Surrendering with Singer Songwriter Larisa Stow
Surrender is the mac-daddy of spiritual practices.
It requires us to Trust the Unknown and the Invisible (Love, Grace, Compassion, Right Action, Presence) so deeply we are willing to relinquish our mental prowess to enter into an experience which is beyond the mind. and then act from that place. The Bible would call this “listening to the still small voice.” For me, I learned to trust control (the antithesis of surrender) in order to maintain safety. Trusting The Invisible and leaning into it has been a long and gradual process.
My writing partner and I get together regularly to review and comment on each other’s work. As a former reporter, she is always telling me to add more sources to my writing, to include more voices into my work. I have taken her suggestion and in addition to source references throughout my book-in-process, I have taken to interviewing individuals who embody the theme for which I’m writing. Larisa Stow embodies surrender.
She actually embodies Love. Yet the Love emanating through her is evidence of her ability and willingness to surrender to That-Which-Is-Beyond her limited defined personality. She is a singer and musician performing with her band, the Shakti Tribe. Shakti, Sanskrit for sacred force and primordial cosmic energy. I attended her concert this past Sunday evening and watched children and senior citizens dancing and wailing Sanskrit lyrics opening up toward a vision of a world of Oneness. She performs concerts with her tribe throughout the country to spiritual groups, yoga centers, prisons and recovery centers.
Today we talked surrender. Let me give you a preview of what will show up in my book in some form.
Bonnie: Larisa, how do you surrender?
Larisa: I start with wherever I am in the moment. I accept what I am feeling and I acknowledge it. Literally there are times prior to a transformance (a transformational performance) I say to myself ‘today I want someone to sing to me. I am feeling really small.’ Then I feel into that insecure space of smallness. I don’t ignore it or resist it. I enter into it knowing there is an even deeper connection within it. When I connect to that which is deeper, Light begins flowing in and through me. It can come in waves or make its way through my cracks. I feel it when I open to it. It is Light/Pure Love/Pesence. When I am the most vulnerable is when it can shine most brightly through me.
Bonnie: How do you know it Love and not solely Light?
Larisa: I can feel it. I have felt it my entire life. I interacted with it as a child. I have known since I was a young child I was born as a catalyst for others to feel their smile.
Larisa shares with me when conflict arises from within a relationship, she has learned to:
1. remain present,
2. accept what is, including all of the projections and
3. stay fully present instead of retreating.
Surrender Practice: We both share the practice of going to sleep at night and seeing the bright, bright, light underneath our closed eyelids and inviting it to bathe our entire being. I have been accepting the Light as purification, she has named it Love. The experience is one of accepting this Light/Love as a gift for regenerating and healing the body temple. This too, I realize is a form of surrender as we are trusting the benevolence of the Presence to tend to our greatest need and fuel us for future service.
The truth is we surrender unconsciously every day. We give our power up and over to societal expectations and ideals. I was reminded of this while watching the O Network’s documentary Miss Representation. The documentary does a beautiful job of showing us how we have unconsciously devalued girls and women in our culture through the voice of the media. Devaluing our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and partners will end when we wake up to our own inner strength and turn from media opinion to our own inner vision. As we wake up to the vision within us, we may choose to surrender to a dream or a vision, allowing that to pull us forward. The key with surrender is “to what” and “by choice.”
I couldn’t wait for the book to come out for you to know about Larisa and her transforming presence. I have included a link below, in the form of an arrow, which allows you to listen to her song “Bloom” also known as the Mother Mary song.
Enjoy,
Bonnie
