Hi there,
Thanks for visiting. My name is Mādhava Shakti. I’m a complex and creative human being. I wear many hats (so to speak) in order share, have fun and interact with the world.
I discovered “massage and bodywork” for the first time in 2001 when I moved to the States. I had never received a massage before yet I knew being a “masseuse” was something that would allowed me to make a living with the freedom of having my own schedule. I just didn’t know (just yet!) what I really was signing up for.
Synchronistically, one of the most greatest holistic schools in the States, the Educating Hands School of Massage was only a few blocks from home.
I didn’t know how to speak English but I signed up anyways!
It was the first step to realize how SCARED I was of being touched.
Trauma was something I knew I had stored in my body but I didn’t realize the many layers I had to peel to start scratching the surface of Bliss…
Having to touch and being touched almost everyday for a full year definitely opened me up to tears and unseen parts of me I never knew were there.
I thought I was not going to be able to adapt in the US. I was scared. Everything was new… huge highways, new laws, new culture, new language, new everything!
I was born and raised in Venezuela and although I had a challenging childhood, my curiosity and wonder remained untouched.
Coming to America was key for me to explore that curiosity. Being raised in a “third world country”, I was shocked to what I judged was “the American fast paced culture” AND I yet was on for the ride and grateful for the challenge.
I got married almost immediately. A beautiful eye opening relationship that was the catalyst of great awakenings. It lasted 7 years.
Now I was fluent in English, I was a US citizen and was feeling much more awake and strong.
Wide open, I felt called by places with higher vibrations. I was ready for a place that was more in touch with my deeper values. Thank you Miami for the show and the teachings. Bye Bye I said.
On my way to Hawaii Nei (beloved Hawaii), I decided to take a road trip up to New York and across the US to California.
I took 3 months to do this on my own. I slept in my car at Walmart parking lots almost every night. I visited sacred places, experienced communion with Nature, explored, hike and meditated deeply. I felt lonely, blessed, scared and courageous. I met new people everyday. I even dressed up my passenger seat with a jacket, a scarf and sunglasses to keep myself company! I learned. I played. I prayed.
In short, I made it to the Big Island of Hawaii. I was at the right place but my massage business didn’t go as well as I thought.
I didn’t believe in myself.
After 2 years, I was back in California. I found a job at a Spa giving 6 massage sessions a day! I lived in a peaceful place with great people.
A year later, I had tendonitis in my elbows and shoulders, I was exhausted and freezing! Phew! Massage business was going well but I was sick and tired, literally.
I visited Hawaii Nei for the Holidays and met my now husband, Daniel. I didn’t question it and I took another leap of trust. 3 months later I was back in Hawaii.
Now my needs and yearnings were different. California was all about restoring the “belief in myself”. I had no doubt I could make it now.
Back at “home” I was to restore, heal my body and find balance.
Shortly after, Daniel and I married in Bali. It was a private yet beautiful ceremony.
As the years went by. I kept deepening my Yoga practice and with that came the desire to further explore that path. I traveled to India to study with Kia Miller, dug deeper and became a Kundalini Yoga instructor.
Fast forward, 7 years into my marriage, we got pregnant with my beloved child Lucas.
Pregnancy was healthy and joyful. Birth, the first 4 months of my child’s life and months after, were extremely traumatic. An attempted Home Birth with what I thought was the guidance of the best midwife in town, resulted in an emergency Csection.
Yes, I could pin point all the things that could have been addressed differently as to avoid all the suffering we endured. Yes, I could play games of blame and shame yet in the end, non of that matters. Lucas was not able to develop fully because of birth brain injury and died 4 months later.
Even though he lived a short life, it seemed as it we lived lifetimes together because of how long, arduous and yet blessed the journey was. I could write a whole book on this subject and maybe one day I will.
That happened in 2018.
I’m still healing and coming to peace with the experience.
I’m convinced Lucas came to this world with a purpose and I have no doubt, as his mother, he was successful at what he came to do and gifted us with.
My life continues to unfold in mysterious and magical ways. I’m getting to know myself much better with each step I take. I’m blessed to have a vegetable garden and fruit trees to tend to, chickens to feed and be entertained by, cats to cuddle with, real friends to talk to, a wonderful man by my side, clean air to breath, clean water to bathe and drink from ( simple things sometimes taken by granted) and mother nature all around me.
I’m blessed to have the space to be creative, to paint, to expand, to write, to reflect, meditate, do massage and teach yoga. I am in love with touch. I give to others. I give to myself. I create my own experience beyond circumstances and I live in great abundance .
What’s most alive for me today is the lesson to keep trusting and surrender to the flow of life. Blessings abound as long as I’m able to see all experiences from that perspective. My highest purpose is to be an inspiration to all beings and sharing the wisdom I found in the depths of my journey.
Like Ramana Maharshi said: “Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what Remains”
“I know that – by being grounded on this human experience, in full acceptance of ourselves, and curious of who we are, we can expand into higher realms. Every cell in my body knows this. There is no tree who has experienced it’s full potential without having strong roots. That is why I call my practice “Root and Elevate” . Whether is through sharing my yoga practice or through bodywork, that is what makes up the bones of my practice”
