I will confess when my friend and I decided to name our studio The Kali Collective, we didn’t fully understand the depth of this goddess or exactly we would call on her for, other than the obvious which is self empowerment and transformation. I didn’t even understand the potency or power that would be brought forth by invoking the energy current of this archetype into my life. But my goodness did I ever find out hard and quick shortly after creating a community space in honor of Her. She wasted no time with me. Here is a brief description of her, but do not be fooled, a few lines of description only scratches the surface of her depth, complexity, and power. 

Kali is the Goddess of time, change, and destruction. She is the energy current inside of you that is wild, empowered and all loving. This energy is deeply involved in the life/death / life cycle to keep you growing and transforming, as does the rich practice of yoga.

The Dark Mother in all her love and ferocity will guide you through transformation by dissolving all forms and time. She will tear things up to help you see what is needing to die inside of you, such as self limiting beliefs or attachments to the past that prevent you from moving forward. These deaths then create a fertile field for growth and creation of the new.

She’s the darkness most of us fear. She is fierce. She is loving. She will transform you.

Kali is not an energy to invoke lightly but from personal experience, I can say she will make changes in your life where they are needed. Examples of how she transformed me were the following:

• Destroying lifelong beliefs that my voice is not worthy or valuable

• Dissolving intense bondages guarding me against vulnerability and authenticity

• Opened me up to find a deep, meaningful love for myself

• Transformed my habit of living in fantasy and instead helped me find a true love rooted in truth and reality

• The courage to follow my dreams and run a yoga studio and yoga school in a far away, magical land

Not bad! My life has been completely transformed but don’t think for a second it was easy. Who I was even 1 year ago is completely different to who I am now and the person I was for so many years was hard to let go of. My life as I knew it completely changed and the pain that came with it was intense. So make no mistake, it’s not as if I named my studio after her, meditated on her a few times and that’s it. It took much more work than that!

Here are some reasons why you would invoke her:

• Dissolving limiting beliefs

• Self empowerment

• Facing fears

• Releasing egoic constructs/beliefs

• Changing perspective on life and death

• Liberating yourself from old attachments

• Invite the wild, divine feminine into your life

Ways to invoke Kali:

1. Meditation - visualise her image and see what arises

2. Self reflection - ask yourself questions like, where are you suppressing your wild, feminine self? Or, is there somewhere in your life you are playing “nice” instead of expressing a more truthful, angry, enraged self?

3. Asana - Take goddess squat and let out several primal roars from the belly

4. Offer your negative beliefs to Kali. Visualise bowing down to her and offering her your limiting beliefs for her to destroy.

5. Journal with Kali - ask her the following questions: What do you have to teach me? How do you express yourself in my life? How are you suppressed? What do you think needs destroying in my life?

Remember, Kali is not an energy to take lightly but she is loving. If you are ready to come alive, wake up and live your life fully, She is a necessary force to guide you there. 

Want to learn more? We have 2 courses that may interest you. One is a short course called the Wisdom of Kali that guides you through a yoga practice and lecture. The other option is a deep dive into Kali with a 5 week on demand yoga course.