Why the name ShaktiShiva?

My path in life, what brings me joy, is seeing people find relief in their body and mind through bodywork and yoga as well as empowering them to seek their full potential, something that many people lose sight of in the daily grind we call life.  When I came across the story of Shakti & Shiva something sparked and I new right then this was my business’ name.  Their story resembles our journey in life to maintain balance, that too much of a good thing becomes bad.  When we are in balance we find joy, love, and connection, but when we move out of balance chaos ensues and we become disconnected from ourselves, our bodies.  The way back to balance is understanding that something in our lives is too dominant or lacking, and through reflection and self-discovery the issue comes to light and we begin to move back towards equilibrium and towards healing and empowerment.

The following is a shortened version of Shakti & Shiva’s story.  Enjoy and I look forward to seeing you in a class or on my treatment table!

Shiva and Shakti are manifestations of the all-in-one divine consciousness - different sides of the same coin. In many pictures these two primal powers are each depicted as being one half of the same image; one side female and one side male. The left side is the Divine Mother, Pārvatī, the “feminine” energy, and the right side represents Shiva, the “masculine” consciousness.

SHAKTI means energy, power, movement, change, nature. It is the maternal principle – the provider, abundance. In the human as well as in the animal kingdom the mother offers nourishment, warmth and security. There is no greater love than the love of a mother. The mother carries and nourishes the child in her own body. When it is born she provides it with mother’s milk and raises it at the sacrifice of her own self until it becomes self-reliant.

SHIVA, on the other hand, is pure consciousness – the unchanging, unlimited and unswayable observer. Shiva has no desires whatsoever; these are inherent only in Shakti. Shiva is the empty, clear screen onto which Shakti projects her colourful film.

Through the splitting of the primordial principle at the advent of creation the duality within our lives came into being, together with a strong force that is constantly striving to re-unite with the other part.

Only when Shiva and Shakti combine can action, movement and creation arise. Until energy is impregnated with consciousness it is ignorant, disordered, aimless and “blind”. Energy alone can produce nothing; consciousness bestows upon it content, form and direction. Conversely, consciousness without energy is dormant power, sleeping energy, and on its own is unable to be the cause of anything.