“Yat pinde tat brahmande” is a Sanskrit verse from the ancient Vedic texts, the Puranas. It translates as “the universe is within you.” Vedic knowledge is rooted in the understanding that the macrocosm and microcosm are reflections of each other. The entire body is a reflection of the macrocosm. The vast macrocosm is a direct reflection of the inner microcosm.

The Jyotish chart is a map of your entire body. Every part of the body is neatly organized in a straight forward, orderly expression within the houses. Signs, planets, and nakshatras further refine the nature of the body. Your relationship with your own body- physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual- determines your results in this life. The body, and the body alone, is the vehicle for your soul to fulfill its dharmic purpose.

My life long studies of Vedic knowledge, Jyotish, Ayurveda and the limbs of yoga set me on a path of embodiment. For me, there is no way to separate Jyotish and the body. My Ayurvedic mentor, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, once told me “the highest purpose of Jyotish is for healing.” Ultimately, Jyotish is a tool for expansion of consciousness. This tool can be used to deepen your connection to the light of your own soul and inner awareness, or disconnect you for your own truth and inner wisdom.

I coined the term Embodied Vedic Astrology when I realized that not everyone has the same intentions with Jyotish. My life-long embodiment training through dance and movement, Vedic studies, and body-centered expressive art therapy degree naturally integrated to become a unique perspective. I consider Embodied Jyotish to be the original purpose of Vedic astrology, the most ancient expression of its pure form.

Embodied Jyotish means using Vedic Astrology in a way that deepens your connection to body, intuition, and the light of your own soul. It is a reference point for clarity, insight, body wisdom, and self awareness. The Jyotish chart informs your body awareness and your body awareness informs the Jyotish chart. They work seamlessly together.

Embodied Vedic Astrology is not about prediction. It’s not about telling someone what to do and how to do it. There is no right way or wrong way, purity or impurity. The way modern Jyotish is used today typically disempowers the individual. Consequently, it attracts people who are disempowered and want an authority to tell them what to do. There is a hierarchy with most Jyotish dynamics where power can be dangerously misused. In my experience, Jyotish can strengthen the ego and if not used properly, power abuse can occur.

As a Jyotishi, your purpose is not to “know more than your client” or feel superior. Your role is simply to guide the client back to their own body wisdom and intuitive guidance. This is the purpose of Embodied Jyotish and why I feel it is important to make the distinction.

Simple questions like:

What do you notice in your body?
What does your body need?
How does this feel in your body?
What feels true to you?

Inevitably, the most important feedback I hear from clients is that our sessions help them trust their own intuition and inner knowing.

As a trained body-centered expressive art therapist and somatic healer, my work has always centered around body intelligence and building inner wisdom. Jyotish is a tool that can enhance this process if used properly.

Most Jyotishis today, however, are simply trained to tell clients what is the best timing for getting the material world results they desire. As if they have no free will and choice in the matter. The fact is, your body determines your results. Even if Nature is supporting potent results with love, if your body is not prepared to receive this love, you won’t make much use of this auspicious cycle.

If channels of abundance and wealth are open due to a helpful Venus cycle, you need to be in harmony with life force energy and have structures set up for receiving. Without honoring the wisdom of Venus and water, as well as its natural intelligence in your own body, the abundance will be squandered or even lost. Your relationship with your own body and Nature determines your results.

When you use the Jyotish chart to support healing and transformation, you can enhance your results through listening to the body, asking the body to share messages with you, and harvesting insights that will support lasting change. This requires taking action steps, gathering resources, cultivating new behaviors, and strengthening inner power. However, this direction and guidance must come from your own body.

Jyotish is in fact a tool that can enhance inner listening skills when used properly. When I guide a client through a body check-in and ask them to listen to a body part that needs attention, inevitably when we look at the Jyotish chart, there is a specific insight that shows up in that area of the chart.

For example, if a client comes to session with pain or sensation in their feet, I will ask their feet to share a message and a need. When we look at the Jyotish chart, there will likely be a significant planetary influence happening in the 12th house of feet. If natal Saturn lives in the 12th house and Moon is transiting this house on the day we meet, the grief of Saturn in the feet will be illuminated. This insight becomes the entry point for deeper discovery with all themes of 12th house and feet. This includes the ancestors, safety, stability and support. There is always a correlation between body experience and the Jyotish chart.

Predication is disempowering and unhelpful in the long run. Jyotish should be supporting your inner resiliency, self trust, and intuition when used properly. Embodied Jyotish is for those who are on a path of cultivating right-relationship with their own inner authority and empowerment. They want a tool to support strengthening their intuition and body wisdom, while creating a deeper alignment with the Laws of Nature and cycles and rhythms of Nature.

Jyotish is the study of cosmic cycles and Nature’s intelligence. It is rooted in symbols, metaphors and nuance. It requires a refined recognition that the cosmos influence all aspects of body and life.

For those who are wanting to deepen their relationship with body and Nature, Embodied Vedic Astrology will take your Jyotish practice to the next level. If you are a yogi or healer of any kind, Embodied Jyotish will amplify the way you work with the body, intuition and your own healing modalities. Anyone who desires a deeper relationship with their own body and soul will benefit from an embodied approach to Jyotish.

If you wish to strengthen your dharmic path and soul purpose, there is no other option than to enhance your relationship with embodiment. Your entire dharmic path is cultivated through body wisdom, intuition, empowerment, and your inner intelligence. Without self trust there is no dharma. In that way, Embodied Vedic Astrology becomes nonnegotiable for those seeking true dharma. The body is the way and an embodied approach to dharma cultivates a deep sense of self mastery and inner trust.