I wanted to share the Shakti journey with you all, I know some of you have been there right from the start but I thought it would be enlightening to hear how it began and what the core values are, and where I'd like to take it. It started with me having a meltdown I guess back in 2010, with the end of a relationship. I was teaching 8 yoga classes a week and struggling to get by. In truth I was empty and not in a good way, the strangest feeling ever, I had nothing to give and yet I continued to give but also I was blind to the blessings all around me and therefore couldn't receive either. I felt I had no personality, it wasn't a good feeling.Now this is seen by many as the dark night of the soul, it certainly felt that way. I needed to get away, you know the old chestnut, lets escape to the other side of the world, Its going to be a lot better over there. Of course we know, you take your self every where you go, so there was no escape, still it had to be done. I gave my classes away or closed them, rented my property for a year, sold my car which paid for the flights, took Izzy my daughter out of school and escaped to Australia. Before I left I wanted to say goodbye, I didn't know when we'd be back, after reading The Red Tent, I decided to create an evening called. The Celebration of the Divine Feminine. This was my way to bring all the amazing women I knew together. There was 40 of us,we learnt a Bollywood dance routine, the Hare Krishnas' fed us, my yoga teacher Carolyn Cowan spoke as well as many others, it was Divine. I realised then how powerful women coming together could be, how much we needed each others love and support. In the opening talk I gave, I expressed the idea of our circle or gathering being like Indras net, Indra is the Vedic God in Vedic cosmology. The net has a multi faceted jewel at each vertex and each jewel is reflected in all the other jewels. The image is used to describe the inter-connectedness of the universe, that the reflections are infinite, perfect and come from our own true nature. I used this as a metaphor for the Shakti circle, that women of all creeds, ages and interests could connect, circles within circles to remember our inner Shakti Divine Beauty, our light, which is our power, our friendship and sisterhood. It would be a celebration of our femininity, a space for women to share their ideas, talents, hearts, pain and connect as friends and to network. It was a powerful night and I left for Oz feeling the connection, and the love. It was only two weeks into my stay there, that I happened on a women's circle called The Red Tent, this did blow my mind. I awoke to the realisation, the Shakti circle was my destiny, my joy, my need, it never ever felt like work and that there were in fact women's circles all over the world and like Indras net we could connect with those too.
