The Lotus Flower

I have a tattoo of a lotus flower because yoga taught me the meaning behind the lotus and I always found it’s story so beautiful.

A beautiful flower that is rooted in dark, muddy waters, the lotus grounds and roots itself to the bottom, sinking into the earth; then it searches for the light. As the lotus grows, it’s guided by the seasons, understanding change and time and that it must learn from the seasons. The lotus flower has it’s time to bloom and it’s time to be still, to die, and return again; this time is guided by the seasons. The warmth of the water, the duration of sunlight, the ecological influences around it, all help tell the lotus how and when to grow.

The lotus flower stays rooted, always.

Through whatever cold or dark times, the lotus stays rooted, knowing that the light is above. So the lotus reaches, and reaches, and reaches, until it finds the lights. Sometimes it has to move through murky waters, fighting through others plants and flowers, searching for the light, and never giving up. When the lotus finds that lights, it begins to find warmth, and despite all the struggle to get to the surface of the pond, the lotus flower begins to bloom, spreading it’s petals, and opening up to the Universe.

A symbol of enlightenment, honor, health, self-regeneration, and rebirth, the lotus flower remains untouched by the impurities through its purity of heart and mind.

I end most of my yoga classes offering the class to join me in creating the lotus mudra, padma mudra. I then end class with, “The light, love, and happiness in me, sees, honors, and appreciates, the light, love, and happiness in you. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. Peace Peace Peace. May you go in peace. Namaste.”