Shakti Mantra FAQ: What is Iccha Shakti? Are Goddess mantras only for women?
What are Shakti Mantras?
- Śakti Mantras are Sanskrit mantra sound vibrations that stimulate an inner experience of energy
- Shakti mantras tend to have a predominant I sound (sounds like eeee in the word glee, the English word for very very happy!)
- That vowel sound is considered the primal shakti mantra, because when we make that sound in our bodies, we naturally feel what is called "icchā śakti"
What is Iccha Shakti?
- Icchā Śakti is a term that describes the power to create.
- It's a trembling sensation, full of lively vibration that is the impulse to act, to manifest, to create, to experience Life
- Icchā Śakti is often translated as "Divine Will"
- The Devanāgari spelling is इच्छाशक्ति
NOTE: The spelling Icchā Śakti is correct IAST, but we alternate spellings in this blog post because the incorrect Shakti mantra spelling is more common and more people are searching for it! ;)
Are Shakti Mantras Goddess Mantras? Only for Women?
Śakti in all its forms is WAY BEYOND the gender binary! While most interpretations can’t resist gendering Śakti by using terms like goddess, feminine force, etc. I want to be clear that EVERYONE can benefit from the potent archetypal energies within the Śakti mantras.
How Can I Learn Shakti Mantras?
All are welcome at this beginner-friendly 5 Day Śakti Mantra Challenge (not just women or those who wish to empower their feminine side). Empowering women is awesome work and totally needed, but this is something different… more expansive, more inclusive, and more useful ultimately.
I’m sticking to my non-dogmatic, post-patriarchal teaching ethos by honoring Śakti as the dynamic, creative, life-generating, abundant, glorious, powerful force that Śakti is!
The idea of smashing the patriarchy by chanting Śakti mantras is not helpful. That’s trying to solve a problem with the same mind that created it. Instead we’ve got to tune into the Śakti as a living force, to soften all of the restrictive and life-dulling habits that choke our aliveness and connectedness to all life.
That’s what this Śakti Mantra 5-Day Challenge aims to spark in you… a love affair with the sound of your own being as Śakti moves through you!
6 Ways to Melt the Patriarchy Within - one note at a time!
1
☺️ Explore pleasure in your own voice vibration! It’s a radical act of self-connection and self-love.
2
👂🏽Listen to what is actually alive in you. Make space in your day to hear your heart 💓
3
😴 Rest from performative, competitive, stressful motivations (faster faster! louder louder! In order to feel excitement, aliveness, manufactured “ecstasy” in your kīrtans and chant experiences)
4
🗣️ Speak your full resonant voice, your values, your desires, your joy & laughter, your truth.
5
👸🏽 Celebrate women in leadership and power! Appreciate, support, and lift up folks of all gender identities who express traits of nurturing, compassion, equality, and care (let’s stop calling those “feminine” traits and call them human, ok?)
6
😶 If anyone ever told you to be quiet, your voice doesn’t matter, your opinions don’t count, remember this very powerful mudrā: 🖕🏾🖕🏽🖕🏻🖕🏿
Free 5-day guided Śakti Mantra Challenge
Whether you're brand new to chanting or already in love with mantra, this experience will inspire and energize your personal sound practice!
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Shame has NO PLACE in a self-love through sound practice. Have a clear goal for a steady sādhanā, YES!
But do it because it is tuning you to your best self, not because your internalized critic will beat you up if you don’t.If you’re ready to have a LOVING, ACCEPTING (dare I say JUICY!?) relationship with daily mantra…
With mantra chanting, I feel:
- Wholly myself
- Coherent, harmonious, resonant
- Rhythmic, in synch with all parts of myself and the rhythms of nature
- Resilient, nourished, grounded when sh*tstorms come my way.
Free sound healing and mantra training!
Discover the best sound yoga therapy, mantra meditation, and nada yoga FREE resources here:
- More free sound baths and chant experiences of all different types are available at HeartofSound on YouTube / Sound Bath Playlist
- Get to know Anandra through her IG reels and media appearances.
- Interested? ☎️ Book a FREE 30 minute Discovery call! Let's explore together and find the perfect option for you!
