I didn't have time to tell you this before taking off for Hope Springs after yoga on Friday, but I had the happy opportunity that morning to meet and befriend Radha, the artist who silk screened my yoga mat. We did yoga right next to each other and it was the kind of class where we had a few opportunities to speak to one another and become friends. I find it is possible to begin a true friendship with only a few moments' conversation, so long as you each choose carefully what you ask and what you share.
It turns out that I did not receive the most accurate story about the art on my mat when I commissioned Radha to do it through our wonderful yoga studio, Shine. I would really like to share what I now understand about it. Radha learned this art form, called kolam, from her grandmother in their village in Southern India, beginning when she was four. In honor of the Goddess Lakshmi, they rose before dawn each day and performed a conscious act of charity, feeding the insects and birds with rice powder. And they did so in the most beautiful way possible, spending 5 to 60 minutes recreating a traditional design with the powder as they sprinkled it very precisely onto the ground just beyond the threshhold of their home, thereby creating sacred space.
Really, you should let Radha tell you about this in her own words and see her beautiful artwork for yourself, along with pictures of Kolam done in rice powder on the ground of her village back in India, where she sends some of the proceeds from her artwork. You can visit her website at utsavastu.com, a celebration of sacred space. I do hope you will.
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At the World Peace Yoga Conference last October, we were blessed with mysterious & beautiful drawings along the walkway up to the sacred Plenary space. Only recently, I learned how they appeared. Thank you Radha.
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