began on October 27th.

After 6 treatments, I felt I could not go on. But my medical team convinced me to continue. This is a hard, hard road to travel, a day-by-day one.

This past October was Breast Cancer Awareness month and wow, I have never been so aware of it.

I cannot stress enough how much we need our health and good living and even then, this miserable disease can strike.

First the fear. Then the shock. Then the surgery.  The pain of surgery and the relief of getting the disease out of you in time. They got it all. They got clear margins. The surgery included taking two lymph nodes to see if it had traveled. Both were clean. Another blessing. But sooner or later you have to look in the mirror and face the shock and loss that comes with missing a part of yourself. I had a lumpectomy, but anyway you slice it, it is a partial masectomy and they take more than a lump. And then there is the too long recovery, the pain, the medicated days, the weakness. I spent long weeks sleeping and sitting on the couch reading.

When my strength came back, I was overjoyed. It feels so good, so delicious to jump, to stretch, to feel my vitality again. I have never been a fan of bras, but for now I have to do my aerobics in a sports bra to keep things from hurting, but I'm jumping and dancing again. I'm fairly small on top so with clothes on, even just a sports bra, you'd never know I'd had the surgery. Even naked, it's not too bad anymore, not as drastic as it seemed (like a deflated tire) right after surgery and more like a bite out of my missing lower breast. I try to love it even more these days. It saved my life by presenting the lump early. And after radiation, if it still needs a nip and tuck using some part of my body fat or muscle, these hero docs know how to put you back together.

I love my hero docs. My breast surgeon is the handsomest guy with a big smile and kind eyes and he oozes confidence. It's very helpful to have doctor heroes, especially very handsome ones too. I call mine my Dudley Do Right. He has that kind of Dudley Do Right great hair. And all I ever wanted him to say to me was: "I'll save you, Nell!"

I got a go free from the chemo experience. They have these impressive, expensive tests called Oncotype DX where they send a part of your lump to California and they analyze 21 genes in it that can help predict whether or not you should have it. These tests save lots of women (like me)  from having to undergo such a huge and invasive treatment. Yeah!

But with a lumpectomy, radiation is part of the treatment. I was trying to look at it like intense sunlight therapy.

I'm still trying to be as positive as I can. But this is hard and absolutely shocking to my system. It drains you and can be painful and make you feel so sick and is a very intense thing to go through.

I had no idea it was going to be this hard.

Today is my 12th treatment.

One day at a time.

-bbffair


< http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Breast_Cancer_Awareness_Month.png >

The Beauty of Plateaus

The Beauty of Plateaus

In the beginning of an adventure in getting your body beautiful or back to beautiful, weight wise, there can be all these amazing BIG results. They are impressive and ever so sweet.

But then comes the times when you hit plateaus. The going is slower, more precise, more streamlined.

Once you are "in your zone" this is more apt to happen. But this is a VERY GOOD THING.

Many of us are conditioned to believe this is where we are stuck or not making progress. (And, where that might be the case, it might be something much, much better than that. Though if we are stuck on our progress, we might need to make an adjustment, add or subtract something, have a few earlier, lighter dinners, something.)

But today I am not thinking about the kind of plateaus associated with being stuck. Instead, I am thinking about the ones where your body is deeply adjusting and  becoming one with its newer lighter being. It is memorizing and learning to live there. And that is a sign that this is a very nice place for the body to be in. Let it find its feet, stop upon the journey, and look out at (and from) the beautiful landscape and take some time to truly drink it in.

The definition of a plateau is: an elevated, fairly stable and level ground, something one might have climbed high or long, or with great effort to arrive at.

In the zone, your body may want to stay at or close to its new weight for awhile. My body likes to go up and down about 4 pounds for about four weeks each month as it adjusts and relaxes into the lighter weight. Then it lets go of the upper level and moves gently and naturally lighter the next month another 2-4 pounds.  Now I know that is not as drastic and freaky-thrilling as losing a ton in the beginning. (And, by the way, if you boot camp your way ALL the way up, you are much more likely to crash and end up at the bottom again and all defeated. So don't do that!)
But this is the part of the path that's perfect for gentle, natural, beautiful, healthful deepening momentum. The marathon part is over and the dance is poetic and sweet and totally to be enjoyed. It will release what may be left to release in its own perfect time. Your job is to fall into harmony with your body and believe again in the beautiful creature that you are.

By the way, isn't the picture above breathtaking! It's Castle Rock in Sedona, Arizona, a place of beautiful energy and healing. I've been there and been awed.

The photograph is kindly offered for sharing by the photographer named Grombo and is shared here by courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.  Info to look at his portfolio is below.

-bbffair

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