How to connect with Shakti when you wake up in the morning?

The force is in your hands! Feel energised! Learn a simple morning chant – the ‘Karadarshanam’ shloka (waking up chant) to kick start your day.

Do we realize that how we begin our day and how we set the context for the day in the morning, can determine the course of the entire day for us? In several cultures across the world, certain processes were devised by our ancestors, yogis or masters which were later inculcated as practices or rituals for better living. These traditions were passed on from one generation to another and had a symbolic meaning in the distant past. Today they might have been reduced to mere ritualistic habits or become part of organized belief systems. Nevertheless these acted as a guide on how to wake up, how to sleep, how to eat, how to breathe, and so on and so forth.

Morning rituals and invoking Shakti

Morning rituals have been an important part of the ancient Indian tradition.  They were tools to connect with the Shakti, the energy or force within and around us. Many of those may come about as religious but have a deeper significance to it than what it implies on the outside. When it came to morning rituals, emphasis was always laid on ‘How to wake up’?

With the sun rising, all the energies of existence are rising too and hence it is effortless to ride on the rising energy wave.

As the day proceeds, the energies may fall back and  we may have to swim against the current. Instead, with these simple processes, we can flow with the current and redirect its course too. 

All of us irrespective of our gender, have Shakti or the Divine Feminine energy within us. Shakti represents the creative and dynamic force in the universe. The same energy or the force is within each one of us too. Invoking the divine feminine when we wake up, can energize our entire day. Sleeping causes a certain amount of inertia in our body and by creating certain sounds and vibrations as soon as we wake up, this can be handled. Reciting a mantra or a chant that motivates us may provide just the right jumpstart for the day. 

Seeing the palms – Connecting with Shakti

1. Just sit in your bed, keep both hands together (both palms opened and together as if holding palm full of water) with edges of hands touching each other 
2. Look at both your palms, first the fingers, then the middle of your palm and then the base of your hand or your wrist and chant this: Listen here

“On the tip of the hand resides Goddess Lakshmi, at the middle of the palm resides Goddess Saraswati. At the base of the hand lives Goddess Gauri, it is auspicious to look at the palm in the morning.”

3. Once the chant is done, you can rub your palms, place them upon your eyes and then open your eyes slowly.  Repeat this again if you want. 

Igniting your own power

This chant serves as a reminder for one to realize that the divine is within him/her. All our actions are our responsibility. Shakti, as a creative force; personified as Goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati and Gauri exists within us, exuding different qualities that propel our life. The three main forms depict Iccha Shakti or the energy of will or desire, Jnana Shakti or the energy of knowledge, Kriya Shakti or the energy of action respectively. So for any task or action to come to fruition these three forms of Shakti are inevitable. Our hands are symbolic of both efforts and power. Those who put the right amount of effort, wellbeing, wisdom and creative power would come to you, even though the lines on your palm may indicate something different. We have the power to change the quality of our life, with a power to create and manifest. This can be considered to be the deeper significance of uttering this chant the first thing in the morning.

The whole process of waking up can be an elaborate ritual altogether, but to start with, we can see if we can make use of a simple tool like this to kick start the day. This simple process is considered to be very calming for the nervous system and the eyes, which would undergo stress if we were to wake up all of a sudden. It also serves as a reminder to delve deep within us and experience the Shakti within. This is also about an offering of gratitude to the greater force – ‘Adishakti’, that is fundamental to all life on the planet.

Do try this waking up ritual and let us know your experience! If you would like to share your waking up ritual with us, you can now write to connect@adishakti.com