Life is an Improvisation: Divine Play
One day, a student of mine at Movati encouraged me to try a class she loved, called “Drums.” It’s a workout/dance class where we drum on stationary exercise balls with drumsticks, dance to epic beats, and even drum on each other’s balls while moving around. At my first class, I struggled with the coordinated movements, but the other students took me under their wing and guided me.
What started as a fun exploration has blossomed into a source of joy and connection as I regularly attend, reminding me of the power of play. Since then, I’ve explored TRX, spinning, Pilates, Tabata, and Pilates Reformer (another new favourite). Yoga remains my foundation, but stepping out of my comfort zone with these activities has been liberating for both my body and mind. Though my body often feels sore the next day, my Pitta body thrives on the challenge, and is growing stronger and more athletic. Most importantly, my mindset has shifted; I feel more playful, open, and courageous, all while maintaining structure in my eating and other healthy habits to keep my mind stable. This shift even led me to join a dating site, after four years of being single!
Unexpected Paths: Embracing Life’s Flow
A few years ago, if you had asked me whether I’d be teaching at Movati, I wouldn’t have imagined it. Yet, here I am, enjoying teaching public classes, completing my CPR training there, connecting with fellow instructors, and having fun at their recent Christmas party. I’ve reconnected with past Chrysalis members and formed new bonds with regular students. Life has a way of unfolding in unexpected ways, but we can embrace those surprises with openness.
As my dear friend and student, Trudy Stack, once said when I closed my studio, Chrysalis, “Community is wherever you are, Shanine.” This wisdom has proven true, as I’ve found another sense of belonging in this vibrant community (as well as with the Inye Yoga community). Life constantly brings people and experiences together in beautiful and unforeseen ways.
The Order and Chaos of Life
Life, in all its unpredictability, teaches us to dance with its many colours. There’s an underlying order to life, yet it often defies our expectations. Embracing uncertainty and making room for spontaneity can lead to profound wisdom and even joy.
Life is an Improvisation.
Last year, I consulted a Vedic astrologer, and her insights deeply resonated with me (almost everything has come true). Vedic astrology, an ancient practice from India, offers a roadmap to understand our life path, strengths, challenges, karmic influences, and even career and relationship potentials. Based on the planets in my chart, this Vedic astrologer saw that I was destined to be a teacher and saw further expansions in the future. One of her predictions was that I would be teaching at three gyms/studios by 2025, which seemed unlikely at the time (I was only teaching at one). Yet, now I teach at Inye, Movati and recently, I was invited to join a third place (One Health Clubs, starting in Jan 2025). She also saw another income stream, different from yoga (yet similar). While I didn’t fully understand what that meant back then, I’m starting to see it unfold—and I’m staying open to all possibilities.
What this journey has shown me is that while there is an order to life (for instance, seeing the unfoldment of my life path in Vedic astrology), it’s essential to embrace life fully, love it deeply, and be present in the moment—remaining open to the unexpected. Sometimes, we are fixated on what life is right now or grasp for what we desire, that we may not be present when blessings and opportunities are presented to us.
HONOURING SHAKTI
Years ago, during an Ayahuasca ceremony, I was told I needed to “play more.” At the time, I didn’t fully understand the message. My life was rigid, burdened by the responsibilities of owning a business, and more. But over time, practices like Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra helped soften me. And now, I’m expanding—feeling a greater sense of playfulness, openness, and expansion in my life.
The more I honour and worship Shakti—the Divine Feminine energy that flows through all of life—the more I allow life to move and play. When we honour Shakti, we honour Life itself—its unpredictability, creativity, and divine flow. By opening my heart to Shakti, I feel Her presence in everything and everyone. Immense joy fills my heart, my cells, way of being (because I am HER), and emanates in everything I do and say. What better way to celebrate life?
Embracing the Dance of Life
My new mantra, Life is an Improvisation, means participating fully in life’s dance, allowing for spontaneity and grace while surrendering to the flow of the present moment. We may want to seek comfort in the known, but what if we could find peace and joy in the unknown, knowing there is a Divine order unfolding? And there is no denial of anything in life (even unpleasantness).
This belief was sparked by a podcast I discovered, Satsang with Shambhavi, a Tantra teacher who also shares the teachings of Anandamayi Ma, my spiritual teacher.
The unfoldment of a friend/former teacher left me with deep sadness, but these podcasts have given me great wisdom:
- The Universe is unlimited, but it becomes limited through you, as you.
- And within this limitation, we all face further limitations (our patterns and conditioning).
This is an acknowledgment that when we “dance” with someone, in the moment, they too have their limitations. This makes the dance of life even more unique and improvisational, as we engage with others who are both different and the same as us. And we dance with our own limitations.
It’s not about toxic positivity or spiritual bypassing. It’s about acceptance—acknowledging our own limitations and those of others, gaining wisdom from the limitations, and still choosing to dance with them or with someone else.
I am cautious of dancing with someone who sabotages themselves or treats people with disrespect, as there’s a conditioning that resists Life—they may say they listen to their heart but it may be clouded by conditioning (which can impact my life and others). Honouring Shakti in myself, is also having deep Self-respect. There’s a Hindu story (I’m really making it brief) of Sati and Shiva, where Sati’s father insults Shiva and no longer recognizes Sati as the embodiment of Shakti. Because of this, she leaves her body, causing her father great distress. This story teaches us to leave a situation when the other person no longer sees or respects the Shakti within us. I have noticed when I access Shakti, the people I send it to or amplify it with, will feel great blessings and uplifment in their life, but when it’s not honoured, I withdraw that energy.
But if the other person is open to learning on this spiritual path, hopefully there’s enough spaciousness in them to self-reflect and gain wisdom to take accountability, make amends, and make different choices in the future.
It’s why I continue to study (or “dance”) with my current teacher—he’s fumbled a few times, but I see the humanness and the ability to take accountability and be steady in making more skilful decisions and actions going forward. I have even more respect and openness for him as he’s never spoken badly of people who called him out, which would be victim consciousness (blaming others for their response to his decisions), and I see the steadiness and consistency in his words and actions lining up (I have yet to see him repeat the same choices that lead to disharmony).
Tantra: The Art of Divine Play and The Divine Symphony
Tantra teaches that life is a divine play—Lila—filled with moments of joy, sorrow, success, failure, and everything in between. This sacred play invites us to embrace both structure and freedom, much like a skilled musician or dancer improvises with awareness and intuition. Life, viewed through the tantric lens, is a rhythm we must tune into, allowing each step to emerge organically from the present moment.
Life is also a divine symphony—sometimes predictable, sometimes not—but always moving toward greater wisdom and self-realization. By practicing presence, we align ourselves with the universe’s rhythm, improvising in harmony with it. Every decision, every movement becomes an act of grace, an opportunity to live in harmony with the Divine.
Whether through stillness, meditation, yoga, mantra, or ritual, we cultivate awareness of this divine flow. The more we tune into our essence, the more we navigate life’s uncertainties with grace and confidence, embracing each breath and gesture as an invitation to improvise and live fully.
