What is Masculine & feminine? Is it male and female? Each one of us has aspects of the masculine and the feminine within us no matter whether we are a man or a woman. How are we holding and nourishing, balancing and integrating them in our life?
For me, the part of me that just is, that is sensitive to the feelings of myself and the other, that part of me which sees things as is and not as it should be is the feminine. This part of me can be vulnerable, can have fears, and a sense of not knowing. While each one of us has these parts of us within us, we somehow seem to have internalised that getting in touch with these parts are considered a weakness. Strength seems to be defined by how much I am unfazed by anything that happens around me. This outward behaviour of being unfazed most of the time seems to be a suppression of my innermost fears, doubts etc. These eventually land up in the body as illness or comes as outwardly indulgences/outbursts/anxiety… Do I give enough space to my being? As a society, people who go through depression/anxiety are generally those who are very sensitive to these feelings in themselves as well as around them but are trying very hard to suppress them with the masculine “I Should / I shouldn’t”. This voice is not just theirs but also ours who have disowned these and hence the more sensitive take it up and suffer.
What is it that I can do? Can I start becoming sensitive to my feelings? What are the compulsive patterns that I get caught in, that suppress my deep-rooted feelings? What is the feminine aspect of me? Can each one of us enquire into ourselves? There is nothing that needs to be done. When we just feel and embrace, what seems to emerge is the nourishing, healing energy within which opens up a completely different possibility of being that is wholesome and I seem to touch the deeper potential that I hold. At this start of Navaratri, can we embrace the feminine inside and outside?
– Kavita Elango
Yoga Practitioner, Teacher & Facilitator
Anoop is a student of Yoga, an entrepreneur, a coach and a father of two young boys. He has led successful leadership stints in both the corporate and non-for-profit sectors. On encountering the country’s water/farmer crises at close quarters, he decided to pause and examine the impact various ‘isms’ – capitalism, colonialism, etc., were having on us as individuals, families, the society and the environment at large. This quest led him to formally engage with traditional Indic knowledge systems while also learning from the latest advances in science – about our physical and mental wellbeing, importance of body and mind work in healing trauma and the urgent need for a conscious rebuilding of family / work / social structures if we have to thrive individually and collectively. Insights, frameworks and processes gleaned from these on-going studies, an anchorage in his own personal practice and his wide-ranging experiences is what Anoop brings to facilitation/coaching spaces in Ritambhara and his various professional engagements.
Priya is a Yoga therapist in the Krishnamacharya tradition. She adapts Reiki & energy work, Vedic chanting, life coaching & Ayurvedic practices in her healing spaces. She is committed to nurturing collectives that have the praxis of Yoga at their heart.
Anisha has been on an exploration to understand herself through yoga for the last 15years which led her to teaching yoga, yoga therapy and inner work through yoga.
Apoorva chanced upon Yoga in her early 20s. A spark was lit within and there was no turning back. Her exploration led her to the Krishnamacharya tradition more than a decade ago. Curious about human behaviour and what drives it, she was thrilled when her search ended (and also began) when she first came upon the Yoga Sutra, which illuminated a path towards answering many questions that had been held for a long time.
Anita is a yoga teacher and therapist in the tradition of Sri.T.Krishnamacarya and Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, a Reiki practitioner and a Life Coach. She is also the founder of Vishoka, a center for learning Indic and energy-based frameworks for living and healing. Her deep concern for human suffering and the problems of unsustainable living kept her on the path of seeking an integrated approach to looking at life, living, learning and healing.
Ankit is a seeker in the wisdom traditions of India. The core of his work includes creating dialogic spaces where people can look within and see the connection between their inner and outer lives. Inspired by the likes of Gandhi, Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Guru Gobind his experiments in service took him back to his roots in Punjab where he is creating a community-led model of higher education which is open, inclusive and accessible for all. Ritambhara for him is a space for engaging in a community which is committed to a DHramic life. He anchors his work of learning and leadership in the Antaranga Yoga Sadhana and the humanistic wisdom of Mahabharata.