Shiva and the Season of Dissolution by Lexie Wolf
As we move deeper into autumn, the world around us begins its slow surrender—and the Yoga Garden schedule is full of death-themed events. Maybe you celebrate Día de los Muertos (Mexico), Samhain (Ireland and Scotland), Halloween (modern Samhain), or Spooky Season (Wal-Mart). Whatever you call it, this is the time when the veil thins between worlds. Leaves fall, light fades, and nature turns inward, reminding us that dissolution is part of the natural order.
As always, we’re proud to sponsor Death Faire, a local festival on November 2 that celebrates the sacred cycle of life and renewal. And our friends at heart2heartnc help our community navigate grief and loss all year long through their beautiful rituals and events.
In the yogic and mythic traditions, this descent into darkness is mirrored by Shiva—the aspect of consciousness that dissolves form so something new can be born. In the great wheel of existence, Shiva is often called the destroyer—but that word can mislead. What he dissolves are not the things that are truly alive, but the forms and illusions that keep us bound. His dance is both wild and merciful, each step breaking apart what has grown rigid so that life can move and renew itself.
Shiva invites us to glimpse the freedom that exists beyond our clinging to the painful experiences that have imprinted on us. When pain and loss become the story we tell about who we are, they freeze us in time. The current of life keeps moving, but we stay anchored to what was, unable to receive the gifts in what is.
Resilience asks us to carry our stories with tenderness; awakening asks us to set them down. We heal by integrating what has shaped us, and we blossom by letting it go. Shiva’s stillness within the dance reminds us that while everything in the manifest world changes, there is something within us that does not. When we rest there, even for a breath, we taste timelessness—and find relief from suffering through the painful impermanence of this manifest reality.
As the season turns and our collective attention moves toward death—toward ancestors, grief, and endings—may we also remember what these thresholds are pointing us toward: life, here and now. The rituals and gatherings on our schedule aren’t meant to root us in the past but to help us open to the fullness of the present.
This, too, is our dance—the dance of living open-hearted and awake in a world that is always, always changing shape. Like Shiva, we are invited to move with the rhythm of creation and dissolution, to meet each moment with presence, consciousness, and love.
