I’ve been feeling the fear about writing this. Some of you signed up for mindfulness tips and retreat links, and you might be wondering when ‘normal programming’ will resume. But I’ve realised that in the past I’ve been expressing a compressed version of myself, squeezing the slightly chaotic aspects of deep-thinking and feeling self into a more palatable version. The radio edit. So, here is the version that reclaims my true self, the pure signal of who I am: a story about a dragon, a sword, and why 90s punk rock is actually as much of an inspiration to me as my wise meditation teachers and the ancient Yogic texts…
I got a new tattoo last year. The idea I had envisioned was smaller, elegant, grounded in a lotus flower. But the artist handed me something completely different: a fierce viking sword with a feisty, snarling dragon coiled around the hilt, its clawed feet resting on the cross guard. It was powerful, wild, and serpentine. I let go of my pre-conceived ideas, allowed the collaborative energy to flow, and let him ink it. It has been teaching me about intensity for the last 6 months.
The dragon was held in a moment of pure potential, like a chord struck but not yet faded, by the strength and clarity of the sword. It symbolised a sense of wielding (and not necessarily controlling) chaos that resonated deep in my bones - in a way that only art really can!
Dragons have had a bad rap across history (perhaps I should say specifically within my own dominant white European culture). I grew up with stories of English knights slaying dragons. I heard them portrayed as dangerous and greedy.
It seems fitting that British folklore depicts the knight in shining armour coming along, destroying the wild dragon, to save the perfectly meek princess. The same British culture that also led the charge in the industrial revolution to control the earth’s natural resources and colonise ‘wild’, ‘uncivilised’ countries to also take their resources too. And the same British culture that put in place patriarchal systems to control women.
Fuck those stories.
The symbolism on my skin is not of slaying the dragon, but of harnessing its potential.
In Yoga philosophy, this is the eternal dance of Shiva and Shakti.
The dragon represents Shakti - the primordial, cosmic energy of nature and creativity in its full, wild, untamed expression. The sword represents Shiva - the steady, unwavering discipline of pure, conscious awareness that holds the space.
The sword doesn’t threaten the dragon. There is no coercion, fear, or destruction of the wildness. Instead, Shiva is embraced by Shakti’s fierceness. They are in relationship. In absolute balance. Without the clarity of the sword, the dragon’s rage can become chaotic and destructive. But without the wild fire of the dragon, the sword is just cold, lifeless metal.
The colonial mindset, much like the modern algorithm, is obsessed with noise reduction. It views the unmapped, unpredictable frequencies of Shakti as a threat to be neutralised, rather than a sacred signal to be listened to. They want a world of pure, sanitised compliance and ‘fitting in’, stripping away the raw, creative current that makes us alive.
Because this concept is intense, it’s not as ‘palatable’ as some expected. The comments have been interesting. Looks of shock, preferences of my other designs of butterflies and flowers, even questions about what my Mum thinks of it (yep - I’m 44!). So it’s been fascinating.
It feels like it has been teaching me to lean into my own authenticity in a big way. To accept that the punk rock teenager who thinks and feels so so deeply is still right here amidst the roles of mother and meditation teacher and professional. I’ve been finding my way back into mosh pits, connecting with other music nerd level fans, exploring niche philosophy, singing loudly with my besties!
It all comes back to finding your own pure signal. In the 90s underground, the corporate compromise was called “selling out”- it’s not about money but about softening your edges, turning down the distortion, and letting some suit remix your track just to get on the radio. Today, the algorithm is the ultimate corporate record executive. When we compress our truth just to fit into a digital template or someone else’s idea of a “palatable” professional, we are selling out our own souls.
Unmasking the realness of your dragon is intense, but it’s real - and it’s exactly the kind of counter-cultural defiance we need right now. Choosing authenticity over mass appeal means rejecting that pressure. It means adopting a DIY punk ethic for the soul. You might not be playing to a stadium crowd. You might be the band sleeping on a promoter’s floor, playing a sweaty basement gig to three people, the opening act, and the bartender. But when you hit that chord, the room shakes with absolute truth. It’s loud, it’s raw, and it’s unapologetically yours. And… I’d rather play a flawless, roaring set to an empty room of true seekers than sell out the dragon just to headline a festival of ghosts.
Maybe we are not all wired for punk gigs and dragon tattoos. In music, we need the classical violinists and the acoustic folk singers and the Gregorian chanters and the rappers. They have their own message and frequency. If someone is masking their own authenticity to fit in - or conversely if we try to force a quieter person to be loud - it’s compressing everyone to meet a narrow band width that doesn’t allow for diversity.
True resonance doesn’t happen in the safe, quiet, sanitised middle. It happens when we allow the full bandwidth of who we are to vibrate - the ancient texts, the silence of the meditation cushion, the roar of the mosh pit, the fiercest pieces of our grief, and the wildest pieces of our joy.
We need the sword of Shiva, yes. We need the discipline, the clarity, the steady practice. But we need the roaring fire of the dragon - the pure, untamed current of Shakti - too.
To help you plug back into your own wild, creative current and find your own pure signal this week, I’ve gathered a few things that might inspire you - including a sonic journey designed to wake up that exact inner fire:
Listen: Shakti Playlist - a curation of tracks built to bypass the algorithm, turn up the distortion on your true self, and let the dragon roar.
Read: Women who Run with the Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola Estés - a classic manual of stories for contacting the raw, uncolonised power of the wild woman archetype
Practice: Yoga Class - a 60 minute practice to explore the gifts of sensation - accessing that Shakti current in the body
Practice: The Daily Signal Check - A DIY audit for checking when you’re compressing your authentic bandwidth. For the next seven days, run this quick internal simple check-in three times a day:
Check the Frequency: In this exact moment, are you speaking, writing, or acting from your true frequency? Or have you subtly turned down your own volume, smoothed over your rough edges, or adjusted your tone just to keep someone else comfortable?
Find the Friction: If you are compressing yourself, notice where that friction is showing up. Is it a tight jaw? An icky sensation in your gut? A sudden feeling of resentment? That physical discomfort isn’t a failure - it’s the static in the signal telling you exactly where your boundaries are being compromised.
Unleash the Dragon, Wield the Sword: You don't need a grand, dramatic confrontation to shift the energy. You just need to choose what the moment requires. If you are hiding your truth out of fear, call on the dragon - breathe into your gut, back your own intensity, and let your raw honesty take up space. If the chaos or anxiety feels too messy, wield the sword - bring in the steady, conscious discipline of absolute clarity. Stop playing the radio edit. Let them work together.
Comment below and share your thoughts!
“Fuck those stories” 🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️ I loved this.