All Over Albany

The bindi lady

Brittany Johnson Michael makes bindis -- the traditional Hindu jewelry worn by women on the forehead.

Brittany is not Indian, and she wasn't raised in the Hindu culture, but she's been wearing bindis and writing about them for years.

Now she's making bindis. And from her studio in Albany, her new twist on the ancient custom -- the Om body bindi -- has made it to Yoga studios and new age shops around the country.

What is the traditional significance of a bindi?

The word bindi is a sanskrit word.  The original bindis were the ornamental red dot between the eyebrows you would see it on Hindu women. It started out as a symbol of marriage like a wedding ring but it evolved and now anybody can wear a forehead bindi . 

For a new twist on the bindi, I decided to come up with an om body bindi. It's ornamental.  You can wear them anywhere on your body. They're just peel and stick.  It's a medical grade adhesive that stays on for a few days to two weeks. It stays on in the shower or through exercise. I do hot yoga and it still stays on.

So if it doesn't go on the forehead, why call it a bindi?  Why is it not a jeweled sticker or temporary tattoo? What makes it a bindi?

Because to me they have meaning -- they're special.  The design is the symbol for om.  I'm just such a lover of things like om because om is a mantra that's common. Om calms everything. We're all so busy. I feel good when I wear it -- I'm mindful of it.  And it's a reminder in my day of "come back to your now, come back to your life, come back to today, come back to the gift of today."

So you'd wear this to be mindful of these things?

They're also colorful and pretty, and they're temporary -- unlike a tattoo or a piercing, which people seem to be getting when they're way to young. It's something beautiful.

If the bindi is a religious symbol, is there a concern wearing them for non-religious reasons would be offensive?

I don't know when it changed, but the bindi is not just a religious symbol anymore. People like Madonna , Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Hurley have been photographed wearing a bindi. They're beautiful.  

I chant at the Hindu temple and most of the Indian people that I know love them.  They were even written about in an Indian newspaper.

When did you first see a bindi?

I was a little girl, 3rd grade... maybe 8 years old. I was walking in the mall and I saw a beautiful HIndu woman, in a full Indian dress. She was walking with her husband and son. She had a traditional red dot bindi.

I stopped, and stared at her and she smiled. Her eyes were big and and brown and
her little boy watched me look at her. I was fascinated by her wrap style dress, the red circle, and the pretty colors in her outfit. She seemed "sparkly" -- even the expression in her eyes... seemed sparkly.

Years later I would see them on belly dancers, and I said " I want one of those!"

Why did you decide to make the body bindis?

I adore color. I've always been a lover of color, I used to be a make-up artist for channel and in the 80's I used to colorize people -- drape them to see what colors they would look best in. I wrote a book about color for kids. I do consulting work for architects about color. And the bindis are colorful. I'm also in love with the the Hindi culture. I'm a yoga teacher and I chant, I love kirtan. To me the bindi is another gift from India.

It seems like, in a way, you're using the bindis to connect with people about something more important to you. Do you think they'll catch on and become more mainstream

You know, people say things like "my business is in infancy." I don't even think mine is there yet. I've only really been doing this since June. I've sold a few thousand since then. So maybe by next year, you'll see more people wearing them. Right now I'm selling them in yoga shops around the country and at places like Pearl Grant Richman's and River Rock Bead Shop in Troy. And when I went to Kripalu people wanted to buy them right out of my case.

But I think in life we're all in a boat and we're on a journey on this river and you can see things along the way if you're open and willing to see them. When people see the body bindis, they see that the om symbol looks like the number 30. So they'll ask, "Why are you wearing the number 30?" And it opens up a conversation. And maybe you get to share something about yoga, or peace. And maybe it changes something for them or for you.

I just hope people wear them, whether it's to find their spirit or just to feel pretty.

This interview has been edited and condensed.