Who are you born to be?

It has been a long winter. Hibernation has been my refuge, my sanctuary. Hiding out for a season has allowed me to quiet the cacophony of voices inside my head, and all the outside influences and expectations that are difficult to discern in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
 
It is not easy to take this time to tune into my Self. A part of me feels the weight of guilt, and shoulds, and shame. It has taken a lot of painful practice over many, many years to show up to the tending needed inside me; and the stillness and slowing down that's required. I am fortunate to have a partner and the privilege that afford me this sacred solitude.
 
As hard as it can be, every time I retreat, I return to this core truth: My worth does not come from what I do, but from who I am. I am worthy because I AM.
 
In a recent coaching session, when asked why her morning quiet time sitting in her favorite chair is so essential to her, my client responded: “When I take the time to simply be, I cultivate my enoughness. I affirm my worthiness.” 
 
Winter has now ended, and spring has arrived. This is the season to come out of the darkness, and into the growing light. To bring your Being into the world. To dare to be seen and to shine bright.

@LeaAndroic_Art

This is the Aries archetype superpower.

When the Sun enters the zodiac sign Aries — it marks the spring equinox, and the astrological new year, and a new you. 

Aries represents our identity, and Self. It is the very first sign of the zodiac that says: "You were born and therefore You matter."

You are not a mistake or a mess that needs mended. You are a miracle woven with the magic of both dirt and stardust. No one else in this earthly world is exactly like you. You are a one-of-a-kind wonder. You matter.

Aries says: I am worthy because I AM.

Aries energy reminds us that it is your birthright to take up space in this world. Not to diminish your value but to amplify it. Not to make your Self small, or hide out in the shadows of others, but to blaze your unique path, and shine bright.

Aries is a fire sign. Fire is the energy of spirit, and is here to inspire and uplift. Aries fire wants you to believe in your Self and embolden others to do the same. Can you tell I am an Aries Sun?

It is not only Aries season, it is also eclipse season. Eclipses are portals that illuminate hidden and lost parts of your Self, so that you may retrieve and integrate them — and leap to your next level of evolution. This is called shadow work, and is what I do in spiritual coaching.

     This moment is potent.

Profound healing is available from the cosmos right now. It is an opportunity for one identity to end, and a new one to begin. To let go of your past self, and to step into your real Self. Not the person you were conditioned to be, or made to be in order to survive or to belong, but the person you were born to be.

Here are some reflection questions for you:

• How would you describe your unique spirit? What is your essence? Your true nature? Who are You when you feel most at ease, in the flow, or on fire? 

• In what ways does this version of You get eclipsed in your everyday life?

• What can you give yourself in those moments to help you return to your Self? Maybe you need to repeat a mantra (a self-acknowledgement practice), or move your body; or to talk it out, or take a break; or to say no, or to say yes; or to speak your truth or take up space, or ask someone to stop; or validate yourself or give yourself permission; or witness the part of you that is activated and hurt. The key is to value yourself enough (Aries archetype) to not lose or give your Self away, but to give your Self what you most need.

This is not easy work. We live in a broken world where it can sometimes feel unsurmountable to be our true Self.

But life is too damn short.

I lost my friend Beth unexpectedly. She had a fighting spirit that wanted nothing more than to rest in her Self. In her memory, let's encourage and embolden one another to be who we are born to be. The time is now.

A date with the full moon

Art by @Katia.Perez

Since I can remember, the Divine has been real to me. In college when my spiritual beliefs were tested (again), the Full Moon became a physical manifestation of the Divine. I could see Her, and trust Her to show up every month.
 
And every month, we had a date.
 
We met under the open soccer field, or Warvel Park, or in Petersime Chapel if it rained. I poured out my heart to this beaming luminary in the sky. The nights I remember most were the ones I wept and wailed. She could handle my doubts, fears, sensitivity and intensity.
 
The Full Moon was and continues to be my mirror:

Showing me what it is time to see,
and what is ready to release.
Guiding me to embrace the change
necessary to align with my soul’s path.

Full Moons greet us with clarity, grief and growth.

It was not unusual to move through the five stages of grief in one night: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Our dates are often an emotional whirlwind.
 
Thank goodness it does not feel this acute every month. Each Full Moon lands on us with different intensities. Astrologers say this is because the Full Moon interacts uniquely with each of our birth charts.

Some Full Moons feel like doozies. While others feel like deliverance.
 
In fact, many Full Moons of mine have offered joy, gratitude, relief and quiet. What will tonight's Full Moon mirror reveal to you?
  
In astrology, the Moon reveals your internal world and represents your emotional and physical needs, wants, and longings; what helps you to feel safe and secure in your own skin. It shows you how best to emotionally regulate. What needs to be released or embraced to return to your equilibrium.
 
So, when the Moon is fully illuminated, like it is tonight, you can see clearly the places within you that feel insecure, vulnerable, unsafe, and out of balance. You can also see the places that feel strong, aligned, and ready to commit to more.
 
I love how astrologer Chani Nicholas describes the meaning of the Moon as your “soul’s experience in your body.”

The Full Moon therefore is a time for us to feel into our bodies with gentleness and grace, and to seek the messages our soul is delivering, so that we can take the next step on our evolutionary path.

Tonight's Full Moon is in the watery, mystical sign of Pisces. She loves her solitude and secret sanctuary where she can dream, and feel connected to the unseen world. This makes it the perfect night to make a date, and see what Her mirror reveals to you.

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Tuning into the cycles of the Moon and how She influences you is called moon-mapping. It is a magical way to understand the rhythm of the Divine within your body and beyond.

Learning more about the New and Full Moons is a great place to begin. It is one reason why I am now offering monthly New Moon Workshops. Mark your calendars…

NEW MOON WORKSHOPS!

IN-PERSON

Meets every second Sunday of the month at Claremont Yoga from 1:30-3:30pm. Includes yoga with Genevieve Gantney. 

Next date: September 10th.

Bring your mat and journal. Drop-in fee is $35. Register here.

ONLINE

Meets every second Tuesday of the month via Zoom from 7-9pm ET | 4-6pm PT.

Next date: September 12th.

Bring your journal. Cost is $35. Register here.

What are you ready to leave and grieve?

“Goddess Moon” by @Katja.Perez

It is believed that 10,000 years ago the Paleolithic people looked up at the night sky and saw how it is the Moon that reveals the divine connection between the celestial bodies and earthly bodies...

What was particularly fascinating to them is how the Moon was whole and complete, yet constantly changing. They were in awe of her altering faces, the waxing and waning of her being. It became a representation to them as the whole of nature, as the Mother Goddess from which all life is birthed and returned.
 
As they witnessed the Moon expanding and lessening, coming to life and withdrawing from life, rebirthing itself, yet returning to itself, they began to understand that lightness and darkness are not opposite, nor are life and death. They are an eternal rhythm.

Ancient astrology believed (and so do I) that we are not separate from nature, we are nature. So, like the Moon, we are whole and yet ever-changing. We experience different phases: moments when we feel fresh and new; full and accomplished; empty and lost. We move through seasons when we wax into the light and wane into the darkness. Times when we are clear, energized and joyful. Other times when we are uncertain, exhausted and heart-heavy.

No matter how terrifying or beautiful the cycle, we are always whole and complete.
 
Repeat.
You are not broken.
You are whole, holy,
and home to everything it means to be human.
You are the Goddess Moon.
 
Author of Untamed, Glennon Doyle writes, “Being fully human is not about feeling happy, it’s about feeling everything.”
 
Feeling the entire messy and dazzling spectrum of human aliveness is what makes us complete. There is no shame in your shame. The feelings you are feeling are pointing you home.
 
You are rebirthing yourself, and returning to your Self.
 
This Friday is a lunar eclipse in Scorpio. It is cathartic. It is a long good bye to a story that began in January 2022. Or rather, re-emerged. In fact, this is likely a story you’ve held onto for years.
 
It’s time to let it go.
 
Scorpio is the zodiac sign of death and rebirth — an eternal rhythm in nature the Moon teaches us. As winter emerges into spring, we experience death transitioning into new life. Every time night arrives, we say goodbye to day. Every inhale and exhale we breathe is both a release, and a welcome. When we enter a new stage of life, we leave behind an old one. Every ending is a threshold for a new beginning.
 
Death and rebirth are all around.
 
I remember the first birthday I spent with my son. Days before he turned 7 years old, he seemed sad. I asked, “Why are you sad? Your birthday will be here soon!” With tears in his eyes, he said, “I’m going to miss being 6.” Every year since, he has repeated this grieving ritual for his birthday. Before he can welcome in the new and the next, he honors the past.
 
That is the invitation of this Scorpio lunar eclipse. What do you need to leave and grieve before stepping over the threshold? What death is required to rebirth yourself? To return to your Self.
 
Honoring the past does not mean we need to agree with it. But it does mean we need to be honest about it. This is a time for each of us to lift the veil.
 
I had this wildly esoteric experience this past month. My front crown fell out of my mouth while biting into a piece of chocolate — in Death Valley of all places, with my in-laws of all people. For 3 days and 3 nights, I felt like the desert tested me (I mean beyond the personal embarrassment of walking around with a missing front tooth). It kept revealing the spaces inside me that still felt incomplete — that still longed for something or someone outside myself to complete me. To love me. See me. Adore me. Understand me.
 
What pained me the most was the rotten tooth beneath my missing crown. There was no hiding it now. It was a gross looking stump. I felt ashamed.
 
Several times when I was alone, I would think about this rotten tooth, and spontaneously start to sob. I knew it symbolized something powerful for me, so I asked. The answer was clear — it was my relationship with my mother; and all the ways she could not love me. See me. Adore me. Understand me.
 
My friend pointed out to me that the tooth is not actually rotten, it’s dead.
 
I so desperately wanted to be rid of it, but it is a necessary foundation for my crown. You see, some wounds are not meant to heal. They are meant to shape us.
 
This is what lunar eclipses do, especially in Scorpio. They dig up what has long been buried and too hard to face. But what do you do when you are staring at the mirror, and it’s all you can see?
 
What do you need to leave and grieve before stepping over the threshold? What death is required to rebirth yourself? To return to your Self.
 
With the Moon in Scorpio, we have exactly the medicine we need. Scorpio in its highest expression is a conduit to transform our toughest pains. If there was any zodiac sign that can help us alchemize at the level of psyche and soul, it is Scorpio.

Whatever hidden falsehood is eclipsing the truth that you are whole, holy and already home, this may be the time to unearth it.

Don't do this alone. Be in the company of mentors, friends, guides who can be the Moon, mirroring back to you your radiant beauty, when all you can see is your dead tooth, and the relationship you need to grieve.

As I have moved through this alchemical process this past month, I have witnessed how my body is a doula to the death and rebirth happening at my soul level. When you set the intention to unbury what’s been long hidden, it will want to be released through your body. The stomach flare-up, sciatica pain, extreme fatigue, explosive rage, deep grief, even the panic and tears in the dentist chair. I am the safe container for this transition, and transformation.

My invitation is for you to imagine that whatever is emerging from your body this week (and last, and next) — whatever old stories, difficult emotions, and physical pain — imagine that perhaps this is your body and soul’s way of releasing what you are ready to leave and grieve. 

Like you would with any rebirth, remember to breathe.

P.S. For those curious: My original tooth injury happened when I was 12-years old and fell 6 feet down into a cellar — hitting my mouth on the concrete stairs on the way down. Two of my front teeth fell out. To make the story more gruesome, the teeth were still dangling on my braces. While a doctor eventually shoved them back into my mouth, they did not survive the trauma.

How do you wield your Aries Fire?

Follow @SpiritDaughter on Instagram for inspiration art and astrological insight.

Since autumn 2020, the stars in the sky have set us on a potentially transformative path with the Aries archetype — on both a personal level, and most definitely, on a collective one.

As a reminder, no matter your Sun, Moon or Rising signs, everyone has Aries in their birth chart. You are home to the entire zodiac, and so somewhere within, your Aries fire is burning.
 
At its core, Aries is about stepping into our agency and authenticity. It embodies courage, takes thoughtful action, trust its instincts, faces conflict, fights for and protects what matters most, allows for healthy expressions of anger, speaks its truth, and believes in its right to make its mark in the world. Aries is the Warrior inside each of us. He is also the Trailblazer.

Aries is also a Fire element. Ideally, its energy is here to inspire and ignite us. It is the fire in our belly that makes us feel alive so that we have the audacity needed to go after our deepest desires. Too much fire can burn and destroy (though somethings need to be burned). Too little fire, we extinguish our spirit.
 
Aries is a powerful archetype and how we chose to wield its fiery energy, whether from our woundedness or worthiness (this is a coaching mantra of mine!), makes all the difference. It is what this nearly three-year journey has been here to teach us.

How do you wield your Aries Fire?

Tonight, a solar eclipse will occur at 29 degrees of Aries — the final degree of the sign. This is when the sign’s energy is most pronounced and potent. It is a culminating moment.
 
PLEASE TAKE NOTE how you feel in your body this week. What is your body trying to say to you. Especially tune into any feelings of frustration, anger, restlessness, impatience, and powerlessness. Do not act on them; instead, give voice to them. Also notice any physical discomfort. Tend to it with rest, care, gentleness, and hydration. If you are like me, you may feel an excess of physical energy; movement is medicine. If your thoughts are harsh, redirect your focus to your breath, or your feet on the ground, or any of your five senses. Let your body be a guide this week.
 
This solar eclipse in Aries is an opportunity to look back on who we have been, and consciously choose who we want to be.
 
Ask yourself:

How do you understand your personal power and agency?
Do you tend to embrace it or minimize it?
Do you sometimes fear it, deny it, or do you channel it with care and responsibility?
In what ways and/or with whom do you express it?
What would it look like for you to expand into more agency and authenticity? What is the first step?

Years ago while leading a women’s circle, the theme was personal power, and not one woman was comfortable using that language because of the terrible abuse of power they had experienced, so we used “empowerment” instead. Today we use “agency.”
 
Abuse of Aries energy certainly warrants concern, even trepidation. Aries at its worst (acting from woundedness) reacts impulsively on its frustration. It wants what it wants NOW. Aries rules anger and violence, and so its determination and individuality left unchecked, left unconscious, can blaze a trail of harmful destruction. It loves to battle anyone who gets in its way. It thrives on chaos and conflict. It can control and oppress under the guise that it is fighting for what is right.

As an example: On January 6, 2021, the day of the Insurrection, Mars, the planet that rules Aries, was at 29 degrees Aries — again a point when Aries energy was heightened (Astrologer Nadiya Shah).

There is a flip side. When we resist our Aries energy altogether (also acting from woundedness), another extreme can manifest. We give away our power and allow others to dominate or determine our path. We avoid conflict at all costs. Our unexpressed anger turned inward manifests into resentment, bitterness, and/or powerlessness. We don’t believe in our agency or our worth and fear taking action on our behalf, speaking our truth, or asking for what we desire.

What side of the Aries spectrum do you lean? Too much or too little fire?
 
Oftentimes, the Aries energy emerges in us in more complex and nuanced ways. I grew up in a volatile home where my bully brother, 8-years older than me, was someone to be feared. In order to survive, I made myself stand large and loud so I could face right into his anger — a mask that said, “I’m not afraid of you.”

That Aries fierceness followed me into my days when I was a leader in the Church and fought for girls and women’s empowerment. Many years later I would come to understand that my defending women was really about me still defending my little girl self. As righteous as my anger and activism were, they still surfaced from my woundedness (I know this by the way I disregarded my opponents).
 
After I walked away from activism, and walked toward internal transformation, that fiery Aries energy needed a place to go. It turned on me. I was now at war with myself.
 
How many of you have an Inner-Bully who shames you into thinking you are not smart enough, good enough, strong enough, pretty enough? Ironically the Bully is trying to protect us from the pain that comes from what it perceives as being too weak, too vulnerable, too soft. 

For the unevolved Aries energy, vulnerability equals defeat. It does not know that compassion, care, creativity, and connection are also our personal power.
 
Aries wounded sees everyone as threat. Aries evolved knows it is worthy. It does not need to fight for its place because it already belongs.  
 
Nowadays I imagine my Aries Warrior standing alongside my Sacred Self. They are no longer at war with each other. They are allies. Instead of bullying my softer sides into submission, my Aries Warrior fiercely protects them so that they are free to flourish.

When my Fire is able to ignite from a place of compassion, care, creativity, and connection, my belovedness stands on the frontlines, and the whole world gets to shine bright, and know too, they belong.

Astrological New Year!

@Katja.Perez, witchy illustrator. Follow on Instagram.

Happy astrological new year! The Sun has crossed the threshold into Aries, commencing a new 12-month trip around the zodiac. This also means spring, the season of new life and growth, has arrived! To add potency to this passage, today there is a New Moon in the sign of Aries at 0 degrees. The Sun and Moon are meeting up in the sky at the first degree of the first sign of the zodiac. WOAH. This means new beginnings and fresh starts are buzzing all over the cosmos! Are you feeling it?

If you are anything like me, this newness both excites you and overwhelms you. Maybe you feel pressure that you will waste this precious galactic magic, or make the wrong move, or succumb to paralysis analysis. 

That’s the thing about this new moon: It isn’t necessarily about making big, bold moves in your life (although if you do, then the sky is at your back!), it’s about believing in your inherent belovedness. 

That means, that no matter what: you come to know in your bones that you are loveable and loved. 

This is no small feat in a world where we have been loved imperfectly, conditioned to believe we are broken and unworthy, crammed into oppressive systems that deny us safety, opportunity and the ability to breathe freely. To love ourselves is trailblazing.

That is precisely the power of Aries. To break new ground. To be the first to say, I belong here. I matter. I am who I am. I get to take up space and express myself unapologetically. I get to be me.

Astrologer Chani Nicholas says 2023 is the year of the “self.” Claiming our “self” is tricky terrain in a society that centers the self at the expense of the other, that prioritizes personal profit over people, that encourages independence over interconnection, and whose mantra is me, more, now.

That’s actually the shadow side of Aries. That is Aries energy acting out when it feels hurt and afraid. The Aries energy inside each of us is at its highest expression when it is rooted not in our woundedness, but in our worthiness. Grounded not in our fear, but in our truth. This is the invitation this new year and new moon have in store for each of us.

Imagine a world where we all get to live from our inherent belovedness. Our sacred sovereignty. This is my vision and mission (I am an Aries Sun conjunct Jupiter in my 1st house after all!). 

This journey starts with you. And me. Showing up to the hard, courageous work of turning not away, but turning toward both our pain, and our beauty. Our flawed and fabulous humanity. Our messiness and our magic. That’s how we set ourselves free.

So, what’s the first step on this trailblazing path?

It’s learning to identify, listen, and follow our sovereign Voice — that voice inside each of us that is compassionate, calm, curious, clear, courageous, creative, and connected. What you might call your highest self, or soul voice, or intuition, I call our sovereign Self.

The problem we face of course, is that Voice is typically drowned out by the other voices in our head: the ones that can be mean, judgmental, rigid, impulsive, shaming, illogical, dramatic, fearful (and the list goes on and on).

What all these voices have in common is that they are trying to feel safe and loved; whereas our sovereign Self already knows we are safe and loved. It knows we are whole, holy, and already home.

I want to pause and acknowledge that not everyone is safe all the time. This is exactly when we want to listen to the fight-flight-freeze voice who is trying to protect us. What I am referring to is when we feel a perceived threat based on past pain, abuses and trauma. This is when I make the distinction between what’s real and what’s true. What may be real is that you feel unsafe because trauma still resides inside your body. At the same time, what is true is that for most of us walking around the world right now, we are actually safe. Our job is to honor what feels real, tend to its pain, and help it feel safe again, in the here and now.

Deep breath. Believing in our belovedness truly is lifelong labor. It is literally my full-time job. Be gentle with yourself. Take your time. Celebrate the small wins. Don’t do it alone.

And please trust me, this belovedness is inside you — even when you don’t feel it. It’s there, waiting for you to slow down, get still, be present, and listen.

This sacred listening takes practice. Lots of practice. What helps you connect to this Voice inside you?

This past year I was finally able to establish daily rituals that help me return to this Voice (after YEARS of trying, and was particularly difficult during the pandemic years). These days I wake up early before my boys so I can hear myself think with no interruptions. My morning walk has become a co-creative time between me and Spirit. Most afternoons I step away from my screen and thoughts, and put my legs up the wall for a 20-40 minute “meditation nap” (it also helps me digest my lunch with more ease!). When I notice my tight jaw, racing heart, or anxious tummy, I place my hand on them to offer comfort. When I feel stuck or like I am forcing something to happen, I stop and change positions (usually that means washing dishes, or folding laundry). I’m still learning to turn off my cell phone at a decent hour. I’m also writing down my nighttime dreams again (Barack and Michelle keep showing up!). 

How about you? What is one new thing you can implement today, on this new moon and new year, to practice listening to that Voice within you that believes 100% in your belovedness?

My friend Leslie forwarded me this Instagram reel this past week. Please watch. Cory Muscara, author and teacher (and apparently once a monk) succinctly point us to how to discern the different voices in our head.

I am here for each of you. If you need support, please reach out to schedule a complimentary coaching session. Or refer family and friends.

P.S. If you are a local friend of mine, this is a perfect time to deepen your understanding of your personal astrology. Learn more about my upcoming Sun-Moon-Rising sign workshop series! You can attend one, two or all three of them!

Big changes in the cosmos!

“Full Moon in Bloom” by @katja.perez, witchy illustrator. Follow on Instagram.

Today’s post contains more questions than answers. That’s intentional. Let the questions reside within you for a time. Don’t let ego rush too quickly to solutions and strategies. Carry the questions around with you on your errands, job interviews, new gigs, and hot dates (or any kind of date). Rest in the questions. Imagine sitting alongside Spirit. Together you are co-creating healing and an unknown future where you get to be more of your sovereign Self…
 
Astrologer Chani Nicholas says 2023 is the year of the “self.” It is a year when we have the chance to center our needs and desires as much as we do for others. A year when we learn to believe we have a right to take up more space and shine a little brighter. A year when we tap into the courage required to stand out from the crowd and claim our unique offering. It is a year when we are more able to work out the kinks and quirks that block any of the before-mentioned.

Every astrologer I know says March is the month to launch us on that sojourn. It is packed with big, huge astrology. It starts today.

Here's what's happening (Warning: astrological geeking out ahead).
 
Three planets are changing zodiac signs: Saturn the Teacher and Taskmaster, Pluto the Transformer and Mars the Warrior. With these three involved, energy is inevitably shifting. Collectively, and individually.
 
Saturn has not changed signs (permanently) since March 2020 — the same time the pandemic lockdown began. He shifts signs one hour after tonight's full moon, inviting us to commit to making our dreams a reality.

Pluto moves signs on March 23rd. He has not moved signs since 2008 — just days after Barack Obama was elected the first Black U.S. President, and the financial crisis hit homes across the country. Pluto is here to make us face the collective shadow. Moving into the sign of Aquarius, Pluto's ultimate aim here is to innovate a world built on justice and equality, where everyone is free to flourish. He'll be there until 2043.

Mars has been hanging out in Gemini since August 2022 — and an unusually long time for him. He finally shifts into Cancer on March 25th. I like to think of Mars' highest expression in Cancer as fighting for the vulnerable, in our communities, and within ourselves.

I know this may or may not make complete sense to you. That's okay. It's enough to know we are moving from one season of reality into a new one. Significant endings are making way for new beginnings. It's all here to help us heal our woundedness, so we can live and lead from our worthiness.

But wait! I'm not done yet with March's astrology forecast!
 
Add to these potent planetary shifts, the spring equinox arrives March 20th — with the New Moon occurring the very next day at 0 degrees in Aries. Aries is the 1st sign of the zodiac and represents our identity — who we say we are, and how we feel about that. With this New Moon at 0 degrees, new beginnings are very possible. Astrologer Cristina Farella says Aries “correlates archetypally with the beginning of the journey, the first step on the fresh path.”
 
Friends, winter is nearing its end, and spring is meeting us at the trailhead of a new journey. 

Where do you want to go this next season of your life?
What is the first step you need to take?
What and who do you need for the trek ahead?
What if at the end of the trail you become what you truly love about yourself? Who might that be?

Before we go, the Full Moon in Virgo is here to help us lighten our load. Full moons represent healing, and a time for culmination and completion. It's odd because they can feel like a midway point. Like something is coming into fruition but before you move forward, you might need to adjust, recommit, and/or release what is no longer helpful. In this way, full moons illuminate what is hidden. It’s like we have made our plans, charted the course ahead, and we are at the trailhead about to depart, and realize our load is too heavy. We dig through our pack back and discover at the bottom is a weight we no longer need.
 
What is the weight you are carrying around?
 
With the full moon in the sign of Virgo, it could be:
 
Self-doubt.
Perfectionism.
Control.
Or the need to be totally self-sufficient.
 
Do any of these resonate for you? All of them feel familiar to me.
 
A Full Moon stands direct opposite to the Sun. It is the Sun of course that shines upon the Moon. And so, we look to the Sun for the medicine we need in this moment.
 
The Sun in Pisces wants to anoint
your doubt with trust;
your perfectionism with compassion;
your control with surrender;
your self-sufficiency with abundant support.

Who would you be if you trusted yourself?
Who would you be if you embraced mistakes and messiness?
Who would you be if you surrendered to the unfolding process, a timeline not entirely of your own making, and a Life Force that wants what is best for you?
Who would you be if you leaned more on the people around you who want to support your path?

Friends, I'm so excited for what's to come. It feels like change for the better; a pilgrimage designed by our soul. Sure, there will be moments of breathlessness along the way, and that's okay. We will rest, recuperate, and carry onward. Together.

Pisces New Moon

Follow @SpiritDaughter on Instagram for inspiring art and astrological insight.

On February 18th, the Sun moves into the zodiac sign of Pisces, and the very next night it meets the Moon. That means it is time to set New Moon intentions.

Pisces is the 12th and final zodiac sign. It is here and now when we need to do some cleaning up and clearing out. Also, slowing down; it is the final month of winter after all. We are preparing ourselves for next month when the Sun transits into Aries, when spring begins, and a 12-month trip around the zodiac commences.

It’s like you are clearing out your internal closets and cupboards. Deciding what you really need, and want, and tossing the rest. It is an energetic deep clean.

For most of us, it’s the tossing out that can really trip us up...

I love Pisces. It is that energy within us that wants to soften, to surrender. It is here to help us loosen our grip on Life. To relinquish a little bit of control so that we might be surprised by what is possible when we trust in Spirit’s leading. Where in life are you holding on, when perhaps it’s in the letting go that you are held?

Ultimately, Pisces wants us to trust in the Sacred, in Mystery, in this belief that we are Divinely supported and intimately interconnected. To rest in the realm of infinite possibilities.

When we are in the state of control or clinging onto something — it often means we are scared. We don’t believe there is anything waiting for us on the other side. Pisces is here to say, there is.

It’s in the letting go, that you will be Held.

In 2011, the planet Neptune moved into the sign of Pisces — the sign it rules. This means Neptune is at home in Pisces. This means its power is potent.

Neptune represents Divine Love, the kind of love that wants to dissolve boundaries between us and them, and expand our capacity for compassion.

Interestingly, it was in 2011 when I began “quietly quitting” the Church (to borrow my friend Michelle’s phrase). For a long time, Church served as a refuge for me, a safe place where I could ask all my questions about God, and the meaning of life. It also took me out of my mundane life, and allowed me to feel a part of something bigger than myself. For a long while, it gave me space to be myself. Until it didn’t…

There came a time when Church was less a sanctuary, and more a battlefield of beliefs and ideology. Where lines were drawn and walls between us and them were built. It’s not to say that battle wasn’t worth fighting. It is to say Spirit wanted me to learn to dismantle the walls within myself, and to help others to do the same. In time, I would discover this was my magic.

Sometimes letting go means leaving behind something good and beautiful — like that 18-year-old leaving home for the first time. Spirit says, “You are ready. There is something more waiting for you on the other side. Go, and let 'your magic unfold.’”

What within you wants to dissolve? What belief, conditioning, or coping mechanism wants to be dismantled? What’s waiting for you on the other side?

It was not easy leaving Church. For a very long time, there was a void in my heart. An untethering, like I was floating alone in the cosmos with nothing to ground me. Seeking but not finding. I called it spiritual homelessness.

There were more seasons than not when I felt abandoned by Spirit.

Trusting in ourselves, and in Life, is no easy task, especially if what we are leaving feels like a safety net in some way. Letting go comes with setbacks, heartbreak, cold feet, and disbelief. It’s why some things require “quietly quitting.” Be gentle with yourselves. Extend yourselves grace. Give yourselves time.

I think eventually the pain of leaving turns into the fear of becoming.

The Piscean energy is here to help. She is already within you. She is your safety net. For tonight’s New Moon, ask for her spiritual support. Ask for exactly what you need to let go, to leave, to grieve. Then trust in your magic to unfold.

P.S. Tips for an energetic deep clean: Epsom salt foot baths, walks in nature, hydrating often, eating more vegetables, sleeping in late, anytime spent in water, meditating, coloring, creating, journaling, are all ways to help reset your emotional wellbeing and create the space for the Piscean energy to work its magic.

Leo Full Moon

"Open Heart" by @katja.perez, witchy illustrator. Follow on Instagram.

This morning my mind seemed agitated. Then my heart started racing. An ache was emerging.

One of my practices is to draw near to my pain. So, I place a hand on my heart and talk to her like I would any hurting friend. Sadness emerged. Then tears.

I'm curious, so l lean in closer. She seems worried about an unfulfilled life, about not expressing her full abundance. She longs for more…

I stay curious and open.

She is acutely afraid of being seen as ineffective, though I think that’s a euphemism for useless. It is that wound inside me that says, “Maybe who you are and what you do doesn’t matter. Maybe you don’t matter, Keller.”

My sovereign Self knows what the wound is saying is not true, though it certainly feels true. (That’s the difference between what’s real and what’s true—But I’ll save that wisdom for another time.)

I draw nearer to the pain.

I say to my racing heart: “I see you. I see you are afraid. I feel the pressure you are putting on yourself to prove your worth. You can let that go. There is something waiting for you on the other side of this pain. Let it go…”

Friends, we are building this week toward a full moon in the sign of Leo on Sunday February 5th. The energy leading up to it could feel potent. You may start to feel upset. Agitated. Frustrated. Melancholy. Pressure. Draw near to the pain.

Leo is the zodiac sign of self-expression. Its energy within wants us to unapologetically claim our authentic selves, and to express it with flare. Leo knows it is sovereign. This full moon is here to disrupt any patterns or beliefs that block us from that truth.

Is there a pain emerging in you this week telling you that somehow you are not worthy? Draw near to the pain.

The sign of Leo is also about saying yes to our heart’s burning desire. Sometimes though, our desires are hard to find — they’re buried just beneath the wound. A full moon is here to illuminate. What’s on the other side of your pain or fear? What’s your heart’s burning desire?

I draw near to my heart again. Her pounding has steadied, her fear has loosened. She's ready to hear what comes next: “I see you. You are big, beautiful, brave, and brilliant. You hold a deep desire to connect authentically with other hearts. It's what I love most about you. This is the truth of who you are.”

May the days ahead draw you close to the truth of your belovedness and its burning desire.

Virgo the Virgin

Follow @SpiritDaughter on Instagram for inspiring art and astrological insight.

It's Virgo season! This time of year marks the ending of summer – and vacation hours (sigh). It invites us to come back down to earth and reflect on how you can design your day to reflect your worthiness, says Cosmic Guide @SpiritDaughter. (Oooh, I like that!)

To Virgo, our schedules are sacred. She sees the everyday moments as divine, imbued with eternal wisdom. She knows that the daily choices we make add up to our life. When we feel overwhelmed that we’re not doing enough, we remember that the small gestures we make for ourselves, our neighbor, our naysayer, have a grand ripple effect (as my friend Leslie, a Virgo Sun, always reminds me!).

So, this is a superb time to start healthy habits and daily rituals. Focus more on your body and breath. Tackle old projects. Realign unhelpful mental chatter. Organize your desk, your home, your community, your city to be a more just and thriving space.

I want to pause to remind you that you are home to the entire universe—including all 12 zodiac signs, including Virgo. She shows up in your birth chart; her energy is within you.

Allow me to elaborate: I like to think of the signs and planets as archetypal energies. In this way, astrology is like a personality tool. Virgo therefore is one personality or archetype that exists in all humans, though some of us have stronger Virgo energy than others. I’m a proud Virgo Moon!!!

As you read about Virgo, notice what parts of her excite you, and what parts you resist.

Virgo energy is discerning, methodical, and precise. Her mind is supremely sharp. She sees what others miss. Because Virgo is an earth sign, she wants to embody her ideas: moving from theory to everyday practice. Virgo also knows details matter—they are an outward sign of our inward love.

The Virgo-within feels at ease when they are working efficiently and effectively on something that is meaningful. They want to feel useful. Virgos want to perfect and master their skills. Adept at understanding systems and how all the pieces fit together, they can pinpoint the problem, and the remedy. Those with strong Virgo energy are typically healer-types who want to be of genuine service to the world. Van Jones is one of my favorite Virgo Suns. Beyoncé too.

I haven’t even shared the best part of Virgo energy!

What I love most about Virgo is her archetype… she’s the Virgin, meaning, a self-sustaining person. Or in more defiant terms, one who needs no man. Some also call her the Goddess or High Priestess. She is the energy within us that longs to belong to ourselves. Self-betrayal is not an option for her. She knows when we stand in our sovereignty, we give others permission to do the same. Belonging to ourselves also means we have more capacity for compassion and curiosity for others because we are able to see more clearly when we see not through wounded eyes, but through beloved eyes.

Every sign has their superpower and struggles: Virgo's shadow archetype is the Perfectionist. Because her mind is so sharp, so precise, and all about refinement, when it's stressed, it turns hypercritical. Typically toward themself. Personal improvement becomes an addiction. One of Virgo's life lessons is to find magic in the messiness of being human. To remember that our vulnerability is our north star—it points us to our deepest longing and unlocks the love we want.

Today is a Virgo New Moon, when both the Sun and Moon in Virgo meet in the sky—it’s the perfect time to embrace her energy already within you. I’ve provided reflection prompts below to guide you during Virgo season.

P. S. If you want to understand how Virgo energy shows up in your chart, or learn about your Sun, Moon and Rising signs, don’t hesitate to reach out — it’s my joy to do so!

VIRGO NEW MOON REFLECTION PROMPTS

No need to tackle all these questions at once! There are seven of them, so perhaps you carry a question in your body every day for a week.

• What is one action you can take so that your day more intentionally centers your overall wellbeing and worthiness?

• What in your schedule, your home, your community, your city needs reorganizing? Or reimagining?

• What are the details you typically notice and tend to? How are they an expression of your love and care?

• How would you describe the skills you are learning to master and what that means for your legacy?

• What does it mean to belong to yourself?

• What are the situations or relationships when you tend to betray yourself? Asked another way, when do you tend to show or speak a version of yourself that isn't wholly authentic and true? What do you need in order to belong to yourself in these moments? Including, do you need to leave these situations or relationships altogether?

• What parts of Virgo archetype excite you? What parts of her do you resist?

What I did this summer

Follow @SpiritDaughter on Instagram for more inspiring art and astrological insight.

I have been on quite a journey since I last wrote. It’s felt restorative, grounding and invigorating. I want to share with you what’s been invigorating.

While I’ve been an astrology enthusiast for over a decade, this spring and summer I’ve taken it to the next level. I'm excited to share with you my philosopy, how it helps with personal healing and growth, plus one way you can tap into your personal star wisdom today. 

I love this idea that we are born from dirt and stardust, from the earth and the heavens. There is this ancient understanding that the sky mirrors to us what’s happening in our collective and individual lives — as above, so below, they say. The cosmos shows us how we are interconnected: influencing and inspiring each other.

As I’ve learned to follow the movement of the celestial bodies, I’ve discovered there are stories and wisdom written in the stars of what it means to be human together. For me, it’s not so much predictive as it is revelatory. Astrology in its highest form has become another sacred text — another way that Spirit is speaking to us here and now.

For most of us, we only know about our Sun signs, but astrology is so much more than the Sun. In fact, each of us contains the entire solar system. You are home to the whole universe.

Every planet — and the archetypal energy they represent — is within you. Mars the Warrior, Venus the Lover, Mercury the Messenger, Jupiter the Sage, Saturn the Taskmaster, Uranus the Rebel, Neptune the Dreamer, and Pluto the Transformer are inside you. Every energy holds strengths and struggles. Our work is to witness the stressed parts so that each of these energies can thrive within us. 

Likewise, all 12 signs of the zodiac are within you, though each of them play very different roles depending on where they show up in our birth chart. If there is a sign you dislike or resist, it could say something about a part of you that needs your witness and embrace. If there is a sign you adore or aspire to be  more like, it could be that it is indeed beckoning you to befriend it.

I'm here to help you work with these many parts of ourselves. It’s been fascinating to make connections with my coaching clients between the healing work we’ve been doing and how that work shows up in their birth chart. In this way, astrology is an exquisite tool for self-awareness and self-acceptance.

One friend learned her Moon is in Aries, which means taking action helps her feel safe and secure. This insight allowed her to embrace her active lifestyle, and to see that her ambitious productivity wasn't so much a way to avoid her internal life (which is what many of us do), but a way to regulate and sustain it. All her life she heard the message to slow down, rest more, and it never felt right. Now she understands why. I have many more stories like this. It’s an important reminder how we are all uniquely and divinely designed — and how we are called to stay curious and open to other people’s experiences and orientation.

More magic from @SpiritDaughter

Curious about your birth chart magic? To be clear, everyone has a birth chart. Astrologer Chani Nicholas describes it as a snapshot of the sky when we took our first breath. Your birth chart is a map of where all the celestial bodies were located in the sky when you were born. Some say it’s a map of our soul. How beautiful is that?

If you’re a newbie to astrology, the three key signs to explore are your Sun sign, Moon sign and Rising sign:

• your Sun sign signifies where you need to learn to shine and be seen in this life;

• your Moon sign signifies how and where you feel most safe and secure in your body; said another way, how your emotional and physical needs are best met;

• your Rising sign signifies your motivation for living and/or the lens in which you see the world

Learning more about these energies in your birth chart is a great next step to tapping into your soul map. If you don’t know your Sun, Moon or Rising signs, you can find them here: https://chart.chaninicholas.com/. You'll need to know your birthdate, location and exact birthtime. If you want more help understanding what it all means, please reach out to me (I'm a professional Meaning-Maker!).

I'd love to hear from you and learn more about your relationship with the stars. I've included reflection prompts below to guide you in your quest.

SPIRITUALICIOUS REFLECTION PROMPTS

• When you think astrology, what's the first word, feeling and image that come to mind?

• What do you need in order to feel more open to astrology and the wisdom of the stars?

• What excites you and concerns you about learning more about your birth chart?

• Before you look at your birth chart (if you haven't already), write down the following three things. Then share with me your answers, plus your Sun, Moon and Rising signs, and I can help you compare!

  • In what ways do you shine best in your life?

  • What helps you feel emotionally regulated and grounded?

  • What motivates you to most in your life?

Reclaiming our body's wisdom

Hello spiritual companions. This month my intention is to get out of my head, and into my body more. To let her move and feel and play and lead more. To acknowledge her knowing. Will you join me?

The body doesn’t think, it senses. As we pay more attention to our body’s sensations, we’re able to shift from the idea of being alive, to the experience of being alive. This grounds us in the present moment and tunes us into the rhythm and cycles of our environment, the earth, and our own embodied wisdom. We return to where our refuge and agency reside.

“Embodiment is a revolutionary act,” astrologer Divine Harmony recently wrote in her cosmic insight blogpost. She described how so much is happening in the heavens right now (astrologically-speaking) urging us “to love this body now, love this earth now, love what is now.” Not so we can be complacent, but so we can reclaim our body’s wisdom, which for too long has been cast aside. In large part by Christian supremacy.

The Christian story was strongly influenced by the Hellenistic period, which unlike ancient Israel, separated the body and soul. As a result, the mind and soul were elevated—and represented purity, while the body and physical matter (including the earth) were rebuked—and represented impurity.
 
This dualism between body and soul led to the denigration and oppression of women because we were seen as more bodily—women become pregnant, we lactate, menstruate, and otherwise are more attune to our embodied nature. It became so oppressive to women that early Church fathers debated whether or not women even had souls. Later they decided we have souls, but not clear whether or not we could be saved. [Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd]
 
Christian or not, this history saturates our society. Our bodies (and the earth) pay the price: abused, exploited, judged, shamed, ignored, hurting, discarded.
 
It’s why so many of us stay in our heads—it’s not often safe nor comfortable to be in our bodies.
 
It’s why embodiment is a revolutionary act.
A healing invitation.
A divine encounter.

Because we know the truth: Our body is sacred. We are the holy incarnate. The Word made flesh. Spirit lives in us as us.

What does it mean for the Divine to dwell within your body?
How does the Sacred speak to you through your body?
How do you experience the Eternal within your body?

We are called to both heal the trauma and honor the truth in our bodies. So perhaps before you can answer these questions, you need to ask: What do I need in order to feel more safe in my body? What would help me feel more comfortable and at home in my body?
 
I have found yoga to be a practice that gently invites us to witness and welcome our bodies just as they are, which we learn are always changing, never the same from one day to the next. This week I returned to yoga after a long hiatus. It was glorious. My body was buzzing by the end. I started to remember all that yoga has taught me about my body…
 
the body, mind and soul are intimately connected;
our breath can carry us further than our mind can;
how to live among both effort and ease, grounding and stretching, grief and gratitude;
the more flexible my body becomes, the more flexible my life and mind become;
and learning to be still and present in postures teaches me to be more still and present with my thoughts, feelings, and sensations; and thus consciously impact my actions in the moment.
 
What's possible when we witness and welcome our bodies as they are?

Our body speaks to us through our sensations, and behind each one is a story. Learning to listen deeply is how we reclaim our body's wisdom. Remember the body carries both trauma and truth, so come to her with compassion, courage and curiosity. When your belly starts to bloat, or your heart starts to race, or you notice clinched jaws or fists, or an aching head, or a pulsation throughout your body—Ask: What is my body saying to me right now? What is my soul awakening in me? Perhaps it's saying: “Eat less gluten.” or “Love is needed here.” or “Speak your truth.” or “Take a break.” or “You are connected to all living things.” Learning to decipher the body's code is part of what we do in spiritual coaching. See below for a daily practice to help you begin.

Today, this month and for always, may you be in your body more. May you come to know her medicinal power, miraculous beauty and eternal truth.

P.S. My friend shared with me how every day this month she's committing to 5 minutes of "gentle whatever" in her body, like simple stretching. She says once she starts, she always goes longer. I love this! Tell your mind, "just 5 minutes," then let your body really tell you what she needs.

SPIRITUALICIOUS DAILY PRACTICE

BODY SCAN MEDITATION. Our body is full of insight and information. She longs for you to acknowledge her, and a body scan meditation does just that. If you are able, commit to this practice 1-3 times daily for the next week. You can do it seated or lying down. It takes about 5 minutes. Longer of course, if you’d like (especially if you’re Buddhist or practice Vipassanā).

Find a comfortable posture and close your eyes. Take three deep breaths. Choose where to start and slowly scan your entire body. It’s normal for your mind to wander or skip around. If it does, take a deep breath and gently bring the mind back to where you left off.

Notice each part (toes, top of foot, bottom of foot, ankle, etc.) with as much love and care as you are able. Acknowledge these places without judgment. When possible, meet them with curiosity. If and/or when you meet pain or discomfort in your body, be especially gentle with yourself. Send breath to these places. This is a healing invitation: an opportunity to witness your body as it is and practice noticing sensations. Possible sensations to note:

• What is the temperature of your body? Cold? Hot? Sweaty? Shivering?

• What places feel tense or tight?

• What places feel relaxed or open?

• What places ache or feel tender, or tired?

• Do you notice a buzzing or pulsing throughout your body?

• How fast or slow is your heart beating?

• Is your body twitching? Are your eyes dry? Ears ringing? Nose running? Mouth watering?

• How does your body feel in your clothes?

• In general, how do you respond to pleasant and painful sensations?

Anxiety in the air

Are you familiar with adrienne maree brown’s work? She’s a post-nationalist writer, doula, activist, Black feminist, and among the visionaries engaging in “radical futuring.” She’s also the wise soul who said,

“Things are not getting worse,
they are getting uncovered…
what feels new is the unveiling;
the heaviness is the increasing weight of the truth
becoming undeniable as more people believe it.”

Whether you’re an activist, an engaged citizen, or trying to get through the day, there is a collective anxiety in the air. A fear for our safety and children’s future. A panic from the change and uncertainty. A desperate desire to do something to be part of the solution. An overwhelm resulting in paralysis and numbness at the magnitude of the repair and reimagining required.

All of these thoughts and feelings are normal. We are a nation, a world, in the depths of collective healing: the first step is facing what’s been hiding in the shadows (I speak more to this in my post Entering a new era: a solstice sermon).

I know it can feel extremely unsettling. Part of me actually finds it reassuring to know that as painful as this process is, on the other side of it, awaits more beauty, freedom and belonging for everyone.

How then do we handle the weight of these wounds? Honestly, I think the best place to start is right here, right now. Today’s teaching is about the power of returning to the present moment.

The anxiety in the air can trick us into feeling like we're perpetually unsafe. Our nervous systems are likely in fight, flight or freeze mode more times than not. The anxiety in the air can also get us stuck in our heads, somewhere in the past or future or some distant place across the globe — leaving us too often untethered from our embodied reality. There is refuge and agency in returning to the here and now. "The present moment is the safest place to be," a spiritual teacher-friend once wrote.

Let that idea sink in: The present moment is the safest place to be.

One way to return to the present moment is to return to our physical senses. Try it. Take a moment: Really open your eyes, what do you see? Now close your eyes, what sounds do you hear? What smells captivate your nose? What taste lingers in your mouth? Place your hand on your heart, and feel your body. Now ask yourself: “In this moment, am I safe?”

When we come to our senses, we come to Spirit in the here and now, and we remember we are okay. We remember things are not getting worse; they are getting uncovered. We are a nation, a world, in the depths of collective healing. On the other side of this is more beauty, freedom and belonging for everyone. Deep breath.

Here's when our agency arrives.

While the present moment is the safest place to be, it’s also the wisest and most compassionate. It equips us to better understand our role in this moment. When we invite our anxiety and fears to relax by tuning into the present moment, we now have access to everything: not just our mind (which is now more clear), but also our body, heart, and soul, to surrounding nature and the infinite cosmos, to that spiritualicious energy that connects us to all living things, to everything that ever was and ever will be, to eternity. From this sacred place inside each of us, the most loving, efficient, fearless, and generous response can emerge.

May it be so. And may today you touch and taste and hear and see the world right before you. Let this be a gift you offer toward our collective healing.

SPIRITUALICIOUS REFLECTION PROMPTS

Anxiety is so common for so many of us. Yet how well do we know our anxiety? Here's a recent session with a client and how she started to better understand hers. Use the reflection prompts to better understand yours. Reach out to me for a session if you want to work through your anxiety together.

• Working with a client recently, she described this collective anxiety in the air as a heavy cloud sitting on her head. What images come to mind when you are feeling anxious or worried?

• My client said her mind would often spin out about what she should do, place impossible expectations on top of her, and give her unending reasons to feel unsafe. What stories do you tell yourself when you are feeling anxious or worried? Are they true? Can you know for certain if they are true?

• The client then described feelings of powerlessness and anger inside her. What additional feelings emerge when you are feeling anxious or worried?

• She also realized that by being stuck in her head so much of the time, she was missing all the life and opportunities for healing and connection happening right in front of her. What opportunities are you missing in your present life when you’re feeling anxious or worried?

• Understanding how anxiety shows up inside you equips you to more easily call attention to it the next time it appears. When it does, you can both witness it and return to the present moment with a practice. My client chose to place a hand on her heart and say to herself, “I am safe, and my feet are on the ground.” What mindfulness practice do you want to start to relax your anxiety and return to the now?

• It's possible when we engage our practice, some important insight will break through. My client discovered that anxiety cut her off from her body and its wisdom. She committed to more bodywork in her life. When you engage your mindfulness practice, what insights break through for you?

My birthday week!

It’s my birthday week! I love birthdays! I love the fuss, the layered cake, the balloons and confetti, and being surprised. I love that birthday feeling when you wake up that says “Yay, this is my day!” Mostly I love celebrating people! So, in honor of my birthday, will you celebrate YOU this week? I'm totally serious. Here’s what I want…

MY SPIRITUALICIOUS BIRTHDAY WISH

• Declare one day this week YOUR DAY (crowns are optional). Ask yourself: What do I want today? This is not a day for people-pleasing or accommodating or passing the buck on fun decisions. It’s a day to celebrate your particular desires and dreamings. It could be as simple as getting your favorite takeout, or skipping that daily chore you loathe, or making everyone watch your favorite movie (“Hey everybody, it’s time for Sound of Music!”). Of course, it could be bigger and bolder like getting a massage or cocktails with girlfriends or skipping work and taking a day trip!

• Eat layered cake with lots of icing. Okay, if cake isn’t your thing, or icing, (not sure how we could be friends), then choose one other divinely delicious sweet treat to eat! You can share it with others if you’d like.

• Do Keller’s favorite pastime: Reflect on your life. Ask yourself…

  • What moment(s) in your life did you feel most celebrated?

  • Who are the people who help you celebrate you?

  • What about you do you want to be most celebrated for?

  • How does it feel in your body to be celebrated?

Thank you dear companions for joining me on this wildly sacred and wonder-filled journey. Honoring the heart of who we are really makes it all worthwhile. Here's to the next 47 years.

DID YOU MISS ANY POSTS FROM THIS MONTH?

I am creating a curriculum of teachings and practical tools on how to connect with our spiritualicious Self. It's one thing to know the information in your head, it's another to embody it. That's what I offer. How do we DO this invisible, spiritual work in our everyday lives? The first lesson is: SLOW DOWN, DO LESS, REST MORE. In case you missed them, here are this past month's posts diving deeper into these lessons, including storytelling, practices, and reflection prompts.

• Who would you be if your well-being was center stage of your life?

• Working in our invisible world requires that we slow down.

• How is rest the remedy to so many of our problems?

Rest is the remedy

I want to talk about rest. I kinda’ think it’s the missing magic ingredient to most of our problems. Whenever I’m feeling heavy in my body, or super tired, or irritable, or stressed, or confused, or like I don’t want to do something, or that I’m pushing too hard, almost always rest is the remedy.

Ostara Art print by Mother of the Moon

Today is the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring. It’s safe to say we wouldn’t be here without the season of winter, a time to rest and renew. So, before we go planting new seeds this spring, I want to take a moment to honor the fallow, now fertile ground required for new life.

I love rest. I love sleeping. But rest is so much more than sleeping. And doing nothing (though totally necessary).

Rest is anything that relaxes, rejuvenates, and resets your reserves on overflow (see more below).

Rest is countercultural. It’s why many of us have stories about being lazy or earning our rest. These are untrue and must be dismantled.

Rest is actually productive and saves us time. When we listen to our body’s nudging to stop and take a break, we can return to our tasks with more clarity, ease and efficiency. (Even more than that, rest helps us question what we perceive as productive altogether.)

Rest is medicine that repairs and restores. Our inner world is working its magic to heal us: dissolving, processing, integrating everything we’ve consumed from an overstimulated world. Octavia Raheem, author of Pause, Rest, Be, teaches us too, that "transformation requires rest." The more that is shifting in us, and across the globe, the more healing respite we need. When we rest, the soul realigns.

Rest is reunion with your spiritualicious Self. When you put down the thing that feels heavy, hard or tiresome, your sacred wisdom, your invisible superpowers, can shine forth, and lead the way.

Rest is a returning to ourselves ….

I co-lead a women’s monthly Moon Circle and an attendee once said about the group, “I feel like it’s a place where I can rest.” She elaborated: It’s a place where she could lay down any ideas about who she should be, or what she should do; lay down the everyday worries and endless to do list, lay down being poised and polished and personable, lay down the overwhelming pain of our hurting world. It was a place where she could lay it all down and be held.

Rest is an invitation to lay it all down. For a season, or for a moment.

Think about it. Allowing ourselves rest requires that we lay something down: a project, the laundry, the remote control; the masks we wear; a relationship or job that’s run its course, a limiting belief, our worry for the future. What do you need to lay down so you can rest? For a season, or for a moment.

Laying down something so you can rest requires trust. Trust that the world will not fall apart if you stop. Trust that the real you is worthy, safe and loveable. Trust that stepping away is not a waste of time but the time you need to refocus or recommit or reimagine. Trust that you will start again. Trust that you are not doing this work alone, that you belong to a community; and that there is something sacred within you and beyond you eager to co-create with you. What trust is required of you so you can rest? For a season, or for a moment.

When we trust enough to lay something down so we can rest, there is something new waiting for us on the other side. Like the fallow now fertile ground, what newness is possible for you on the other side of rest?

May you find a moment today to place your hand on the ground and a hand on your heart, and thank each of them for their winter rest and springtime possibility.

SPIRITUALICIOUS REFLECTION PROMPTS

While rest is many things, today I invite you to focus on rest as anything that relaxes, rejuvenates, and resets your reserves on overflow. It is the start of spring after all!

Here are examples: Rest to your mind could be a walk at a nearby park. Rest to your heart could be an afternoon of binging your favorite feel-good show. Rest to your body could be a visit to a somatic therapist. Rest from all the heartbreaking news could be reading a romance novel or this week’s astrology forecast. Rest from your daily routine could be a road trip (yes please!).

• What activities in your life relax and rejuvenate you? Write down as many as possible.

• On a scale 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how do you rank yourself on your frequency of doing these activities? If for example, you're a 6, what do you need to move you to an 8?

• Imagine yourself doing one of these activities, how does it help you connect with your sacred, spiritualicious Self?

• What steps can you take to build these activities into your daily, weekly and/or monthly schedule?

Working in the Invisible World

When my life fell apart ten years ago, the first thing that happened is that everything n my life slowed way, way down. Over a course of a few weeks, the very same 1 ½ hour forest hike I took every day turned into a 3-hour meditation walk… My stride began to deepen, feeling the weight of the earth beneath me. Sometimes I’d plant myself on this huge rock that overlooked miles and miles of sky. Other times, I’d stop and rest on a tree stump witnessing the wind, the sun, the birds, the trees, and the voice deep inside.

In this season of emptying out, Life wouldn’t let me rush—It had so much to show me and didn’t want me to miss a thing. Here I thought I was already self-aware: I studied Psychology in undergrad, received a Master’s degree in Divinity, had always been fascinated with how the mind works; and still, there was so much to uncover, to unlearn, to love and let go.

Sufi mystic Rumi calls us to “Work in the invisible world at least as hard as you do the visible.”

I was about to take my deepest plunge yet into the invisible world, and my first lesson was to slow everything down.

Inside each of us is a vast, complex, invisible world. We contain thoughts, feelings, sensations and personas; memories, trauma, and a dreamlife; ancestral lineages, cultural conditioning, and karmic contracts, energy that is eternal. None of it we can see or touch or taste, but it’s absolutely real—and often unconsciously running the show. Until we awaken to it.

In response to the attack on Ukraine, writer Lisa Olivera wrote, “I’m thinking about how many wars begin outside of us because of the wars we wage inside us.” Our visible world is a mirror into our invisible one. It's our job to be brave enough to bear witness to it, so that we wage love and liberation, for ourselves, and for our neighbors, near and far (This is the work we do in spiritual coaching).

My invitation to you today is to take the first step: to slow way down.

When we start to slow down our stride, our breath, our speech, we can shift from living a reactive and habitual life to an authentic and intentional one. Slowing down our lives slows down our minds. When we slow down our minds, we can create a gap between what we’re feeling internally and how we respond to it. We can stop instinctually reacting based on past wounds and old neuropathways, and start being in relationship with whatever is being illuminated. This is the practice of mindfulness.

What habitual things do you say or ways do you react do you want to change? With your relationships, with events, with yourself? Do you want to say no more? Do you want to say yes more? Do you want to react less critically and with more curiosity? Do you want to learn to focus on what you do well, rather than what you do “wrong”? All these shifts require us to slow down, so that our spiritualicious Self has the chance to rise up from within, and lead the way.

When we slow our pace, we can create moments of spaciousness, so that we are able to move through life and work with more ease, enjoyment and purpose. Are you like me who often says, “If I just get this done, then I can relax.”? So, then I spend the whole time doing the thing with edginess in my body, and relaxation feels even further away and more imperative. Working with ease in our busy world can feel impossible at times—It takes intention, practice, planning, and strong boundaries. See practice below for how to begin.

When we slow way down, we build the capacity and ability to listen deeply to what’s buried beneath all the busyness—and tend to it. These are the moments that change us. Not everything inside us shines radiant. Our invisible world is home to so many hurting parts. It’s why many of us keep so busy, right? To manage, avoid, and alleviate the pain. The irony is that the more we try to protect ourselves from the pain, the more we perpetuate it inwardly and project it outwardly. Learning to befriend our pain is key. More on that in a later letter.

For now, what is one action you can take to slow down and tend to your invisible work? See see below for a practice and examples.

May you find a few moments today to let your invisible world dazzle you with its shimmering wisdom and hidden wealth. Trust that whatever it reveals, you are ready to see it.

SPIRITUALICIOUS PRACTICE

Slowing down is hard, especially when you feel like you’re already and always behind. I get it. Here is a powerful practice to help you move with more ease. It takes less than a minute.  

• Identify it. The "staying busy" feeling can show up differently depending on the person. For some, when you're staying busy, you may feel rushed and edgy; for others, you may feel like a flurried excitment, almost like an addictive high. Identify how your "staying busy" feeling shows up in you (btw, this practice is working in the invisible world).

• Notice it. Start to notice throughout the day when that “staying busy" feeling emerges. If you can, identify where you feel it in your body. Making that mind-body-heart connection grounds you in the present moment.

• Witness it. Once you notice the “staying busy" feeling, you can say to it, “Oh I see you. You are that part of me that feels [rushed or excited] right now.” This puts some distance between you and the feeling and perhaps will allow it to relax more. It also starts a relationship between your sacred Self and this "staying busy" feeling. This is where the healing begins.

• Take a deep breath. Once you notice it and witness it, consciously take a deep breath, and if you are able to, slow down whatever you’re doing, if even for a moment. This interrupts the pattern, which is key to change.

• Comfort it. If you’re able to, place your hand on your heart or wherever you feel the “staying busy” feeling in your body, and say to it something like: “Everything is okay.” Keep in mind that this "staying busy" feeling has a story to tell as to why it doesn't want to slow down (more on that later). Reassuring it will perhaps allow it to soften and feel safe, and for both of you to slow down.

• Repeat it. Whenever you notice that "staying busy" feeling emerge, repeat this practice. Don't be surprised if it starts telling you its story.

Here are examples of how to slow down in your every day life.

• How you talk. If you’re a fast-talker or live with one, slow down your speech. You could even say to your family, “Hey, it feels like we’re rushing, could we slow down our conversation? I want to be sure I catch everything.”

• How you eat. The same idea above works if you and/or your family tends to rush through dinner: “Could we slow down our eating and really taste our food?” (I can’t tell you how many times I say this!)

• How you move your body. If you’re a cardio-junkie, that’s great, perhaps switch it up with a more mindful movement like yoga or slow walking.

• How you drive. If you’re one to run yellow lights, try yielding. Signal to your nervous system, that there is no rush; everything is okay. There is plenty of time.

• How you wake up. If you busy your mind in the morning by scrolling social media or emails, consider giving yourself the first hour with no screens.

• How you work. If you vigilantly work nonstop sitting at a computer, set an alarm for a 10-minute stretch break every two hours.

Schedule a complimentary coaching session!

Why I left my job

It’s a wild and courageous thing to live your life in ways that center your well-being. For many of us, our work and financial security occupy that space; as well as our caregiving relationships and everyday responsibilities. Our well-being feels like a luxury, rather than a necessity.

Last autumn I came across this excerpt from Mary Oliver’s poem Wild Geese:

“You do not have to be good…
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”

Mary’s words were a turning for me. Or rather, a returning. I was three years into a part-time social justice position that in the past 1 ½ years since the global pandemic and racial uprisings, had become full-time. Full-time meaning it consumed me to the point of spiritual depletion. The need for justice of course is so great, and our organization’s contribution has been healing for thousands across the nation. But somewhere along the way my well-being suffered.

I slowly began to carve out space to let the soft animal of my body love what it loves. I had forgotten, and it took time to remember. After a while though, I stopped pushing so hard, doing so much, and started settling into being. Oh, how my spiritualicous Self bubbled over with delight!

When we allow ourselves to slow down, do less and just be, we discover what really gives us meaning, brings us joy and sets our hearts on fire. We begin to realize our worth is not wrapped up in what we produce or achieve, but in our well-being.

As much good as I was doing in the world, it became clear that I had to leave my part-time-turn-full-time job. And so, I did. I’ve spent 2022 restructuring my life so that my well-being is center stage.

What does that even mean? It’s different for everyone. For me, it means hearing my inner voice and not just my to do list. It means getting out in nature, feeling the sun on my skin. It means reconnecting with old friends, and making new ones. It means time to let my mind wander with no particular destination. It means being able to notice my body’s energy and responding to it in kind. It means being able to move throughout my day with ease, not because I’m lazy, but because I don’t want to miss a thing. It means returning to you, and to my spiritual coaching, writing and teaching—three years later renewed and ready. What does it mean to you? See below for reflection prompts. And if you (or someone you know) want help restructuring your life with your well-being at the center, please reach out for a coaching session.

May you find a few moments today to bask in your inherent beauty and worth, and may the world be better for it.

SPIRITUALICIOUS REFLECTION PROMPTS

Begin today. Find a pen and paper, or open your computer, or go for a walk, or sip on a cup of tea, and start reflecting on your well-being, and what it means to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

• Who would you be if your well-being was center stage of your life?

• What would you do more of? What would you do less of?

• What or who would you need to grieve?

• What fear would you need to face?

• What old story or belief about your worth and goodness would you need to transform?

Schedule a complimentary coaching session!