An Ode to Authenticity

“The whole of practice can be summarized in five words: Rest in your real nature.”
— Shambhavi Sarasvati.

The paths to which I am devoted and by which I am inspired might seem disparate at first. What might tantric philosophy, experiential psychotherapy, embodiment, feminine psychology, deep ecology, and animism possibly have in common?

I find that all of these lineages are, at their core, pathways towards healing— which means to make whole— simply because they are both nature affirming and affirming of our nature.

In tantra we speak of Sahaja or primordial naturalness as one of the most essential paths to self-realization. A naturalness that suggests that beneath our self-concepts and fixed ideas about ourselves awaits a living presence—one that can only be accessed when those concepts begin to soften; when we descend from the thinking mind into the experience of our feeling, breathing body.

This alone is already radical. Because we might imagine that, on some level, we are no longer deeply influenced by the archaic, body-suppressing, punitive laws of self-denying religions and ideologies—systems built upon a fundamental suspicion of human nature and the rejection of desire, strong emotion, sexuality, and all that arises naturally as impulse or embodied expression. But, are we not still raised and socialized within those symbols? Do we not, particularly as women, place being pleasant, over being truthful? Do we not still have dreams where being naked feels shameful? The times might be changing, but the denial of our being is well alive and thriving, deep within our psyche.

Another thread that unites all of these lineages is the recognition of our innate, inherent value—a value that is not measured by external metrics of success, beauty, or status, but arises simply because our individual existence is an integral and equal expression of the whole. A value that belongs not only to us, but to every living being.

The value of being an ever-unfolding, cellular, mystical, complex miracle.

When we recognize our innate value, we are not worthy because we’ve purified ourselves or because we have overcome our ego. We are not worthy because we’ve earned it by means of our striving, efforting, self-sacrificing… we are worthy, sacred, simply because we exist.

In my therapeutic work with women, it has become increasingly clear that beneath the many layers of inner conflict, tension, and pathology lies a profound lack of trust in the self, arising from that same denial of our nature and lack of self-worth.

Most psychological journeys of feminine descent begin the moment our inherited self-concepts collide with the intelligence of the body. This is what experiential psychotherapy refers to as incongruence: the state in which our external actions and behaviours no longer reflect our inner experience— we suppress our authenticity.

As we become more authentic, we become more intimate with our own aliveness. We become—as Carl Rogers beautifully wrote—“a self-trusting organism.”

A sacred vitality becomes available to us, enveloping the parts of ourselves that felt unworthy, imperfect, not good enough with an echoing ode, an ancient rhythm, a sacred song — I Am. I am. I am… whole.

For a while now, I’ve been tending to a small and intimate community on Patreon where we deepen into these different themes of feminine psychology, tantric philosophy, and embodiment through practice, contemplation, and live community gatherings. This August, we will be exploring different ways of cultivating our capacity for authenticity and grounding it into our direct experience of ourselves. If you feel called to go deeper into this thread, you’re warmly invited to join us.

P.S. In honour of authenticity—my own authenticity—I must share that the response to these writings has been far more overwhelming than I could have imagined. It has filled me with a deep sense of joy and hope, but it has also made the act of writing feel unexpectedly… intimidating. Ah, the vulnerability of creativity!

I’d also like you to know that my essays will always remain freely available. So if you ever choose to become a paid subscriber, it won’t be because anything is hidden behind a paywall, but because these peculiar ways of meaning making have nourished or inspired you, and you wish to support this work.

Regardless of what you choose, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here and for sharing your own thoughts and reflections in the comments. I may not be able to reply to every single one, but please know that I read each and every one of them.