Three Ways to Show your Power, your Shakti, on Mother's Day

Three Ways to Show your Power, your Shakti, on Mother's Day

A long time ago, maybe years ago now, I asked my mom why she did not often tell me that she loved me or was proud of me. We were in the car, she was driving. Her hands were on the steering wheel and her eyes on the road. I turned down the radio to hear her.

She said, “I didn’t think it mattered what I thought. You do so many big, important things. I didn’t think it mattered what I thought of them.”

Pause.

Mom kept driving. Hands on the steering wheel. Eyes on the road, radio too quiet to hear. The sounds of cars on the road, the sound of our car cutting through the air, tires on the road, engine moving under the hood. Our breath and silence.

“It matters mom. It matters a lot.”

And so went the car and mom said, “Okay.”

I was preparing for Yoga class tomorrow, Mother’s Day. I searched the terms mother, yoga, and deity, searching for the yogic incarnation of motherhood within the traditional of yoga.

Shakti emerged.

It is said that Shakti is the feminine spirit, the embodiment of mother. It means power, or empower. This is just part of it. There is much to Shakti and to the understanding of Shakti. There are many variations across traditions.

It was those two words that struck me, power and empower.

That is what Mother’s Day is. It is a day to remember your power. To remember those that need you to say, “I love you,” and  “I see you.”

You, me, us, we are much more powerful than we think we are. In this blog, I write of Zuri, a little girl whose mother does not know her power. With this lack, Zuri is lost.

When we do not embrace our power, it does not fade, it does not go away. I believe it is misdirected, processed in a way it was not intended. My mother did not know her power and in her not saying, I was hurting. It was more than an absence of power. It left a vacuum. I knew, in my heart, she loved me. Still, the effect was there.

It is a responsibility that none of us asked for- but it is ours none-the-less, with children or not- we have our roles as the holder of Shakti-- to use it, to form it, to manifest it for the growth and development of others. It is a responsibility that comes with birth.

Think about people in your life. The people you touch. Do you see your power? Do you see the possibility of empowerment? And have you manifested, brought forth, given, seen, and expressed this power? Or is there a vacuum? Unspoken truths?

Do these three things- in honor of Mother’s Day, of Shakti, of your power-- do these three things:

1.     Step back, breathe, and see, really see, the people in your life. Acknowledge that these beings need you to show your love to them.

2.     Give voice to what you see. Tell them that you see their trying. Tell them that you see their kindness. Tell them that you see their heartache. Tell them.

3.     Nurture and Love. Do this a lot. There are many ways to do this.  One of my favorites is to kiss the ones you love on the forehead and whisper, “I love you.” Yeah, do that.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you powerful people. Know your power and use it well!

Namaste,

Catherine Cook-Cottone

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