Farah Baria reflects on ways to connect with the Divine Mother, while drawing the magnetic force of the earth into our bodies

When you surrender to the agony, giving birth can be an almost mystical experience. Heck, I honestly didn’t mean to open my piece with this bit of New Age twaddle, yet here it is, unravelling itself indelibly at the top of the page with its own procreative energy.

Laugh if you like but writing and reproduction are both expressions of Shakti, the primordial feminine power that pervades the universe. According to the Vedas, Shakti is the force that converts the raw cosmic energy of Shiva into the infinite shapes, forms, movements, sounds and colours of Creation.

This celestial matriarch who dwells within us, has three forms: Kali or Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. As Kali Ma, Shakti represents procreation, the dark void of the cosmic womb from where the universe emerges. Durga, Kali’s counterpart, is the ‘protectress’, urging us to guard the interests of our families. Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, nurtures the young and enriches the domestic environment. And Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, provides us with the intuition to teach and guide our brood.

A powerful way to access this Shakti-prana, says Tiwari, is to practice the Shakti Asana or ‘goddess pose’. With your head pointing east, lie on your back and stretch out your legs, about hip-width apart. Keep your arms by your sides, palms up, then bring the soles of your feet together, so that your knees fall towards the floor on either side. Extend the stretch without straining. Feel the pull in your pelvis and visualise the intake of breath coming in through your vagina, letting this energy flow up to your belly. Then slowly release it downward and out through the vagina. With each intake of breath imagine Shakti in the form of a white light flooding your belly. Hold the posture for as long as possible and feel her subtle luminescence within you.

Another way to connect with the Divine Mother, is through the simple art of squatting. When we move into a squatting posture, we draw the magnetic force of the earth into our bodies. In fact, in the old days, women instinctively performed most of their daily rituals, squatting. They squatted while planting seeds, reaping the harvest, sifting the husk and pounding the grain, while grinding spices, cutting vegetables, cooking and feasting on nature’s bounty.

[Regular Verve columnist, Farah Baria, has been a full-time journalist for the last 11 years. Earlier principal correspondent with India Today, the mother of two writes a regular parenting column for Sunday Mid Day.]