Lifestyle
Astrology Forecast February 14 – 20, 2022
It’s all about love and romance this week, as the Moon moves into Leo on Valentine’s Day and stays there until it culminates in a Full Moon on Wednesday! The Leo Moon brings with it an air of confidence and self-expression.
Personal desires, flirtation, passion, romantic, relationships, and friendships, as well as contemplating what we truly value in life, will rise to the surface in the coming days.
Mercury in Aquarius, will further heighten our ability to be friendly and intuitively aware in our interactions with others, and some of us will even be able to truly turn on the charm today!
The Leo Moon opposite Saturn in Aquarius tomorrow might place a depressing damper on our mood after yesterday’s love fest. We may even feel unhappy and dissatisfied, question our relationships. We might also feel abandoned or lonely.
If you find yourself in this state of mind on Tuesday, try to work through your feelings before Wednesday, as the Leo Full Moon may further inflame a negative state of mind with moodiness, dissatisfaction, and irritability.
On Friday the Sun will move into soul-based Pisces and completely shift our focus from the external to our inner being. As the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces is a culmination of all we’ve experienced over the last twelve months and a time to go deeper and embrace our spiritual power and heart’s desires. We’ve spent the first part of the year looking at things outside of ourselves, and now we’ll be turning inward to see what personal and spiritual changes are forming.
Saturday and Sunday’s Libra Moon will aid us in determining how our inner desires are reflecting to the outside world, and how to approach things with more balance and ultimately, success.
The Power Of Deep Breathing
It is not generally understood how important deep, healthy, mindful breathing truly is. In fact, shallow breathing is linked to all kinds of health problems, including panic attacks, dry mouth, halitosis, cardiovascular issues, fatigue, respiratory problems, and sleep disorders. When we breathe with our chests, we use the muscles in our chests, shoulders, and necks to expand our lungs, which can result in neck pain, shoulder pain and headaches.
Most importantly, shallow breathing also hinders our immune functioning. The chronic stress and strain it places on the body, results in lower amounts of lymphocyte – a type of white blood cell that helps to defend the body from invading organisms. Shallow breathing actually lowers the amounts of proteins that signal other immune cells. The body thus becomes more likely to acute illnesses.
Deep, diaphragmatic breathing, on the other hand, can lower blood pressure, calm the mind, and improve sleep. It also lowers our heart rate, relaxes muscles, decreases stress, and increases energy levels.
Deep breathing also grounds and centers us. It has been proven to have a profound calming effect on the mind and body. When you are anxious, you take rapid short breaths. When you are content, you take deep, long, full breaths.
The way we breath also affects our mental abilities and thinking. Programming your brain when inhaling can lock thoughts into your memory and can be a powerful tool in our daily spiritual practice. Thinking or saying out loud affirmations like, ‘I am love and light; God and I, me and God are one; I am able to accomplish anything I want; I am powerful;’ will lock those thoughts into your psyche.
Astrology Forecast February 7 – 13, 2022
We’ll be cruising the information highway this week as the Sun picks up full power in Aquarius. Keep in mind that even though Mercury went direct last week, there could also be some lingering fallout, so stay alert!
Today and tomorrow a Taurus Moon inspires us to take care of obligations of a material nature. The Taurus Moon sextile with Jupiter in Pisces this morning will have us in a positive, optimistic state of mind and operating at our social best, while bringing with it good energy for financial gain and material success.
This aspect will be followed a little later today by a Taurus Moon trine Mars in Capricorn, which will ensure that we have no shortage today of determination and practical resourcefulness. One could not ask for more ideal lunar constellations to start off the first day of the week.
Wednesday through Friday we’ll be under the influence of the Gemini Moon, making networking, socializing and researching our main focus. Not only will you be surprised at what you learn, you might be dispensing valuable information to others.
However, beware the Gemini Moon square Jupiter in Pisces on Wednesday evening, as it may be a catalyst for wasteful extravagance and clashes with the law, as well as potential conflict in our romantic relationships.
Therefore, if Wednesday is normally date night for you and yours, you may want to consider postponing it until Friday, when the Sun in Aquarius trine the Gemini Moon will instead have us brimming with a sense of well-being and happiness, and our relationships with family and romantic partners will be harmonious.
The Cancer Moon will take precedence over the weekend, inspiring a cleaning and refreshing of your personal space, as well as socializing with loved ones, or giving yourself permission to be a couch potato and catch up on all those movies or tv shows you’ve been meaning to watch.
Astrology Forecast January 31 – February 6, 2022
Happy New Year! This will be a week of fresh beginnings, forward motion and renewed motivation. Don’t be fooled by the Aquarius New Moon setting a contrasting, feminine, yin tone before the masculine yang of the Chinese New Year of the Tiger beginning tomorrow. The Tiger year will be giving us a second chance to make some resolutions and embrace a new energy for the year ahead.
The Tiger represents prowess, stealth and achievement, marking this year as one with the potential to bring success in all we do. It will also cast a stronger and more confident tone over us, inspiring us to move forward with passion and fortitude.
The year 2020 (Year of the Rat) was about survival and the need for adaptability and flexibility. The year 2021 (Year of the Ox) was about caution, keeping faith and staying centered and grounded in a challenging new world. But the Year of the Tiger will be about renewed vigor, futuristic ambition, revitalized enthusiasm, and the courage to make major changes and achieve new goals. We can expect things to change very rapidly this year.
The Year of the Tiger may however not start on a high note for those of us who are prone to melancholy, depression, or negative thinking. The Aquarius Moon conjunction with Saturn in Aquarius early on Tuesday could create a sense of dissatisfaction, loneliness or self-pity. Tap into the daring, self-empowered energy of the powerful tiger. Time to get fired up!
On Thursday Mercury will thankfully resume forward motion from its current retrograde, offering us yet another cycle of forward movement and progress. Fortunately, once Mercury resumes forward motion, no planets will be retrograde for the next three months. So, the sky is not even the limit of what we can achieve and attain the first half of this year.
The assertive and confident Aries Moon will grace the skies Friday through Sunday, making this the ultimate week to make fresh starts and embrace new beginnings.
Just Existing, Not Living?
Do you ever feel like you’re existing and not actually living? Well, guess what? You’re not alone. I think at some point in our lives we all do, especially after everything we have endured over the past two years.
In these difficult times, we worry about our health and safety, money, career paths and choices, the perfect house, the perfect partner or spouse.
Our children. Have we raised them right? Or, have we spoiled them? If you don’t know yet…two year olds grow up and teenagers grow out of it!
All of the above are legitimate concerns. But at some point we need to remember to worry only about the things we can control.
Stop focusing so much time and energy on the things you cannot control. All it brings us are toxic thought patterns, an anxious heart and a restless soul. Once we have learned to give all of that up, life seems a tiny bit easier.
There is a famous saying: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” How very true. You can fixate on all the frustrations, promise yourself that you’ll do this and that, or feel better once you get to wherever – but it doesn’t necessarily work that way. Because it’s easier to think about what you’d rather do, than to just going out and doing it.
The Power Of Ansuz During Mercury Retrograde
One of the most affected areas of our life while mercury is retrograde is the area of communication. Mercury is retrograde at the moment and, as always, I am seeing many issues with miscommunication, unnecessary conflict, and misunderstandings come up in readings. I am also picking up a lot of nervous energy with clients.
Mercury Retrograde really affects our ability to communicate, and especially to listen and understand. My best advice always in these times is to not get sucked into arguments to easily, as both parties usually got it wrong to begin with. Stay calm, pay attention and find out the facts, before you lose it prematurely…only to regret it later.
Keep reminding yourself that Mercury is currently in ‘backward’ motion, so keep your cool and stay focused until at least Thursday, February 3rd, when it turns direct again. But, bear in mind the after effects of the post-retrograde shadow will only subside by February 23rd.
If you are looking for new ways to support your energy during this retrograde period, try my go to technique. I connect with the energy of understanding and patience using a specific rune, which I use for meditation in these times, and as a symbol to carry with me until the retrograde is over.
The rune I am talking about is called Ansuz. It’s the rune associated with the throat chakra, because symbolizes the energy of clear communication and using the right words. It carries the powers of convincing, powerful speech and writing, wisdom, analytical thinking and reason, and the ability connecting and network with others.
I frequently used this rune when I used to be work in the corporate world. It helped me a great deal to calm my nerves when I had to speak in front of many people at meetings and presentations.
When You Wish Upon A Star
My dad always said one should make a wish on the very first star that you see every night. Anything your heart desires will come true. When you see, or hear the word star…what emotions arise in you?
Think of how many up-lifting songs have been written about the stars. The first song many people learn on an instrument is often Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It reminds me of the theme song for the Walt Disney classic, Pinocchio. It is such a ‘feel-good’ song. When you wish upon a star it makes no difference who you are.
For some of us a star was the very first symbol that made us feel good about ourselves as children. In kindergarten getting a star for a job well done was a big deal! It always had such a sense of pride to show my parents at the end of a week how many gold star papers I had acquired.
A great pastime for children, especially at summer camp here in Maine, is laying on the ground looking up at the stars and hoping to see a shooting star.
Night people often say they get their batteries recharged by looking at the moon and stars. It brings them a sense of peace and hope for the future. One thing we can always count on is the sun, moon and stars will shine again.
Looking at the heavens for answers, ancient mariners used the stars to navigate where they were on the ocean. Sailors learned how to navigate by watching the movement of the stars.
According to natural navigating coach, Tristan Gooley, the North Star, known as Polaris is directly above the North Pole. “This means that whenever we point towards the spot on the horizon directly below the North Star, we must be pointing north,” he writes.