In Like a Lion… And Remain So

My daughter, Lotus, has always been exceptionally brave. When she was a toddler, her older sister would always make her do things first. Go in the water. Taste a new food. Get up in front of a room full of strangers and sing a song.
Last Sunday, she shaved her head.

Everyone in our circle had a reaction. “WHY?” “I could never.” "Did she have lice?" "So brave!"
However, interestingly enough, Lotus did not embrace any descriptors. She was equanimous—completely emotionally stable and composed. She exhibited no signs of loss or fear of the physical change. She was at once detached and resolute. When she looked in the mirror, there was a moment of “Oh my God—I love it!”
I felt as if I was watching her being revealed. She was uncovering her true wild and free self.

In yoga philosophy there is the concept of “Shakti”---the divine feminine energy, force and power that manifests through all of creation. Shakti is the source of both matter and physical energy and her dance is the dance of the cosmos.
Lotus exuded this Shakti force.

I reflected on Lotus' brave act on the eve of International Women's Day in the middle of Women's History Month (WHM). Then I mused that perhaps it is not so random of a connection that March was denoted as WHM. After all, March is the month where the mantra is "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Moreover, it is exactly like the theme in Glennon Doyle's book Untamed, which describes the societal taming of our girls from wild animals into domesticated ones.

I could see it even amongst the reactions of my friends. I mean, why would a beautiful 13 year-old shave her head? Because few in my generation could not fathom doing such a thing. Candidly I could not fathom it---yet I was so very proud that Lotus could and did.

What wild inner-child have you neglected, left behind, shoved aside or put down?
Unleash her. Raise her up. Let her dance like the star that she is.
So we can raise our girls to be ferocious, wild and free.

Join me this week for practices devoted to raising and celebrating our inner Shakti.

PS: This is for men and women, because balanced humans have balanced feminine and masculine energies, and, at the deepest level, Shakti transcends gender.

PS: Lotus donated her hair to "Locks of Love" www.locksoflove.org .