Our lead article this month, Strong, Centered and Whole, is about women who thrive. When a woman is fully aligned within herself, those around her can feel it; it’s not force, it’s presence.

In yoga, this is described as the balance between two fundamental forces: the feminine, Shakti, is dynamic, intuitive, receptive and creative, and the masculine, Shiva, is structured, directional, focused and organizing. Shakti moves; Shiva stabilizes. Shakti generates possibility; Shiva gives it form.

The ideal is not to favor one over the other, but to bring the masculine and feminine into balance. It’s about acting with clarity and receiving with sensitivity; moving with purpose while remaining flexible.

Unfortunately, most of us do not live in balance.

Given our patriarchal society, all of us are shaped by a culture that rewards output over awareness, control over receptivity and constant doing over being. The result is not strength, but strain, a disconnection from the very qualities that generate vitality, creativity and connection.

In our article, you’ll notice that a pattern emerges among the profiled women. Each, in her own way, has stopped forcing life and is, instead, working with it.

When Behati Hart talks about “unmasking” and no longer living from roles imposed by others, she is not adding something new; she is removing what blocks her. The shift she describes—from trauma turned inward as hypervigilance to passion focused outward as creation—is a movement from constriction to flow.

Maria Rodale describes a life guided less by external expectations and more by her own voice and gut. She is selective about what she consumes, not just the food she eats, but the content she reads, watches and listens to. That’s less about control and more about discernment.

Dr. Rebecca Hunton names something many women experience but rarely articulate—the exhaustion from chasing impossible standards that fail to factor in health and wholeness. She doesn’t push harder. Instead, she sets up bite-sized, achievable steps while staying grounded in what is sustainable. That is a reorientation from force to alignment.

And Sarita-Linda Rocco brings it into sharp focus. Shakti, she says, is creative life force. “It does not compete. It creates.” When that energy is fragmented—by comparison, pressure or expectation—something essential is lost. When it is protected and honored, it becomes a source of stability, not volatility.

Taken together, these are not just lifestyle choices. They point to a deeper principle: thriving is not about more effort; it’s about removing interference.

And that leads to a more practical question. How do you know when the balance between masculine and feminine energies is off? Here are some clues.

• If everything feels like effort, you may be “doing” too much
• If you feel like you overthink, you are probably ignoring your intuition
• If you are constantly managing and controlling, there is little life force moving you
• If rest feels unearned, something is out of alignment

What’s noticeable about the profiled women is that they don’t operate from effort alone. There is a sense of allowing. From the yogic perspective, the answer is not to add something new, but to remove what blocks flow.

That begins simply.

• Slow down enough to notice what you feel, not just what you think
• Create spaces in your day that are not optimized or productive
• Pay attention to what you take in—food, media, conversation—and how it affects your state of mind
• Allow rest before you have “earned” it
• Listen for the quiet signals: your breath, your body, your instincts

These are not soft practices. They require attention, and often, the willingness to loosen habits that feel like identity.

I believe that many of us—men and women—have been “trained” to constantly focus on output—more effort, more control, more doing. But we are human beings, not human doings. Yes, we need logic, but it should be balanced by intuition. Yes we need direction and focus, but it should be balanced by an openness, and willingness to go with the flow. Yes we need discipline, but it should be balanced by our natural tendency towards empathy and nurturing.

It’s not a question of masculine or feminine, but a balance between the two, a righteous yin and yang. That is when something deeper becomes available. And when it does, you will feel it. ❧

Publisher of Natural Awakenings Atlanta since 2017, Paul Chen’s professional background includes strategic planning, marketing management and qualitative research. He practices Mahayana Buddhism and kriya yoga. Contact him at [email protected].