yoga
Inspiration In A Time Of Crisis
During this time of the coronavirus lockdown in Spain, I realize that I am fortunate, and for this I am very grateful. For example, I already work from home and I am also accustomed to a certain amount of social isolation, for reasons of choice, at least for the time being.
Furthermore, I can do and buy the necessary. Here in Spain, we are allowed to go out for necessities, to help the vulnerable, and to walk our dogs, but we are encouraged to keep our distance from others and make shopping a swift event. Again, getting shopping done as quickly as possible has always been my preference anyway!
But, even I am aware of missing the occasional coffee in town with a friend, or being able to travel back to the place I moved from last year, to have lunch with a special friend there. Where I live, people are very social and tactile, and interact at any given occasion. They love to meet at their neighbors’ homes, or in bars and restaurants, which are all currently closed.
I have been thinking how this situation might go one of two ways for many families, currently cooped up in small homes or apartments. They could become very frustrated, especially if there are small children confined in a small space. Or, they might get very creative with how to use their time, as well as appreciating being able to spend time with one another and their pets.
Making The Most Of Pisces Season
Today we are entering Pisces season. The Sun moves into the zodiac sign of Pisces every year from February 18th through March 20th, and activates our compassion, intuition and imagination. This is a cycle where we are able to get in touch with our deeper emotions and heal any issues that might be weighing us down.
Pisces is a mutable, water sign, which allows us to be more flexible and go with the flow of the Universe. Now is not the best time for planning and taking action, but great for reflection, journaling, artistic expression and dreaming.
Technically, Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and shows us the accumulation of what we have learned in the past year. It also helps us release in order to prepare for the next cycle in Aries.
The negative aspects of Pisces brings up addiction issues, escapism, delusions, being overly sensitive and falling into a victim mentality. It can seem like we are swimming in circles in this period, so acknowledging our direction and any imbalances are vital.
The Sun in Pisces is also a good time to get in touch with our bodies, and to detoxify with lots of water, fresh whole foods, and upgrading our self-care routine. If you are unsure of where to start with exercise, more gentle movement activities, like Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates or swimming in a body of water, will help create re-connection. It is all about taking your time and accepting where you are in your life.
Lead By Example – A Message From My Guides
Many of you lead by example, without having to think about it. You obey traffic signals. You pick up garbage if you accidentally drop it. You hold doors open for others. You smile at strangers. You volunteer. You support local charities.
Entering the second month of this new decade, it might be a good time to re-think some old habits, and also lead from within.
For example, it may be a good idea to tone down those automatic, knee-jerk thoughts of annoyance, anger or retribution when someone pushes all-too-familiar buttons. Instead of allowing the cortisol and adrenaline to skyrocket within your body, think things through, before reacting negatively. Resist the urge to speak hurtful comments, even if your basic premise is sound. Find a constructive way to get your point across.
Sometimes it is tempting to jump on the bandwagon for likes and shares on social media platforms. However, if the topic is not kind, hold your tongue. Instead, be the person who can be counted on for level-headed discourse, without vitriol.
In general, be kind to others. Give people some leeway when it is evident that they are trying their best. Catch them doing something right, instead of watching for errors and omissions. Give recognition and praise where warranted. It can mean so much and does not cost anything.
Be kind to yourself too. Banish negative self-talk. Give yourself the right to be human and allow yourself to make mistakes, without chastising yourself for an unimportant oversight. If a serious error does occur, do your best to rectify the issue in a timely manner, with a ‘note-to-self’ that you have learned from the situation and will not repeat it.
Give Your Nervous System A Break
Given the fast pace of today’s world, the expectations of others, as well as the pressure we place on ourselves, giving our nervous system a break, and understanding the ways to support and strengthen this system, is physically, emotionally and spiritually important.
Stress is something we all experience – some more than others. Those of us who are empathic, psychic, or highly sensitive, can experience stress more intensely with more profound consequences.
The stress that empaths, psychics and sensitives experience may be tied to that of another person, or situation, as well as their own stress. This ability to experience the emotions, thoughts and feelings of others can create a rebound effect of high stress.
Racing heart, anxiety, quickening of breathing, tensing of muscles, sweating, feeling faint or nauseous, are all signs of a nervous system in flight mode. Add in the compounded impact of experiencing this in another person, on top of yourself, and your nervous system is off and running, literally.
The body’s ‘fight or flight response’ is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, which is one part of the autonomic nervous system. The other part is the parasympathetic nervous system, which works to relax and slow down the body’s response.
The sympathetic system acts like an accelerator, to ‘rev up’ our body and make us run, to remove us from danger. The parasympathetic system acts like the ‘brake,’ slowing us down when danger isn’t present.
Cultivating Divine Patience
During difficult times it can be challenging to quickly change our circumstances, or get out of the eye of storm, because there is often a full plate of responsibilities to already deal with, like work, children and also self-care.
By learning to surrender some of worry and control to a higher power, you can begin to find inner harmony and cultivate divine patience which means you allow things to unfold in their own time.
Too often we want immediate gratification and answers right away, which can create added stress and anxiety in our interactions with others, since our focus is on the results instead of the process.
We forget that many times the answers are already within and all we have to do to access it, is to listen and become more receptive to what our inner voice is really trying to tell us.
The best way to tune into this is by elevating the environment you’re in by removing any negative influences or distractions that are causing imbalance. Even the act of cleaning or reorganizing a section can begin to shift our perspective, and create a sacred space for healing.
Afterwards, you can begin to get centered, quiet the mind and ask the spiritual realm what it wants you to know about your circumstances, so you can take the best course of action.
Embracing Scorpio Season
Starting today, October 23rd until November 22nd, the Sun will be transiting Scorpio, which is the best time to increase your spiritual awareness and heightening your psychic abilities. The ‘veil’ between the living and the departed becomes ‘thinner’ during this time, and important messages are transmitted at this time through dreams, magic and meditation.
People and situations who are a hindrance to your personal growth and spiritual expansion, are often revealed and removed during Scorpio season, but only if one is willing to go beyond the surface and see something for what it really is.
The scorpion can creep up on its enemy and silence it with one quick hit from its poisonous tail. Scorpios are often a few steps ahead of everyone else, and are some of those most brilliant artists, performer, healers, and teachers, as well as very loyal friends… as long as you stay on their good side!
They are often feared, or envied by others, especially because they always insist on the truth, and easily recognize deception, insincerity and a lack of authenticity in others.
The mythical phoenix is also associated with this zodiac sign, because it signifies the death and rebirth of the self, in order to to transform the soul and become the best version of who you really are.
Regardless of your sun sign, the current transit through Scorpio is inviting you to release the old, so you can achieve increased self-love, and gain the understanding of what needs to be done in order to move forward. It can be emotional and painful, but worth the sacrifice in the long run.
The Unseen Spirit World Around Us
While traveling this summer, I stayed at in a vacation rental home on the coast of Oregon. It is an older house which has been completely gutted and redone from floor to ceiling. It has every finishing touch you could imagine and is across the street from the beach.
One day, while sitting in the master bedroom with the door partially open, I thought I saw a white, sheepdog push the door open with his nose to come in and greet me. He looked quite happy with his tail wagging. He was adorable and filled with loving energy. I blinked my eyes and looked again, but he was gone? I then realized I had just seen a dog in spirit, who used to live in that house.
Many people have this type of occurrence happen on a daily basis, but do not understand or trust what they see. Often we glimpse things out of the corner of our eye, or peripheral vision, but most of us interpret this as simply being due to our imagination. We thought we saw something, but there was nothing there when we looked again. Unfortunately, our modern culture encourages us to trust only our logical, linear mind over our intuition.
When Spirit shows up in the form of our deceased loved ones from the Other Side, and this includes our departed pets, we can become aware of them through our psychic senses. People who are more sensitive tend to be able to pick up on the subtle presence of Spirits who come to visit.