Before I tell you what Amma, “The Hugging Saint”, whispered in my ear during the hug I’d waited 8 hours for at a hotel near LAX, let me tell you something my daughter says when she gets overwhelmed and sad.
Pretty much every night when she gets tired, my daughter says “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” all running together.
She wants to feel connected and loved and at peace.
Me too.
But eventually, when we grow up, we realize we don’t need to get this from the one person who has brought us up.
We begin to see that this feeling is actually accessible every day through our practices, our choices and a shift in our mindset.
But it’s not easy. As mothers we are actually mostly in our masculine energy – thinking, planning, doing, and protecting.
Because of this constant focus and activity, we have to work extra hard during this intense time to receive for ourselves the feeling of being nurtured, loved, and connected.
This is where our yoga, meditation, and daily rhythm practices come in.
At night, when my daughter is tired, I lie with her for a bit, and then I sit on her bed and meditate. She feels carried by a current of loving, flowing, feminine energy – and so do I.
In the morning, I get on my mat, listen to something inspiring, and move with my breath. I fill myself up with this feminine energy. I become more receptive, and I am more aware that I am part of a bigger flow that wants me to fulfill my life’s purpose.
There’s a name for this flow, something that feels deep and primal and natural, and it sounds similar in almost every culture.
It is what I heard in one of the most loving embraces I have ever experienced, when Amma whispered in my ear:
“Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma”.
The syllable for the nurturing power and wisdom of the feminine in Sanskrit, the ancient language of yoga, is Ma.
We can use it as a powerful mantra for us to help us feel held by the intelligent and creative gel of life, the unseen force of prana, beating our heart, breathing our breath, and generating our desires.
When Ma Yoga came into being, it arose out of the desire that we could come to feel so nurtured that together we could begin to co-create a different kind of world: one where we all are encouraged to offer our most unique gifts, that in turn will nurture our world.
So, Mama, (MA) may you feel so very nurtured as you, in turn, nurture those around you.
