Mantra, Mudra, and Mythology: Durga!

September Theme: Durga!

We are nearing Libra season equipped with eclipses and the big Harvest Full Moon eclipse tonight. Get ready for transition, transmutation, collaboration, and harmonization.

But right now we are still in the heart of Virgo!

Durga calls it home for me as the embodiment of this Virgo season. Coming from the fire of Leo, she grounds the energy as protectress, fortress, and the fully empowered representation of the divine feminine. 

Virgo is about daily habits, details, discernment, and in its feminine aspect, the archetype of the healer. The energy of Virgo vibes with the fierce matriarch of the house, being of service and keeping order with strength, integrity, and thinking on her toes. She is sourced through the boundless energies within that can be called upon with lightning intuition. This is Durga. 

She is the MahaDevi! The Great Mother Goddess who contains all other forms of Shakti within her. She symbolizes the breadth and depth of our innate power, from the wrathful to the most benevolent intelligence. She’s the remover of obstacles and obscurations of the mind, summoning her powers to harmonize the ego and maintain balance. Durga is the eye in the center of the storm, in service to the greater good through the highest wisdom energies.

Embodiment

The mantra: Om Dum Durgaye Namaha 

The mudra: Abhaya Mudra + Hasta Bandha 

The breath: Lion’s breath!

Spotlight on the Bandhas

Traditionally locks within the body to sublimate energy… but that’s for another day. This flow is Bandha-light, playing with each physically and for their silly sexy symbolism…as I imagine it!

Jalandhara : Chin To Chest

Let’s look at this bandha through the lense of Kali, Durga’s dark and wrathful form. She swiftly slices heads off demons (of the mind) with her sword of discernment. Now tuck your chin in, and, well you get the idea. Or, on a lighter note think of it as a bow inward to your heart. Drawing energy down and clearing the crown to harmonize with the heart. Durga lives at the soul of the heart as Lakshmi, pulsing with radiant beauty and abundance.

Uddiyana Bandha: The Abdominal Lock

Squeeze navel to spine. Imagine exhaling inward to the very core of your being. The navel connects us to the deep fertile womb, mother (earth), and Self prior to birth; the primordial power and possibility inhabiting every cell of your body. The exhale empties us out to be rebirthed with the radiant vitality of each inhale, just as the universe pulsates between expansion and contraction. 

In the battle stories Durga expands, multiplying herself into all forms of the Goddess to defeat her enemies, but draws them all back in to take the final blow. The myths mirror the infinite intelligence at the core of our being, inviting us to reunite with the wisdom within. Manipura Chakra, in balance, is about embracing our innate power that precedes the manipulations of the mind; beyond control, judgment, and fear. 

Mula Bandha: The Root Lock

The grass is always greener where you plant it! Virgo season is all about planting seeds through daily action. But deficiency at the root can lead to sluggishness, negative self-talk, and doubt. This is the realm of the shadow, moving about from unconscious conditional patterning, our stories about the past powering the potential of our future. 

In one of the myths Kali slashes and catches demon blood in her slivering tongue. If the blood touched the earth he’d rebirth as a clone through each drop. I see the blood as a symbol of our stories (distortions, identifications, thought-forms) infinitely emerging and diverging from reality. Kali comes to clean up shop before they can grow roots. Kali is the kinetic bolt that jolts us from unconscious slumber into presence.

Kali

So we ground the feet (fun fact: sole comes from the word soil), pump the pelvic floor and wake up! We embody the moment, stomp the earth, and pounce the floor with tiger paws. Commanding and standing in a posture of clarity, consciousness, confidence, and unshakeable trust.

Hasta Bandha

Tiger Paws! Let’s play! Hands hold so much energy so we pull out our claws, cup palms to the ground and make big sounds with lion’s breath. This sequence has arm balances and inversions and these are all about falling down and rising up. We work the root, raise our gaze, connect to the heart, and most of all have fun!

Let’s celebrate together. See you on the mat for Mantra, Mudra, and Mythology Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9:30am at Hot 8 Yoga Pasadena

*Deep gratitude to my teacher Sianna Sherman for her inspiring Mythic Yoga Flow