Feminine and Masculine Energetic Bodies
We all have Feminine and Masculine energies within us, Feminine refers to Yin or Shakti energy and Masculine refers to Yang or Shiva energy. When we talk about these sides, we are referring to the energetic principles governing our, Left - Feminine and, Right - Masculine sides of our body.
Feminine qualities are Receiving, Loving, Caring, Forgiving and Nurturing. Masculine is: Giving, Focused, Driven and Assertive. These attributes all need each other to thrive. Forgiveness (Feminine) without boundaries (Masculine) can lead to being walked over and potentially fall into a victim. Being focused (Masculine) without being flexible (Feminine) can cause us to be narrow minded and uncompromising. Leading us to attachment to outcomes and never being able to enjoy the journey.
When referring to pain, injuries, immobility or weaknesses in our body, it is helpful to see these conditions as messages.
Information from your energetic body to your physical body.
Outsourcing treatments or medicating our messages, can facilitate them to manifest in other areas of our body. Empowering the practitioner and or medication cycle to continue.
This information is intended to allow you to bring awareness to your injuries and listen to the energetic messages they are sending you. I encourage you to find some practices that suit you and be a part of your healing team, instead of a carrier of your ailment.
Let's begin with the Left->Yin->Shakti->Feminine side of the body. It requires us to be in a state of Being. This is a state rarely honoured in our society. Cultivating this energy is enrichingly valuable.
Augmenting our Feminine energy softens us and allows us to be in the joy in our lives. Some Feminine attributes are Caring, Compassion, Forgiveness - There is so much power in forgiveness. Empathy, Creativity, Honesty, Authenticity, and Vulnerability. Looking at this short list of qualities, I know my life is infinitely better when I focus on elevating these traits in my life.
When we overgive or overdo in our life this depletes us of our Feminine energy. Allowing some receptivity into our life is necessary. Especially when referring to relationships.
Practices you can employ to connect to your Divine Feminine include Dancing, self massage, self pleasure of any kind, warm candlelit baths, spending time in nature, talking with girlfriends or even better attending a women's circle, Feminine Kundalini Kriya, Free Flowing yoga moves, Cooking Yourself or Ordering a Delicious Meal and enjoying Every Mouthful- paying attention to the Taste, Textures and Nutritional qualities (Think Nigella Lawson tasting her own food).
Gratitude practices such as a daily list of your 5 favourite moments are infinitely rewarding and enriching to your Feminine energy.
Create..! Do something Creative. My opinion on Creating is: you can be deliberately artistic or you can recognise your creativity - your unique way of doing things while fulfilling everyday mundane household tasks. This acknowledgement will also empower your Feminine Essence.
Write, in a Journal, consider a writing practice of Interior Monologue Where you write fully formed sentences like you are writing to yourself. Or, Stream of Consciousness - where you portray the actual experience of thinking, in all its chaos and distraction.
Some of These practices can be introduced into daily life with little effort, awareness is often all you need.
The Right->Yang->Shiva->Masculine side of the body requires more effort as Masculine energy is that of Doing. To energise our Masculine body, we need to explore how Masculine is expressed for you.
Is Masculine energy Protective, Courageous and Independent..? Do we need to set boundaries in our life and enforce them..? Do you feel the necessity for Physical Strength in your body and Mental Endurance to follow things through..?
These questions are valuable for you to consider before launching into enhancement. As with everything, there is a flip side, or a shadow. Masculine shadows can appear as Anger, Being Controlling, Having Violent Thoughts and or Behaviour, an attitude of Never Enough, More, More, More.
If we are lurking in the shadow of the Feminine, this can show up as being a Victim, Comparing and being Competitive with other women, bitching and complaining about others and holding our tongue to the point of repressing our true voice. Not listening to your Intuition or Gut Feelings, Destructive Behaviour and Obsessive Thinking & Internal Criticism. Perfection is hidden shadow.
Multi-tasking is a positive feminine trait. Being Focus Driven is Masculine. These qualities can smoothly fall into their own shadows.
Multi-tasking can turn into dilly dallying, becoming unfocussed and scattered, never seeing things through to completion. On the flip side being completely Focus Driven can develop into Getting things done at all costs, not enjoying the journey and potentially unhealthy obsessive behaviour.
Being too controlling, aggressive or angry, narrow minded and always needing to be right are the dark places of the Masculine.
If you are stuck in the shadow of the Feminine this will manifest as being super creative and having all the great ideas and never seeing them through to fruition.
Have you ever had a project to do within a timeline. Initially, you gathered information with ease and grace, then stalled and procrastinated, had moments of being blocked and couldn’t get into it. Then…. 5 minutes before the due date, you smashed it out with creative genius and effortlessness. That is the Masculine energy of the end date that propelled the Feminine creative juices. Can you see ? Just as the yin and the yang symbol represents, the Masculine needs the Feminine.
Chinese Medicine philosophy suggests drinking boiled ginger to energise your Yang nature. Ayurveda educates on foods for increasing Agni or stoking the digestive fire. Kundalini yoga has fiery breathwork and Kriya, all of which are a great subtle and energetic kick start for cultivating Masculine attributes.
Physically challenging movements like jump squats and burpees will create an immediate shift into the Masculine.
Speaking your truth, Setting boundaries and enforcing them - especially with people and in circumstances that challenge you is a specific avenue of Masculine expression. If you need to speak your truth, set boundaries or do something involving taking a risk and you need the energy to do so. Take a moment to perform a minute of Kapala Bhati breath and some Jump Squats and you’ll have the internal resources to Get it done..!
Feminine is creative. Masculine is practical. However if we look at how many recognised Male artists throughout history there are, we can see the pattern of just how much the put yourself out there masculine energy helps the creative Feminine energy share their talents with the world and get some recognition.
Feminine is being IN the body. Em-Bodied. Masculine encompasses the mind. We need to move our body to utilize our nervous energy and enliven our body with energy so we have the ability to sit in stillness and meditate.
When you are stuck in the Masculine shadow of over-thinking or being hypercritical, get into your body. Breathe. Move Organically, Dance, Shake, Find your feminine movement expression, especially if at first it feels weird and uncoordinated, close your eyes, focus on one particular body part and do something that feels nice. Express yourself from a place of feeling pleasure, feeling joy from your body. Make your body move how joy looks. What does joy look like to you? It might be leaves waving in the wind, if so - move like the leaves. Joy might look like children dancing, they always move without any self consciousness, and they always look amazing, if this is your joy - move like a child.
It’s important to understand that Masculine-Yang-Shiva and Feminine-Yin-Shakti have nothing to do with gender. We are all made up of Feminine and Masculine energies, and we all have our unique proportions of dominant energies and qualities. Working towards balance is something we can aim for especially if we tend to sit in the shadows of one of or both of the aspects.
Remember, we are looking to energise, if any of the practices you adopt feel depleting, they are not the right ones for now. Try something gentler and return to the practices that felt depleting at a later date.
Energetic work is subtle but powerful. Honouring where you are in this moment is a Feminine practice and pushing yourself to rise to your challenges is a Masculine practice. Find your balance between allowing and doing.
We are cultivating Fierceness and Tenderness, Strong with Softness, Compassion with Boundaries, Speaking our Truth in the company of Discernment. Growing into Open and Vulnerable Leaders with Care and Empathy for our team Forging Ahead full of Graceful Courage.
In a Soul Strength Class, you are guided to witness your Feminine and Masculine, observe what is occurring, and give yourself the physical conditioning that you need for this moment. One thing is for sure, change is a constant. Issues that present as stuck or blocked one day can be free flowing another. We often see injuries swap sides of the body. This is body finding equilibrium in the energetics of an injury.
Soul Strength is a lifestyle that begins in a movement class. A class that creates space for you to release in areas of your life you have been stuck and supports change and personal growth..
See you on the Mat.