Someone recently asked me how to best describe my new book, Feminine Genius: The Provocative Path to Waking Up and Turning On the Wisdom of Being a Woman, and I said “Feminine Genius is the book-baby you’d get if Beyonce and Einstein hooked up.”
Feminine
I don’t know Beyonce personally (though I surely wish I did)! But what I see and feel from this diva, singer, and performer is a woman who shows us her strength as well as her softness. She neither dumbs down nor exploits her sexuality. She seems as comfortable in her body as with her divinity. She is as smart as she is sensitive. She isn’t trying to beat out the competition, she is working her ass off for a future in which we can all rise.
This to me is the strength of the feminine.
Our feminine strengths — which I happen to think Beyonce embodies beautifully — allow us to feel, not just think; to intuit, not just reason; to be inspired, not just be productive; to want it, not just will it; to enjoy the journey, not just get to the goal; to be sensuous, not just sensible; to bow to the body, not just the mind; and to make life meaningful, not just manageable.
I think of our “masculine” as our thinking, rational, linear, goal-oriented, will-powered, practical, competitive strengths, and our “feminine” as our feeling, intuitive, cyclical, sensual, soulful, collaborative strengths.
While every human body has access to both strengths, it is our “feminine” strengths and the bodies and souls of women that have been overlooked and undervalued for far too long.
Genius
Most of us think of Einstein (the German-born theoretical physicist most famous for his E=mc^2 equation and his shock of white hair) as the poster child for the term, “genius.”
We have come to worship Einstein’s brain and his intellect, and to assume that great intelligence is intellectual intelligence, that great genius is intellectual genius.
And while it is true that many of Einstein’s discoveries were in the intellectual realms of reasons, theories, and ideas, his true genius was in his ability to open not just his “masculine” reasoning mind but also his “feminine” intuitive mind.
So actually, Einstein owes his genius in large part to his (feminine) intuition.
For much of history, it was understood that genius isn’t something that you ARE, it is something that you HAVE, and that anyone can have a genius, kind of like having a house gnome, kitchen elf, or genie in a bottle.
The root of the word genius is the same as the word genie, after all.
Genius, then, can be re-understood as an intelligent, intuitive energy — an unseen but very felt force that enters us and happily has its way with us.
If you found a dusty bottle on a shelf of your cellar, there would be only one way to know if it contained an all-knowing genie with the power to actualize your deepest desires: OPEN, AND LOOK INSIDE.
My new book, Feminine Genius, is a provocative wake-up call, nudging you to uncork that fabulous flask and find out just how much magic you’ve been hiding.
Because you do have a genie in your bottle — and genius in your body.
Come open up, and come look inside.
And, here is what some folks who’ve read Feminine Genius (men and women alike) are finding inside the book and inside themselves:
The Provocative Path to
“I’m intrigued by this quote from the book: ‘This path has no script, map, or blueprint. It is unruly, messy, and a wee bit naughty, and audaciously asks you trust the very parts of you that you previously warred against.’
A reclaiming of what has been lost through being ‘circles’ navigating a culture built for ‘squares.’ Thank you for writing it!”
Waking Up
“As a long time practicing Vajrayana Buddhist and one who is intensely interested in comparative religion, it hasn’t been lost on me that the vast majority of spiritual practices have been created by men, for men, leaving ‘the feminine’ in both women and men at a loss.
Now, thanks to LiYana Silver’s fantastic book, I have a road map to understanding and activating the true power of the divine feminine, not on only in my clients, but, most importantly, in my Self.
Thank you for helping us all course correct. I’ve been longing to read such a book for quite some time now!”
And Turning On
“Not even all the way through and I already feel grounded, encouraged, guided, and lit up by this stunning book. With compassion, empowerment and grace, LiYana offers the space, support and calling to truly inhabit our radiance and power as women.
Each carefully chosen phrase serves a purpose — to comfort, recognize, guide, ignite. My personal favorite was the reminder that I am ‘a living, breathing temple of ecstasy . . . wielding (my) unvarnished, untarnished, divine healing power.’ Yes please!
I am grateful to LiYana for sharing her life-changing wisdom and helping us all wake up, honor and inhabit our innate brilliance. Highly recommend this compassionate, inspiring book.”
The Wisdom of Being a Woman
“In a world that likes to define many (conflicting) standards for women, LiYana shows you how to cut through that noise and connect with your innate wisdom and embody a fully alive woman. You’ll get in touch with many lost parts of yourself and start to feel that wholeness you’ve so longed for.
Do we even know what the world can be like if all women tapped their feminine genius and started living their lives from that genius? That world would be amazing beyond our dreams . . . and it starts with picking up this book for yourself and then sharing it with a friend.
You’ll be glad you did.”
Feminine Genius shows you why following any “script,” in hopes of being lovable, acceptable, valuable, and taken seriously, actually ensures you will feel like a failure and a fake.
Feminine Genius shows you how to trust (and eventually love) the very parts of you — your sensuality, sexuality, desires, hungers, ups and downs, and instincts — you may have spent a lifetime warring against.
Feminine Genius reminds you that you have been literally sitting on your true power, joy, and confidence all along.
In a world where women are too often dimmed down, stressed out, and burnt out, Feminine Genius shows you how to stay turned on and lit up.
Feminine Genius is the light, and is also the woman who is lit.
I’ll see you inside,
PS: I have two special bonuses for you when you get your copy of Feminine Genius! The first is a 4-Week Book Club with me, where I’ll walk you (and a group of other burgeoning Feminine Geniuses) through the book, respond live to your questions, and send you back into your life with optional practices to bring the material wildly alive for you.
Additionally, I have a gorgeously-designed Book Club Kit to support your own book club complete with guiding questions, suggestions for creating a women’s group where everyone feels safe, inspired, and expressed, and a few little surprises, of course.
It’s all waiting for you here.
Photos by Wendy K. Yalom