Consciousness

If you want to achieve vibrant health and lasting wellness in the new age, you’ve got to be willing to get a little bit old school. And not just to the 20th century. I’m talking about reflecting back at least 5,000 years ago to India… to the birth of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of health and healing on record and is just as relevant today as it was dozens of centuries ago. Arguably more so, as our inner and outer worlds have become more hectic and demanding than ever.

Sound familiar?

Wandering the streets of India, I notice the smell of cardamom fills the air, especially when approaching a sweets shop. I had never been immersed in its heady fragrance before my sojourns to India, but now it is one of my favorite scents and flavors. Perhaps it is because in all of its uniqueness, cardamom encourages a sense of self-responsibility, an owning of what is.

I hear the word “enlightenment” thrown around a lot. It has traction that has launched a very lucrative t-shirt and trinket industry. I recently found myself wondering, “That’s nice, but what does enlightenment actually MEAN?” When I looked up the definition, I saw that several explanations were listed…Some feel it is attaining an awareness of God consciousness. Some feel that it is transcending duality and living in a perpetual state of bliss.

Hari Krishna Hari Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hari Hari

Hari Ram Hari Ram

Ram Ram Hari Hari

There has never been a more alive time to know Kali than now, during what Vedic texts and other ancient scriptures deem the Kali Yuga—or era of Kali, era of Vice—which is what the current 1000 years we are in is called. Kali is the fierce and Dark aspect of the Divine Feminine who is comfortable with her rage, using it to call forth great change and destroy all that no longer serves.

Om Shreem MahaLakshmiyah Swaha

Praises to name of the Great Mother of both spiritual and material wealth which lives inside our consciousness. May we, in this moment, access the birthright of abundance which is ours. And so it is.

Breathing in a waft of heady geranium essential oil can be a scent only truly appreciated by the cultivated sniffer. Its fragrance challenges one to dig under the surface of the traditional floral notes and sit with the discomfort geranium assists one in facing. In my opinion, geranium is a scent for the both the mature nose and the mature heart and here’s why I think that is:

Before our embodiment, I imagine we were traversing endless passageways and landscapes of time/space. Living other lives as other names in other places and following the ways of the culture, our ancestors, and the tug in our hearts. If you believe in past lives, that is.

I do.

Preparing to step onto the stage, butterflies in my stomach, fear seeking to grip my frame, I reach for a vial of ginger essential oil stashed in my purse pocket. Dropping a few drops into the palm of my hand and rubbing it gently, inhaling the essence, I can immediately feel a sense of shifting. My feet plant more firmly into the ground and my spine straightens. Suddenly, overcome with confidence, preparing for this moment, I find myself elevated into the state of empowerment I know is normal for me,  and I step onto the stage.

According to the spiritual philosophy I ascribe to, we are all moving from imperfection to perfection. That means we are all growing, changing, developing. We are progressing from crude to subtle, culminating in merger with the subtlest entity of them all: The source of all creation.