Symbol Story: The Lotus Flower

Not only is the lotus flower beautiful, with its pink or white petals, the flower has great, even sacred, significance across many cultures. A prevalent symbol in modern-day yogi culture, the lotus was used as food, medicine, and as spiritual representation in multiple belief systems across South and East Asia for over 3,000 years. Because the lotus flower typically grows in shallow, often muddy waters, but yet grows into a beautiful flower, the flower often represents the human ability to be something beautiful and pure despite the human condition.

In yoga, the Lotus Pose is a foundational meditation asana where the human body emulates the blossoming of the lotus: Seated with a grounded pelvic floor, open hips, and an erect spine for the free flow of energy up through the chakras to the crown. Sahasrara, or the crown chakra, is translated as a thousand petaled lotus flower — no coincidence that the symbol for the crown chakra is a lotus flower.

In Hindu tradition, multiple deities, such as Shiva and Ganesh, are depicted resting on a lotus. The Bhagavad Gita likens the lotus flower to spiritual self-actualization, describing a person free from attachment who performs their duties without the distraction of material gains.