The press release said that Yoni Shakti "unveils the true potential of yoga and female spiritual empowerment" and went on to describe the book as "a ground-breaking work about yoga and feminine power written by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, renowned yoga therapist, yoga teacher-trainer, mother and author."
Yogawords emailed me the introduction and first few chapters to look at - fascinating to read but too long to post in their entirety as an extract on my blog. I've selected just a short passage from the introduction to give a taster of what Yoni Shakti offers:
WOMB ECOLOGY AND THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF FEMININITY
The experience of freedom through "yoni 'sakti" is rooted in an acknowledgement that those specifically female experiences that centre on or around the womb, such as menstruation, orgasm, childbirth and menopause, can be encountered consciously as potential doorways to spiritual power and heightened intuitive awareness.
This book provides both the philosophical context (in parts one and two) and specific practical yoga guidance (in part three) to enhance the spiritual experience of the great female "siddhis "(yogic powers) of menstruation, feminine sexuality, fertility, birth, postnatal recovery and menopause. The yoga practice is inclusive, holistic and comprehensive. It includes "asana "(postures), "praayama "(breathwork), "mudra "(gesture), "bandha "(energy locks and seals), "yantra "(visual embodiment of energetic fields), "mantra "(sound), "pratyahara "(sense withdrawal), "dharaa "(concentration), "dhyana" (meditation) and "samadhi "(ecstatic trance). Womb yoga brings together all these forms of yoga in a creative and delicious synthesis of sound, breath, flowing movement and stillness that respects "'sakti "(energy) as she flows within each of us, every day, whatever we are doing and wherever we find ourselves. It also includes simple rituals to reawaken consciousness to the deeper significance of life stages and female "siddhis".
When we practise yoga that fully expresses our consciousness as women, and gives us freedom to feel the powerful forces of our feminine energy, or "yoni 'sakti", then the whole world changes for the good. From the personal experience of physical and emotional benefits which lead to enhanced energy and creative thinking, comes an immensely positive influence on all areas of human life, from work to family, from intimate r relationships to frameworks of national organisations and government. The healing effect of womb yoga leads from a personal rediscovery of a woman's blood wisdom to an evolved consciousness of union, to a healing global yoga experience that transforms the consciousness of all humans on the planet. It is the thread of reconnection that leads to freedom.
The practice of womb yoga guides us to rediscover a respectful connection with the inner wisdom of our womb cycles. It is an inner ecology of the womb, explored more fully in chapter twenty-seven. When this blood wisdom informs our life and work then we can honour the cyclical nature not only of a woman's life, but also of all life on earth. From the wisdom born of womb ecology follows a naturally arising global green consciousness rooted in a sustainable and respectful honouring of the natural cycles and energies of the earth, the womb that nurtures all life in our world. So it is through blood wisdom, this spiritual awareness that is literally encoded in the cycles of the female body, that we can access the deep healing that our planet, our earthly womb, urgently calls for now. We are in deep need of such yoga.Yoni Shakti: A Woman's Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantrahas an RRP of lb30 in paperback. It is available to buy at Yogamatters.com and also via Amazon.
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Yoni Shakti: A Woman's Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantra
