Well, first off, I should mention that my name isn’t Sarva. It’s Michelle. More on that later…
In brief, I’m a strange bird.
It’s been a long, winding path that brought me to where I call myself a soapmaker. What’s wonderful is how things have all come together.
I am:
- a certified Herbal Information Specialist through the American Botanical Council
- a member of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild
- an aromatherapy student
- a Tarot novice
- a yogi of over 10 years, with two years of formal teacher training in the Satyananda tradition
- trained as a Phoenix Rising yoga therapist, though a chronic health condition prevents me from practicing
- a meditation instructor with training and experience in many diverse meditation styles and traditions
- a second degree Reiki practitioner
- a member of Mensa
- a pretty darn good cook, and I make better Indian food than you’ll find at some restaurants
- an herb gardener with an eye toward esoteric and “old fashioned” herbs
- in love with things I call “lost arts” – any artisanal craft which has long since been industrialized and mass manufactured and, thus, removed from its true essence
- deeply concerned about our planet’s future
- a fan of “green” thought, long before it was fashionable in some circles
- obtaining my certification in web design
- a fairly decent amateur nature photographer
- probably a hippie, by some most definitions
- ultimately, above all else, a creative human being
In the late 1990s, I picked up a really beautiful book on soapmaking. Not the “melt and pour” kind (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but simply beautiful, fanciful, amazing, elegant, rustic… divine… works of art. How Zen! A work of art that is practical and yet also indulgent, one which gradually disappears with use. Impermanence at its finest.
I was hooked.
So, I spent hours in my workshop. Hours turned into weeks, into months, into an addiction. I saw a way to combine my passion for gardening, my cooking skills, my slightly “seat of the pants” nature (translated: creativity), my reverence for nature and “green” products… and soapmaking became another meditative practice, creative outlet, and, many times, a metaphor for life’s larger lessons. (A batch didn’t turn out? How did I handle it? Where does that show up in the rest of my life?)
Time came to choose a business name. Sarva is a Sanskrit term meaning “whole”. I think we should be whole, don’t you? In all ways… mind, body, spirit. And I think the things we use–eat, touch, wear, put in AND on our bodies–should be whole.
Then I needed a web site. No problem!
So, you see, it really does all come together.
Oh… yogic soaps? Yeah, well, I’m working on that.
