The Pingala Nadi represents the sun, heat, fiery energy, and stimulation, and we can actually enhance these energies in our own body and mind by practicing Surya Bhedana, or ‘right nostril breathing’. The right side is home to the Pingala Nadi, a channel carrying prana or ‘life force energy’ from the base of the spine, through each of the chakras, up to the top of the head. The right hand side of the body is the traditionally masculine side, whilst the left is linked to femininity. In many yogic practices, the left and right sides of the body are dedicated to the two types of energy. Read on for three perspectives and practices to help cultivate this awareness. Whether you’re a man, woman or identify differently entirely, there are aspects of these divine energies we can tune into every day, in order to find more balance in mind and body, and celebrate the Shiva and Shakti in all of us. If there was ever a symbol for ‘equality’, the ancient texts had this one figured out pretty early on! The earliest known illustrations of this form are from the first century CE, representing how the opposite energies of masculine and feminine are inseparable and found in every part of nature. This intertwining of masculine and feminine is depicted in the Ardhanarishvara form a half male and half female being made up of Shiva and Shakti, equally split down the middle. Call it ‘yin and yang’, ‘sun and moon’, or ‘male and female’ these two opposing forces that make up the wholeness of what it is to be human. As well as these polarities that exist in nature, there’s a divine masculine and feminine energy within all of us. Through this birth, we can see the balance of day and night, Summer and Winter, water and fire interacting in front of our eyes. When Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati (also known as Shakti) united, their energy was ‘woven’ together, and universe was born. It is this ‘weaving together’ that is said to play a part in the creation of the world we know today. The word ‘tantra’ itself can be translated as ‘woven together’, referring to the necessity of life’s polarities light and dark, yin and yang, and masculine and feminine, to weave together in order to create wholeness. Ayurveda is linked to the even older lineage of Tantra, a system intended to guide the practitioner towards understanding themselves on spiritual, mental, emotional and physical layers. The ancient wisdom of Ayurveda understands that life is made up of these opposites, and that finding balance between them is the key to a healthy physical and mental state. Within the universe and inside our own bodies and minds, there exists a balance of opposing forces light and dark, hot and cold, heavy and light, movement and stillness, and so on.
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