Salka is an ancient Quechua word that originates from the indigenous communities in the highlands of the Andes. In Andean cosmology, salka represents raw life force. It is the pure and wild energy that is present before conditioning, before domestication. Salka energy is the essence that drives authentic expression, creativity, and a deep immersion with life.

Salka is present all around us. We sense salka when we sit beside a roaring river and when we witness the wind whip through the trees without restraint. Salka speaks to us in the calls of eagles atop a jagged mountain peak. Salka beckons us whenever a wildflower bursts through the cracks of weather-worn cement. Salka is vibrantly alive in the spirits of young children who express their thoughts, feelings, and needs without hesitation or fear of judgment.

As we grow, and especially in response to personal and collective traumas, we begin to disconnect from this pure Salka energy. We lose touch with the unbridled wonders of the world around us and within us. We habituate to distractions and over-identify with these distractions. We invest in systems that hold us hostage to living as small, separate beings. We sculpt our lives around false narratives entangled in “shoulds” and “should nots.” We contort ourselves to fit into boxes so that we can feel a sense of (false) belonging. We forget our own essence - that which makes us radiate.

Every day offers opportunities to remember. We connect to our own salka energy whenever we experience uninhibited joy, sorrow, and rage. Whenever we release the stories we tell ourselves that keep us small and separate. Whenever we give ourselves permission to collapse, get messy, find our own rhythm, color out of the lines, shed tears, make noise, and move in ways that feel authentic. We commune with salka every moment that we choose to unplug from our devices and delight in the countless wonders of daily living.

Salka is not a glorified, enlightened state we must work to attain. Salka is within us and around us at all times. We just need to remember that we have forgotten. Salka is our nature. Salka is our home.