Photo by Dana Nollsch www.PhotoZen.us

Each of us has male and female energies within us. I believe that one of the most important challenges we have in this world is to develop these energies fully, so they can interact in harmony with each other. ~ Shakti Gawain

My last several blog posts explored relationship in some depth. Of course, our relationships with others are monumentally important in our life-paths, in terms of happiness, self-discovery and more. We have relationships with ourselves, which are vitally important as well.

I recently came upon a useful visualization in Shakti Gawain’s Living in the Light: A Guide to Personal and Planetary Transformation. Much in keeping with the higher wisdom of the Universe, it became useful, not just for me, but in several client sessions over the past few weeks, as well as in a workshop I offered, “Living the Life of Intuitive Ease” at Pure Yoga. I thought it may be useful to share it here, for your own integrative journey, with a brief overview to orient us all to the process.

Enduring discoveries and discussions about the energies of male/female, yin/yang, active/receptive, and animus/anima deeply inform our consciousness. Gawain identifies our female aspect as receptive, intuitive, the wisest part of ourselves, “the open door through which the higher intelligence of the universe can flow.” She identifies the male aspect as action, thought, speech, movement, clarity, directness, passionate strength, “the outflowing end of the channel.” “The feminine receives the universal creative energy and the masculine expresses it in the world through action – thus we have the creative process.” Where there is union, there is harmony and creation. For this to work, however, we have to be willing to follow our intuitive guidance “directly and fearlessly.”

To fully integrate the inner male and female, you need to put the female in the guiding position. ~ Shakti Gawain

Easier said than done! Most of us have learned to suppress our inner feminine, to dishonor our intuition as illogical. But when we honor both female and male aspects, what becomes possible then?

The nature of the feminine is wisdom, love and clear vision expressed through feeling and desire. The male nature is all-out risk-taking action in service to the feminine, much like the chivalrous knight and his lady. Through his surrender to her and his action on her behalf, our male energy builds a personality structure within us that protects and honors the sensitive energy of our intuitive female… When these two energies are thus in harmony and working together, it’s an incredible feeling: a strong, open, creative channel, with power, wisdom, peace and love flowing through. ~ Shakti Gawain

Here’s the meditation/visualization offered by Gawain:

• From a meditation space, allow your mind to provide an image of your inner female (the image may be a person, animal or something more abstract). Allow the image to come spontaneously.
• Take a look at your female and see what she represents, how she feels. Ask her if she would like to share anything with you. Allow yourself to hear, even if she doesn’t use words to share. Ask questions, if you wish. If answers don’t come right away, trust that they will in time. Take a breath and release her from your mind. Come back into stillness.
• Allow your mind to provide an image of your inner male. Notice how he looks and feels. Ask him if he would like to communicate anything with you. Listen. Ask him any questions you have and listen. Release your image when you feel complete, and come back into stillness.
• Ask for the images of both your male and female to come to you. See how they relate. Are they connected? Is there harmony? Ask them if they want to share anything with one another. Ask them anything you wish. When you feel complete, release their images and come back to stillness.

These images may change over time to reflect our evolution in this dynamic relationship. The first time I went into this meditation, my female showed up as a mermaid sitting on a rock in the water, combing her long, luxurious hair. For the male, the image that came the first time was Pee-Wee Herman. Ha! It may not be according to instructions, but I changed him to a blue dragon, overlooking the mermaid with a calm, gentle strength. I feel much more supported and protected now in feeling and expressing my emotions, in speaking my Truth, and in living my dreams.

We can also go within and talk directly to our inner female. Would she like something? Does she want to express something? When we see what she wants, we can imagine our inner male supporting her.

How are you in relation to your inner female? In what ways do you honor her? How does she support you?

How are you in relation to your inner male? In what ways do you honor him? How does he support you?

How are your inner female and male aligned? How are they at odds?

How can you create more harmony in relationship to yourself?