When to Work with the Energy of Shiva

“As you transform, your whole life transforms with you. You are your whole life. As you alter your life, life will alter with you. There is no other way.” -Anand Mehrotra

Shiva is the first teacher of yoga. The teacher of teachers. The master of Tantra. He is the adiyogi, teaching us that yoga is about transformation, transmutation and turning poison into nectar. Shiva is the destroyer of the false self, the ego. The destroyer of Avidya (ignorance), which is the fundamental root of all suffering. Representing the formless, timeless, attribute-less, nothingness, stillness, silence and living beyond ignorance and obstacles ~ Shiva is the master of death, annihilating us of our self identity. He is the destroyer of the time-bound self and the gateway to the timeless self. When we work with the energy of Shiva, it aids in bringing us into silence, fearlessness and discovering our indestructibility. Working with the energy of Shiva invites us to go inwards, to move into the profound field of stillness. Shiva invites us to refine our consciousness, to look at any problems we have in our life and to realize all the problems are only here because of certain states of consciousness. Problems only exist in relation to the one who has the problem. Work with Shiva when you want to align with the unknown. As we do this, we start to see that the unknown becomes our greatest ally. We move away from the fear of the unknown. It is our lower mind that observes the unknown as the enemy. Shiva is the lord of destruction, destroying dis-illusion, helping us to move in the direction of the true self. When we work with the energy of Shiva, we move away from isolation and fear and move into love and the direction of unity. Shiva’s trident represents moving beyond the trinity of creation, organization and destruction, and teaches us to be in this world but not of this world ~ to show up fully in the world without seeking fulfillment from the world, but rather from inside ~ to locate bliss from within. The snake represents the awakened Kundalini (the infinite potential of being).