Om Namah Shivaya

I have just one tattoo that I got shortly after turning 40. It is a small Sanskrit phrase on the inside of my left wrist. It’s the mantra I used when I first began meditating on a regular basis. The phrase is “Om Namah Shivaya” and one of its translations is “I bow to my inner guru”.

Some part of me must have known that I would need an anchor point literally burned into my wrist to help remind me to keep journeying inward to find my answers. It is so ingrained to look outward to the world and to others for guidance rather than go inward to consult the inner guru.

The word guru is an ancient Sanskrit word that symbolizes the transmission of wisdom from one person to another. There are actually two contrasting parts to this word because the first part of the word “gu” means darkness without light, and the second part “ru’ means lightness without dark. So a guru is someone who brings us through the dark to light.

I find it interesting that our modern culture wants just the “ru” part of guru – it wants to stay in the light and avoid the slowing down and introspection that the dark requires. And yet ironically when we avoid the dark (yes, when refuse to look inward), we get pitched further into darkness.

The inner guru speaks to us through intuition, emotions, dreams, synchronicities and sensations in the body. All of these are instinctual and natural, and yet our culture has often trained us away from trusting these things. This time of year is ideal for returning to the mysterious, using our imagination, dream life, and inner visioning to help find the wisdom in the dark.

We are meant to heal in community and if you are interested in joining a supportive one to do the inner depth work in this season of winter, I am here for you. Check out Reclaim – class starts Thursday!