How Do Eclipses Affect Astrology?
Every “eclipse season” it feels like all of Instagram loses its mind. But what’s really the deal with eclipses? Are they as scary or as powerful as we might have heard?In this blog, I’ll be demystifying eclipses and sharing how you can use these special cosmic events for your evolution and growth.
Every “eclipse season” it feels like all of Instagram loses its mind. But what’s really the deal with eclipses? Are they as scary or as powerful as we might have heard?
In this blog, I’ll be demystifying eclipses and sharing how you can use these special cosmic events for your evolution and growth.
WHAT ARE ECLIPSES?
There are two types of eclipses: lunar eclipses and solar eclipses. Within those categories, eclipses can be partial, total, or penumbral. Generally, the most powerful and rare eclipses are total eclipses.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which then reflects off the full moon. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun’s rays and casting a shadow on parts of Earth.
ECLIPSES IN PAIRS + ECLIPSE SEASON
Eclipses come in sets—in pairs or sometimes as threes. The time period between a set of eclipses is known as eclipse season. Eclipses always happen along an astrological axis—so a pair of eclipses will always be in one of these sets of signs:
For example, in January of 2019, we had a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn and a total lunar eclipse about two weeks later in Cancer. The period between these eclipses was known as the eclipse season.
Eclipse season is thought to be a time portal, a time of transformation.
HOW TO WORK WITH ECLIPSES
Eclipses are thought to be wild cards, sort of a magnified new moon (for a solar eclipse) or a magnified full moon (for a lunar eclipse). We can think of them as portals for endings and beginnings—things may be “eclipsed out” or “eclipsed in.” It’s typical for births, moves, engagements, new jobs, break-ups, new relationships, and more to happen around eclipses and during eclipse season.
Eclipses are also illuminators, showing the truth that you may have been ignoring or didn’t want to look at. Eclipses will bring these thoughts and feelings to the forefront so that you can’t ignore them anymore and have to look at and work with them.
To see how an eclipse might affect you personally, take a look at your birth chart. Look for the house that will be highlighted by the eclipse—for example, a partial solar eclipse in Capricorn affects my 4th or 5th houses, depending on the degrees of the eclipse.
So if the eclipse affects my 4th house, then I could expect things around the home, family, my inner emotional world, my foundations, safety, security, my mother, and self-care to be coming up.
Generally, eclipses are a really important time to spend time with yourself listening and noticing. Carve out space and time to receive truths, and notice any signs that are pointing you towards releasing something or stepping into something new.
Some practitioners like to work big magic on eclipses. Others, like myself, find that eclipses are a better time for listening and noticing than doing spells. Notice how eclipses feel to you and follow what feels right! If you feel called to, you can check out this card spread for eclipse season.
Our next eclipses are happening on July 2nd, 2019 (a total solar eclipse in Cancer) and July 16th, 2019 (a partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn).
For the eclipse in Cancer, take a look at what house Cancer rules in your birth chart. Same thing for the Capricorn eclipse!
Overall, eclipses aren’t something to be scared of. Like every cosmic event, they’re not here to hurt us—they’re here to help us grow and evolve. Know that anything that releases during an eclipse or anything you step into on an eclipse is furthering your path and purpose.
Understanding Your North Node
A birth chart, also called a natal chart, is a snapshot of the sky and all its planets at the moment you were born. A few factors play into your birth chart—the time and day you were born and the location you were born at. With just this bit of information, the cosmos can reveal truths about your personality, your life path, and how to get the most out of this lifetime.
A birth chart, also called a natal chart, is a snapshot of the sky and all its planets at the moment you were born. A few factors play into your birth chart—the time and day you were born and the location you were born at. With just this bit of information, the cosmos can reveal truths about your personality, your life path, and how to get the most out of this lifetime.
[To learn more about birth charts and download your own free printable chart, click here.]
One key to understanding your birth chart is the north node (also called the true node) and the corresponding south node. In this blog, I’m going to share how the nodes can help you understand your life’s purpose. Keep scrolling to read on!
WHAT ARE THE NODES?
Unlike most of the placements you’ll see in your chart like your moon sign, Venus sign, or sun sign, the nodes aren’t planets or asteroids. Rather, they’re mathematical points based on the moon—hence, why they’re also called lunar nodes.
THE NORTH NODE
The north node, or the true node, shows us the path that’s calling us. It shows us the terrain we’re invited to cross in this lifetime, our purpose, our truth. It’s the way that we’re being asked to involve in this lifetime on planet Earth. In short and sweet terms, I like to think of it as our life’s purpose.
THE SOUTH NODE
Although I won’t focus on the south node in this blog post, you can’t talk about the north node without mentioning the south node! If the north node is our invitation for this life, the south node shows what we’ve brought into this life from past lives.
Our south node reveals what we’re already good at, what we’ve mastered in past lives. It’s a place where we feel comfortable and connect with a sense of belonging. It’s always in the polar sign of our north node, so even though most astrological charts don’t specify where the south node is, you can find it easily.
For example, my north node is in Scorpio in the third house. So I know that my south node is in Taurus, Scorpio’s polar sign, in the ninth house, the polar house of the third house!
The idea of the south node isn’t to transcend it or leave it behind but to find a way to bring it into your journey with your north node.
THE NORTH NODE IN EACH SIGN
Below you’ll find a brief overview of what the north node in each sign may mean. Keep in mind that mixing your own intuition with this information is where you’ll get the most powerful insight!
If you don’t know where your north node is yet, head over to astro.com or Cafe Astrology to get your free chart.
ARIES NORTH NODE
Aries energy is like a match (think Ace of Wands in the tarot!). It’s the emergence after winter, the birth of spring, the charging forth and bringing forth of new ideas. If your north node is in Aries, this lifetime is about bringing your fiery, passionate, bold ideas into the world. It’s about being a pioneer, a soul-centered warrior, for love and justice.
TAURUS NORTH NODE
With a north node in Taurus, you are learning how to manifest beauty, money, and creativity on the physical plane. Taurus is a sign that appreciates pleasure, love, and beauty and is masterful at manifesting material value. This can be a lifetime of learning what you value and how to create it without getting caught up in worthiness blocks.
GEMINI NORTH NODE
If you have your north node in Gemini, you are here to connect, to relate, to communicate. You are here with a message, you’re here with words you need to share with people, and you’re here to step into and share wisdom.
CANCER NORTH NODE
Cancer is our cardinal water sign, ruled by the moon. It’s a sign that’s all about home, the past, our ancestors, and nourishing and caretaking. If your north node is in Cancer, in this lifetime you are learning how to nourish and caretake yourself, to create a safe space for yourself—and then, for everyone else, too.
You may find yourself drawn to working with your ancestors, to healing ancestral and karmic patterns, and to use your emotions to connect with those around you.
LEO NORTH NODE
With a Leo north node, your focus is on learning how to express yourself and how to take up space. With a south node in Aquarius, you may feel more comfortable in the background or as part of the group.
Your Leo north node is inviting you to step into your power and magic as an individual, empower yourself to express yourself fully (particularly in creative endeavors), and take up space with pride and love.
VIRGO NORTH NODE
Virgo is a sign of devotion, of service, of healing. With a north node in Virgo, you are here to heal. You’re here to “build a vessel of love” as astrologer Heidi Rose Robbins says. Your path in this life is one of service, of devoting yourself to healing, of bringing forth unconditional love.
LIBRA NORTH NODE
If you have a Libra north node, this lifetime is about finding balance between self and others. You are learning how to come into the right relationship with someone else without giving up your power, becoming codependent, or abandoning yourself just to make peace.
This can also be a beautiful and deep path of justice! Libra, the scales, is a sign traditionally associated with the law, judges, and courtrooms. That may not be your path specifically, but a Libra north node can be a journey of creating more justice in this lifetime—for yourself and for all.
SCORPIO NORTH NODE
With a north node in Scorpio, you may be stepping into your power and gifts as a practitioner of the occult—a tarot reader, energy worker, or psychospiritual practitioner of some kind. But in the bigger picture, a Scorpio north node is often about learning how to transform. The tarot card ruled by Scorpio is Death, so you are learning how to shed the snakeskin, step into new parts of your identity, and get comfortable with transformation and change in this lifetime.
SAGITTARIUS NORTH NODE
With a Sagittarius north node, you are here to inspire! You’re here to inspire others with your gorgeous mutable fire, your actions, your freedom, your vision, the way you live. Connect with your big vision and live it out to fulfill your life’s purpose. In doing so, you’ll inspire the collective to do the same.
CAPRICORN NORTH NODE
With a Capricorn north node, you are here to climb the mountain and to lead. Capricorn is probably our most hardworking sign, symbolized by the mountain goat. Your charge in this lifetime is to live with purpose, to own your leadership, and to show the way for others to climb the mountain behind you.
AQUARIUS NORTH NODE
Aquarius, ruled by Uranus, is a sign that’s about authenticity and innovation. With a north node in Aquarius, you are here to step into your soul’s authenticity and create the next world for all. To innovate, to change, to awaken self and others so that we can create a new age of peace and unity on Earth. A big mission indeed!
PISCES NORTH NODE
Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and is said to encompass the energy of all the other signs. If your north node is in Pisces, your path in this lifetime is to heal and offer universal compassion to yourself and to all of humanity. It’s an invitation to keep your heart opening, opening, opening even when it feels hard and it might be easier to close it off from feeling.
Your north node will also be impacted by the house it’s in, but that’s a post for another day. If you’d like to dive deeper into your north node, I recommend checking out Jan Spiller’s famous book, Astrology for the Soul.
How to Create a Crystal Grid in 7 Steps
Whether you’re trying to manifest more self-love, a vacation, or a new job, crystal grids can help! Crystal grids can be as simple or complex as you make them and a simple grid can be just as powerful at helping you manifest your goals as a complex one. Think of a crystal grid as your manifesting ally! It may not be the only tool you use to manifest your desires, but it can certainly help.
Whether you’re trying to manifest more self-love, a vacation, or a new job, crystal grids can help! Crystal grids can be as simple or complex as you make them and a simple grid can be just as powerful at helping you manifest your goals as a complex one. Think of a crystal grid as your manifesting ally! It may not be the only tool you use to manifest your desires, but it can certainly help.
There are just a few necessary steps you need to follow to create a crystal grid. First, let’s briefly discuss why crystal grids work.
Why Crystal Grids Work
Crystals are formed from perfect geometric patterns and this is one reason why crystals are such a powerful healing tool! The perfect geometry within crystals makes them an ideal energy conduit and easily programmable. By placing several crystals in a repeating grid format, you will amplify their power. Using sacred geometry as a grid template for your crystals adds another layer of perfect geometric patterns to help better communicate your intentions.
If those reasons seem a little too out there for you, view crystal grids as a beautiful reminder of your intention. The most important part of manifesting your desires is visualizing what you want daily, and your crystal grid will serve as a reminder to do just that.
7 Steps to Create a Crystal Grid
1. Set an intention
Your intention for your grid is your starting place and will lay the foundation for everything else you choose for your grid. Get quiet and breathe for a few minutes so you can gain complete clarity about what it is you want. Don’t play small; you deserve everything you desire! Once you’ve set an intention for your grid, you can start selecting your grid format and crystals.
2. Select your grid format
Sacred geometry is an ideal format for crystal grids because it is symmetrical and each symbol carries unique energy that will help amplify your intention. To learn more about sacred geometry click here. Several different sacred geometry symbols can be used, here’s a list of the most common ones and the categories they’re best suited for:
Vesica Piscis: Birth, femininity, sexuality, new beginnings, new projects
Seed of Life: Inspiration, potential, chakras, creativity, growth
Flower of Life: Community, connection, love, communication, partnerships, intuition
Metatron’s Cube: Cleansing, clearing, balancing, energy, chakras, healing
Sri Yantra: Balance, male energy, feminine energy, meditation, connection to Source Energy
3. Select your crystals
Now, the fun part! Let’s select your crystals. A pointed crystal will work well for the center stone, and tumbled crystals work well for the secondary crystals that will radiate around the center stone. You don’t need 50 crystals to have a grid that works. Even if you have one center stone and a handful of quartz, you can make an effective crystal grid. Clear quartz is your crystal grid bestie because it is ideal for all intentions, easily programmable, and super amplifying. I suggest using three different stones to strengthen your intention with the addition of five or more pieces of clear quartz.
A quick google search of “crystals to help with ________” will go a long way! However, here are some common crystals and the purposes they’re best suited for:
Amethyst: Intuition, calm, peace
Citrine: Abundance, joy, happiness
Sodalite: Creativity, expression, communication
Quartz: Balance, health, cleansing
Rose Quartz: Self-love, compassion, friendship
Carnelian: Sex, creativity, birth
Green Aventurine: New beginnings, wealth, growth
4. Cleanse your tools and space
Cleanse your crystals, any other tools you’ll be using, and the space you’re creating your grid in. You don’t want any lingering bad juju playing a role in your manifesting! Cleanse with an herbal smoke of your choice, cleanse under the light of the full moon, or envision a bright white light cleansing your space and tools.
5. Set your grid up
You’ll want to place your center stone first. You can base your center stone selection on a few things, like a stone that best matches your intentions, the largest stone, or a crystal you have a personal affinity for. Next, place your other stones radiating out around the center stone in a balanced format. As you place each stone visualize your end goal of what you’d like to manifest.
6. Activate your grid
Think of activating your grid as turning on the lights. You’ve set everything up, and now it’s showtime! There’s more than one way to activate your grid. The simplest method is to close your eyes and imagine the energy of all of your crystals connecting and communicating your desires to the universe. To see more techniques and detailed information on activating your crystal grid click here.
7. Be present with your grid daily
Don’t just set it and forget it! Make sure to take a few quiet moments every day to connect with your grid. Connecting with your grid daily will allow you to visualize your desires and goals.Leave your grid up for a complete moon cycle, or longer if you’d like. If it does start to attract dust give it a light clean to prevent the energy from stagnating. Find a free printable crystal grid template here.
Accessing Energy Through Metatron's Cube
Sacred geometry is beautiful but knowing how to use it in your spiritual practice isn’t always obvious. Metatron’s Cube is an excellent example of a complicated-looking sacred shape that has rather practical uses. First, let’s break down this shape and discuss who Metatron is, then I’ll share some ways to start using this symbol in your spiritual practice.
Sacred geometry is beautiful but knowing how to use it in your spiritual practice isn’t always obvious. Metatron’s Cube is an excellent example of a complicated-looking sacred shape that has rather practical uses.
First, let’s break down this shape and discuss who Metatron is, then I’ll share some ways to start using this symbol in your spiritual practice.
Who is Metatron?
This sacred symbol is named after Archangel Metatron. He is considered the scribe of God or Source Energy and his cube is responsible for protecting and balancing the flow of energy from Source to the physical realm. Metatron’s story also aligns with the story of Thoth, the Egyptian scribe.
What is Metatron’s Cube?
Metatron’s Cube is comprised of 13 circles that are all touching; this shape is called The Fruit of Life (shown below). To create the cube, straight lines are drawn from the center of each circle that connects to the center of all of the other circles.
Metatron’s cube also contains the five platonic solids, which represent the five elements (earth, air, water, fire, and spirit) and are the geometric building blocks of the universe. This topic is a blog post for another day!
How to Use Metatron’s Cube
Because Metatron’s cube protects the flow of energy, it is an ideal tool to use for cleansing, protecting, and accessing more energy. Here are three ways to use Metatron’s Cube.
Protection
Because Archangel Metatron and his cube control the flow of energy they also protect it. This symbol has long been associated as a symbol of protection. The easiest way to start using this symbol is to use it for protection.
Start by placing it in an area where you desire your energy or the energy of a space to be protected. When you place the symbol, imagine Archangel Metatron enveloping the space in a protective shield of white light.
Energy Clearing Grid
If you feel like your energy or the energy of your home are stale and need a refresh, try using Metatron’s Cube for a cleansing crystal grid!
Download a printable sheet of Metatron’s Cube for a crystal grid here.
To create your grid collect the following stones.
Clear quartz for cleansing and amplifying, 6 or more pieces
Selenite for cleansing and purifying, 1 large piece
Amethyst for cleansing emotions, 1 or more pieces
Kyanite for connecting you with Metatron’s cleansing energy, 1 or more pieces
Smokey Quartz to ground and protect you and your space, 1 or more pieces
Cleanse your stones with a herbal wand or any other cleansing tool you prefer before you begin your grid. With your stones and Metatron’s Cube shape ready, close your eyes, quiet your mind, breathe, and call on Archangel Metatron to help cleanse your space through the help of your crystal grid.
Place the piece of selenite in the center of the grid, the quartz crystals in the six outer circles, and any remaining crystals where you feel called to place them on the grid. Imagine yourself and your space being cleansed as you place each stone on your grid. Thank Archangel Metatron for helping you to cleanse yourself and your space.
Keep your grid up for as long as you’d like and try to make contact with it daily for as long as it is up.
Energizing Meditation
Metatron’s Cube can also be used as a means to connect with Archangel Metatron to balance and amplify the energy throughout your chakra system. Meditating on Metatron’s Cube is a great way to access this energy.
Follow this guide to perform this meditation.
Find a comfortable sitting position.
Place an image of Metatron’s Cube in front of you on the floor so you can gaze at it as you meditate. Click here to receive the free download of Metatron's Cube.
Close your eyes, breathe, center yourself.
Call on Archangel Metatron to assist you in your meditation. Ask him to help cleanse, balance, and amplify your chakra system.
Open your eyes and continue your meditation as you gaze at Metatron’s Cube.
You may feel a buzzing up your spine as your chakra system wakes up and that’s ok. If you don’t, that’s ok too! You may also want to envision each of your chakras glowing and brightening in order up your spine.
Stay in your meditation for as long as you’d like. Before you end, thank Archangel Metatron for assisting you.
I hope you feel more equipped to start using Metatron’s Cube in your practice!
The Birthplace of Sacred Geometry // What is the Vesica Piscis?
The Vesica Piscis symbol is comprised of two overlapping circles that form an almond shape in the center, also called a “mandorla.” Though the coming together of these circles may look simple, and possibly remind you of fun times in middle school filling out Venn diagrams, its meaning is profoundly powerful.
The Vesica Piscis symbol is comprised of two overlapping circles that form an almond shape in the center, also called a “mandorla.” Though the coming together of these circles may look simple, and possibly remind you of fun times in middle school filling out Venn diagrams, its meaning is profoundly powerful.
Vesica Piscis translates to “bladder of the fish” in Latin, this not so flattering or mystical name was given to it due to its similar appearance to a fish bladder. The Italian phrase “mandorla,” or almond, refers to the shape created in the center.
Mathematically speaking, this simple shape is the starting place of very complex geometry. The circles have the same radius and intersect in such a way that the perimeter of each circle touches the center of the other. The almond shape created by the overlapping circles contains two equilateral triangles. For more on the mathematics of this shape, exciting as it may be, you’ll need to do your own research! From here on out I’ll be focusing on the significance, meaning, and uses of this sacred symbol.
Let’s dig into the significance of this symbol and even more important, how you can put it to use in your spiritual practice.
Where did it come from?
The Vesica Piscis was formed first in nature, but when it was first identified by humans as a significant shape is still up for debate. Beyond nature, this shape can be found in paintings of Christ and Buddha, modern-day logos like Coco Chanel, crop circles, and ancient and contemporary architecture. It is also the starting place of the Seed of Life and the Flower of Life. If you missed my blog on these two basic sacred geometry symbols, you could learn more about them here.
Like most sacred geometry, there’s a lot of speculation about the origin(s) and meaning(s) of the Vesica Piscis. Because this symbol is found in so many places, it’s hard to pinpoint where it originated. Many, myself included, believe this simple symbol found all throughout history and nature has a divine source.
What does it mean?
Because the Vesica Piscis symbol shows up so often in nature and human history there are varying meanings associated with it. One thing most people can agree on is that it is a significant symbol.
Some view the Vesica Piscis as a Christian symbol due to its similarities to the “Jesus fish.” It also mimics the shape of the female vagina and is therefore viewed as a symbol of femininity, birth, and sexuality.
From a spiritual viewpoint, if we recognize the circle on its own as Source Energy (God or Goddess, whichever you prefer), the Vesica Piscis represents creation or the “womb of The Universe.” Think of a single circle as a Source of Energy, adding a second circle represents the spark of creation when the universe is born. This idea is enforced by its similarities to the shape of the vagina, the starting place of birth on a human level. It is enforced again by the fact that it is the starting place of most sacred geometry.
This is why for many, the Vesica Piscis symbol is considered very sacred. On a spiritual level, it represents creation, birth, and the joining of spiritual and physical. Take this a step further, and without the Vesica Piscis, sacred geometry would not exist, and we would not exist.
How can you use this symbol?
Here are a few ways to bring this cosmic symbol into your practice and honor its sacred meaning.
Represent Goddess Energy
The almond shape of the Vesica Piscis mirrors the form of the female yoni. If you’re trying to call in more feminine energy or connect to Goddess energy place an image of or create the shape of the Vesica Piscis on your altar. Placing this symbol in an area you use often can uplift the space and bring in more feminine energy. Try enhancing the shape by adorning your space with other symbols and objects that represent femininity like a cowrie shell, carnelian, rose quartz, or roses.
Crystal Grid for Manifesting & Birth
Fortunately, the Vesica Piscis is a simple shape that lends itself to easy crystal gridding! Due to its simplicity, you may not need a diagram, but if you’d like one try drawing the shape or printing one online. I used a Seed of Life grid and formed the grid on one of the Vesica Piscis shapes within it, shown in the image below. Otherwise, arrange your crystals in an almond shape and add any crystal embellishments you desire.
Crystal grids that focus on new beginnings, birthing new projects, physical birth, or manifesting new things into existence are ideal, but not limited to, for the Vesica Piscis. Here’s a list of stones you could use for grids of this nature. Use the ones that best suit your needs and feel free to add more of your own!
Citrine for manifesting
Amethyst for connecting to Source Energy
Pyrite or tiger eye for luck
Green aventurine for abundance
Carnelian for femininity and physical birth
Clear quartz for amplifying
Connecting with Source Energy
Many believe that the two circles in the Vesica Piscis represent the physical world and the spiritual world, thus creating a portal from one to the other when they overlap to form the Vesica Piscis. If you’re trying to connect to the energy of the spirit world to become more enlightened or to improve your intuition, try meditating on this symbol as you work.
I hope you feel more connected to this powerful symbol and sacred geometry as a whole! Learn more about sacred geometry and find tools to create your own crystal grids in The Goddess Discovery Book.
Four Abundance Rituals
Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!
Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!
ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID
Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.
Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.
You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.
As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.
After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!
ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG
Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:
Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon
10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)
A knob of ginger
Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine
Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.
Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!
ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK
You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:
Green candle
Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.
Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine
Patchouli or frankincense oil
Coins or money
Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.
For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.
Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.
Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.
You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.
Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.
ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD
Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.
Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit
When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:
What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?
How to release this belief system or pattern
How to open myself up to greater abundance
My mantra for calling in abundance
Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!
Aura Crystals // Are they real and do they help?
Crystal purist or not, you can’t deny how stunning aura crystals are. So, what’s the deal with them? Are they real and what are their benefits? I’m going to demystify aura crystals for you today. Let’s dive into the big question first.
Crystal purist or not, you can’t deny how stunning aura crystals are. So, what’s the deal with them? Are they real and what are their benefits? I’m going to demystify aura crystals for you today. Let’s dive into the big question first.
Are they real?
Yes and no. Aura crystals are enhanced crystals. The crystals themselves are real, or at least they should be, and the rainbow coating on the outside is a human enhancement. Genuine aura crystals are enhanced with metal, so the entire aura crystal itself is comprised of components from Mother Earth. Think of it as modern-day alchemy.
How are they made?
There are a couple of techniques, but all of the methods used to create real aura crystals involve coating a crystal with a very thin layer of metal. The metal coatings range from gold, silver, titanium, niobium, indium, and cobalt. Each metal will enhance the crystal differently with different colors.
Some aura crystals, like aqua aura, are heated and placed in a vacuum where the metal vapor is bonded to the crystal. Aura crystals that undergo this technique can be weakened in the process making them brittle, so be extra careful with them. Other aura crystals, like rainbow aura, also called titanium aura don’t involve heat leaving the crystal more intact.
Here are the metals used for different aura crystal varieties:
Angel aura: silver and platinum
Aqua aura: gold
Opal aura: platinum
Flame aura: titanium and niobium
Rainbow aura or Titanium Rainbow aura: gold and titanium
The high price tag on some of these crystals might make a little more sense now.
Fake aura crystals?
Now, there are some crystals on the market being touted as aura crystals that are not the real deal. These crystals are sometimes called “jelly crystals” but sometimes they’re marketed as aura crystals and still come with a high price tag. These wannabe aura crystals are beautiful but undergo a very different, and less expensive process. Jelly crystals are coated with Teflon and dyes. Not quite as glamorous. How can you spot these fakes?
Look for brighter more fluorescent colors
Notice if the aura coating forms a pattern on the crystal
Jelly crystals will appear unnaturally glossy and smooth to the touch
The coating might not cover the edges of the crystal
Jelly crystals are real crystals underneath the coating, so if you find one you love, go for it! I just don’t want you to pay a super high price for something labeled as an aura crystal that isn’t. Also, Teflon is definitely a person-made component that doesn’t have the greatest reputation, but as long as you’re not licking it or adding it to your bath, you can enjoy these colorful crystals too.
What are the healing properties of aura crystals?
Because aura crystals are genuine crystals coated in metals from Gaia, you’ll receive the benefits of the crystal itself and the metals used to cover it. Furthermore, the gorgeous colors produced in aura crystals can be used to focus on specific chakras. Because most aura crystals contain a rainbow effect, they’re especially good for balancing the chakra system. This may be why so many feel that aura crystals have a very uplifting effect.
Some crystal purists believe the aurafying process can hinder the healing benefits of the crystal, especially the processes that involve heat, but many believe it enhances the healing benefits of the crystal.
Personally, I love having aura crystals around and do feel quite attuned to them. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how you feel about these crystals!
How to Tap Into Your Resiliency (And Why You Should)
Resiliency is about your comeback rate.It’s not about never getting knocked down, or dropping into fear, or letting your ego drive the car. It’s about how fast you can come back: to joy, to love, to trust, to who you really are.Because we’re all humans, and life can be really messy. Sometimes things happen to us, sometimes we hurt people, and sometimes we forget our divine nature.
Resiliency is about your comeback rate.
It’s not about never getting knocked down, or dropping into fear, or letting your ego drive the car. It’s about how fast you can come back: to joy, to love, to trust, to who you really are.
Because we’re all humans, and life can be really messy. Sometimes things happen to us, sometimes we hurt people, and sometimes we forget our divine nature.
That’s where resiliency comes in. Resiliency is here to bring you back to trust when bad situations happen, to bring you back to love when fear starts to take over—even stronger and wiser than before, with an even deeper and more meaningful connection with yourself.
You may have heard before that you can only go into joy and pleasure as deep as you’ve gone into your pain. This is a necessary part of living and an important part of your spiritual practice. But that doesn’t mean you have to or even can live there.
Think of the moment you connect with your resiliency and come back to joy as the Temperance card in the tarot. You’ve been through death, but you’ve come through it into the magic of rebirth, of stillness, of calm. There are still more challenges ahead (the Devil card is next) but you can know that and still be in a place of Temperance.
Scroll down to get some tips to help you tap into your own resiliency and strengthen that connection.
Lean on your community.
You don’t have to do it alone. Who are the people you trust to tell it like it is, lifts you up, and not judge you? Whether it’s your mom, a close friend, or your sister, don’t be afraid to call on that person or those people to help you when you need it.
Look for the lesson or greater meaning.
You don’t have to believe that everything happens for a reason. But look for the greater meaning or lesson in whatever it is you’re going through— and if you can’t see it yourself, ask your community to help you find it.
I find that the tarot is an incredible tool for this. Each card of the Major Arcana is a step on the journey to the World, a card of wholeness and joy.
Try laying out each of the Major Arcana cards in front of you and asking yourself which card you’re in.
Are you dealing with a shedding of your former self, of parts of your life? Maybe you’re in Death.
Are past hurts keeping you in fear? Maybe you’re in the Fool reversed.
Each card can help you realize which lesson you’re learning right now. Once you pick your card, look at its place in the journey. See the greater context of where you’re heading—to the vibrant energy of the Sun, to the wild juicy feminine of the Moon, to the wholeness of the World.
Why do you do what you do in the world?
Whatever your greater purpose is, connect with that and remember that you are on this planet for a reason. You are here to bring forth what only you can bring forth, and the world needs.
So rest, feel your feelings, go through what you’re going through, and know that ultimately you will get through it because you are here to fulfill your greater purpose.
Connect with your intuition.
Is this ever not the answer? Connecting with your intuition can help you see the greater meaning in what you’re going through. It can help you know when you need to reach out for support and who to reach out to. It can help you know the best path to take forward.
If you’re feeling blocked, one simple thing you might like to do is ask your oracle or tarot cards, “What message does my intuition have for me right now?”
Get more tips to connect with your intuition in this post.
Find what makes you feel good.
When you feel stressed, upset, or you’re going through a difficult time, what are some simple things that help you feel better? Think about what they are for you (use the list below to spark your creativity) and write them down on a piece of paper that you can return to when things aren’t easy. Some ideas are:
Dancing
Doing yoga
Rubbing your feet with oils
FaceTiming that friend or family member who always knows what to say
Reading your favorite book
Spending more time alone
Spending more time with people you care about
Taking a walk
Playing a singing bowl
Listening to an inspiring podcast
Eating your favorite meal
Being held
Drinking a cup of tea
Receiving energy healing
Journaling
This is going to be super unique for everyone, so think about what it is for you!
Move your body.
You’ve probably heard a yoga teacher talk about how what you do on your mat is a mirror for life: what you do when it gets hard, how you talk to yourself, how you move through transitions.
It turns out, even science knows that’s true. The researchers who wrote the book Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges actually found that the most resilient people in their studies had exercised regularly.
It turns out, that the stress of exercise helps us adapt to the stress of life challenges. So however you like to move, whether it’s yoga, running, weightlifting, dancing, jumping rope, or something else, try to make it a regular part of your life. It will actually help you be more resilient!
10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy
How is a society that’s stuck in the patriarchy able to find balance? The answer lies in you. The answer lies in one person at a time increasing their Shakti energy.I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Shakti” before but do you know how to tap into this creative life force that is the personification of feminine energy? I’m going to share what this term means with you, but more importantly, how you can increase your own Shakti to help our world find balance. First, let’s dive a little deeper into what and who Shakti is.
How is a society that’s stuck in the patriarchy able to find balance? The answer lies in you. The answer lies in one person at a time increasing their Shakti energy.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Shakti” before but do you know how to tap into this creative life force that is the personification of feminine energy? I’m going to share what this term means with you, but more importantly, how you can increase your own Shakti to help our world find balance. First, let’s dive a little deeper into what and who Shakti is.
What is Shakti
Shakti is life, death, rebirth, destruction, and creation. Shakti energy is the divine feminine force coursing through the cosmos and all aspects of our reality. She is the ultimate Goddess and the creative energy behind all Goddesses. Even though Shakti is a divine feminine force, it is present in all life forms, male and female, though it may be repressed in some. The balancing force to Shakti is Shiva or masculine energy.
Who is Shakti
Shakti is referred to as the “Mother Goddess” in Hinduism. She is the Goddess that guides all other Goddesses. Shakti is represented in the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Kali. Each Goddess utilizes Shakti energy differently and can be called upon for different purposes.
Kundalini Shakti
If you’re familiar with Kundalini energy, then you have probably heard the term Shakti used here as well. Kundalini Shakti refers to the idea that every being has Shakti energy coiled up at the base of their spine, waiting to be awakened. You may have already had a Kundalini awakening and not even known about it! That’s another blog post for a different day though!
Here are ten simple ways to increase your Shakti. Warning! Shakti energy is INTENSE. Be mindful of this as you practice the following suggestions. Build in some time to ground yourself after practicing any of these exercises and if it feels like too much, take a break for a few days.
10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy
1. Activate your sacral chakra
Your sacral chakra is your hub of creativity and feminine energy. This chakra is located below your belly button and above your pubic bone. Imagine it glowing orange with each inhale and exhale to awaken it. Learn more about activating your sacral chakra in this blog post.
2. Tap into the water element
The water element represents femininity, so it’s the element to focus on to increase your Shakti energy. Let the water element wash over you, literally, by taking a soothing bath. Learn more about yoga poses for the water element here and ways to represent the water element here.
3. Meditate, meditate, meditate
Meditation in and of itself will help increase your Shakti energy (check out guided meditations here) but here’s a technique to give it an extra boost. Visualize your Shakti energy coiled up like a snake at the base of your spine. With each breath visualize this snake-like energy uncoiling and traveling through each chakra, lighting it up and cleansing it along its path. Continue until you reach the crown chakra. This meditation can be very intense and energizing, allow ample time to calm and ground yourself afterward.
4. Call on Kali, Durga, or Parvati
Remember the three Hindu Goddesses I mentioned above? Kali, Durga, and Parvati represent Shakti in Hinduism, calling on any of them can bring some extra Shakti into your life. Each Goddess will bring a different kind of energy. Parvati is a Goddess of love, Durga is a warrior Goddess, and Kali is the destroyer who ultimately brings balance. Learn more about connecting with Kali here. Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.
Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.
5. Follow the Moon
The moon has long been associated with divine Goddess energy due to its correlation with our menstrual cycles and the Triple Goddess. Try charting your cycle or journaling with the moon to connect to this moon energy. Learn more about the Triple Goddess symbol here and more about rituals for every moon phase here.
7. Get in touch with your shadow side
The imbalance of Shakti in our society is a direct reflection of our own imbalances. We so often focus only on our light, while directly under the surface our shadow side is seething. Take time to explore your light and dark to find balance within yourself. Learn more about shadow work here.
8. Practice the Shakti mudra
Guess what? There’s a mudra dedicated to Shakti! Try using this mudra during meditation or your yoga practice to increase your Shakti. Breathe deeply and focus on Shakti rising from the base of your spine.
9. Yoga asana practice
Let’s jump straight to the obvious here, Goddess pose. Remember when I said Kundalini aka Shakti energy is coiled at the base of your spine? Any pose that helps activate the base of your spine can help get your Shakti flowing, and Goddess pose certainly does this! Try to work different variations of this pose into your yoga practice or any postures that activate the sacral and root chakra.
10. Breathe Deep
Prana, your breath or life force, is Shakti. Any focused breathing can help increase your prana and therefore your Shakti energy. If you’re not familiar with any pranayama techniques, start with a three-part breath. Inhale, filling your lower belly with air first, then your middle section, and last your chest. Exhale in the reverse order. Practice this three-part breath 5-10 times and notice how you feel after you’re done. If you’re familiar with different pranayama techniques, try adding one into your practice daily. You can learn more about breathwork here.
You might find that you’re already practicing some of these things regularly. If you’re not, don’t stress! No need to start implementing all of them right away, in fact, I wouldn’t recommend it. Start small and start with the tips that sound most appealing to you. Learn more about your chakras system, the moon phases, and more in The Goddess Discovery Book.
When’s The Best Day For Your Ritual? // Days of The Week & Magick
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.
Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
Each day of the week carries the energy of a planet, an element, and masculine or feminine energy. These factors give each weekday its magickal energy. Here’s a rundown of the energy each day of the week carries.
Want to adorn your space with a beautiful reminder of the energy of each day of the week? Click here to receive the printable featured below!
Sunday
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Growth, personal power, goals
Get excited! Sunday is your day to plan big and expect to conquer all of your goals. This is the perfect day to set the wheels in motion for anything you’d like to accomplish in the week ahead. Set up your special altar, start your candle spell, or place your crystal grid on Sunday to get the energy of your intentions set in the right direction.
Monday
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Intuitive work, increased psychic abilities, emotion
Want to hone your intuitive abilities or connect with spirit on a deeper level? Monday is your day. If you’re planning to do a ritual with the moon, try to implement it on a Monday for an extra boost of moon vibes. Save your special oracle or tarot card readings for Monday to connect with the special intuitive energy it brings.
Tuesday
Planet: Mars
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Strength, courage, leadership
Invoke your inner warrior on Tuesday because this day is all about fire and intensity. Feeling stuck or need some inspiration? Try a ritual or spell to light your internal fire on this day. Maybe you just need an extra boost of energy, try lighting an orange candle on a Tuesday. The strong fire energy of the day can help give you the boost you need.
Wednesday
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Creativity, change, communication
This is your day to express yourself. Let your words, needs, and desires flow freely from you. Have you been holding back with someone, not letting them know how you really feel? Try to schedule your hardest convos on Wednesdays. Have a spell or ritual based around making a big change that requires you to speak up? Wednesday is your day.
Thursday
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Abundance, wealth, success
Smile, Thursdays are all about happiness and harvesting your desires. Save all of your abundance rituals for this day to take advantage of Thursday vibes. Whether it’s money, a new house, or an abundance of friends you’re looking for if you’re looking to multiply something in your life this is the day you’ll want to plan your magick work for.
Friday
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Love, romance, fertility
Friday is the perfect time to slow down and offer some love to yourself or another. Try drawing a luxurious bath for yourself and lighting a pink candle to invite more love into your life. If you desire to have a baby, Fridays are the ideal time to set an intention to be open to new life dwelling within you.
Saturday
Planet: Saturn
Element: Earth and Fire
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Protection, cleansing, endings
Saturdays are the ideal time to cleanse your space. Invoke both the Earth and the Fire element by burning herbs to cleanse yourself or your home. If you intend to perform a ritual for protection Saturday is the ideal time to do this. Any kind of cord-cutting or detachment ritual could be performed at this time too.
Again, don’t stress too much over the day you perform your rituals. It’s certainly better to devote some quiet reflection time to ritual any day rather than not at all! Your timing will sync up perfectly at times, sometimes it won’t, and that’s OK. Perhaps you’ll even be inspired by this list to plan some rituals for specific days.
Benefits & Uses of Rose Quartz
Rose quartz is a stone known as the ultimate self-love crystal…making it one of our favorites over here and of course, a great stone for February!But rose quartz isn’t just about self-love. It has a whole slew of benefits and uses, which I’ll be sharing in this post. Keep scrolling for some of the major benefits of this stone!
Rose quartz is a stone known as the ultimate self-love crystal…making it one of our favorites over here and of course, a great stone for February!
But rose quartz isn’t just about self-love. It has a whole slew of benefits and uses, which I’ll be sharing in this post. Keep scrolling for some of the major benefits of this stone!
Unconditional Love
Rose quartz is associated with the heart chakra, helping you open your center of giving and receiving unconditional love.
Energy Muse states, “According to [ancient] myth, Cupid, the Roman god of desire, or Eros, the Greek god of love, bestowed the gift of love to humans in the form of a rose quartz.”
Rose quartz can be used to cultivate unconditional love of all kinds: self-love, romantic love, friendship love, love for the earth, love for family, and more.
Compassion
Along with unconditional love, rose quartz helps cultivate compassion. By opening the flow of love throughout your body and energy field, it helps you connect to the interconnectedness of all beings, creating more love and compassion for the people around you and even those you can’t see and will never meet. I’d love to get rose quartz into the hands of every person in the world and watch how the world changes!
Restores Trust
In the heart chakra, we store fear, anxiety, and broken trust. Rose quartz can be used to help us accept past hurts, forgive ourselves and others, and ultimately restore trust.
Softening & opening
Sometimes our hearts get hardened. This often happens when, as I mentioned above, our trust has been broken, our hearts have been broken, or we’re holding and carrying past pains and hurts with us.
Rose quartz is your ally to help you gently soften and open this center of love. It’s here to help you soothe and break down the walls, opening yourself back up to connection, love, and vulnerability.
Gratitude
Gratitude comes from the heart chakra. When our heart chakras are closed, it can be difficult to experience gratitude and really feel the depth of all that we are grateful for. Rose quartz can help you release blockages here and open up to a flow of gratitude, helping you love your life for all that it is.
Cleansing
This stone is associated with the element of water and is thought to be very fluid, helping wash out stuck emotions, toxic energies, and negativity to return you back to your pure, divine essence: love.
It works slowly and gently — think more of a softly flowing river than a crashing ocean wave!
Venus energy
Rose quartz carries with it the energy of Venus. Venus is the ruling planet of the signs Libra and Taurus, and connects to the Empress card in the tarot.
We can think of Venusian energy as the energy of lushness, self-care, receiving, beauty, and flow. If you’re wanting to up your self-care game, open yourself up to receiving, and release stress — work with rose quartz!
Uses of Rose Quartz
Now that you know some of the benefits and meanings of rose quartz, how can you actually incorporate it into your life? Here are some suggestions but as always, use your intuition! You can also meditate with rose quartz and ask it how it wants to work with you.
Add rose quartz to your altar to call in Venus energy.
Use in self-love rituals and spells. Find a rose quartz ritual in The Ritual Deck.
Create a gratitude or love crystal grid featuring rose quartz. Find grid and crystals for a love crystal grid in The Goddess Discovery Book.
Meditate with rose quartz on your heart to help you open your heart chakra and let forgiveness flow through you.
Wear rose quartz as jewelry to carry its vibration with you wherever you go.
Create a self-love spell bag with rose quartz in it.
Incorporate a rose quartz facial roller into your daily routine.
Place rose quartz in the corners of your home to open the flow of love throughout your space.
Heart-opening Yoga practice & breathwork to cultivate self-love
Every February, we’re reminded of the love that already exists within us. While there are so many different kinds of love in our lives, it all starts with us: from a place of deep self-love. In this blog, I’ll be sharing a heart-opening yoga practice and a Kundalini breathwork meditation to help you cultivate self-love.
Every February, we’re reminded of the love that already exists within us. While there are so many different kinds of love in our lives, it all starts with us: from a place of deep self-love.
In this blog, I’ll be sharing a heart-opening yoga practice and a Kundalini breathwork meditation to help you cultivate self-love.
Kundalini Breathwork meditation
This Kundalini yoga breathwork meditation is said to help give strength to your heart and open up your heart center.
Find a comfortable seat and extend your arms straight out in front of you. You want them to be parallel to the mat with your palms facing down. Close your eyes and focus your inner gaze at the center of your chin. Start to take long, slow, deep breaths, holding your arms steady in front of you.
Hold this breathwork meditation for three minutes. Then, move into our asana practice below.
Yoga practice
This yoga practice is focused on heart-opening yoga poses because heart openers, like the name suggests, help balance and open your heart chakra. Your heart chakra is the center of giving and receiving love in your body. Opening this center helps open you up to a flow of unconditional love within and outside of yourself.
Heart bench
As someone with chronically tight shoulders, heart bench is my favorite restorative pose to start off a yoga practice. For this pose, you’ll need two yoga blocks. If you don’t have blocks, try getting creative with stacks of books or a rolled yoga mat under the shoulders.
You’ll take your first block at either its low or medium height and place it lengthwise along the spine between the shoulder blades, opening the heart. The second block will go under your head at whatever height supports a long neck and open throat.
Breathe into your heart space here, visualizing each inhale sending breath into the chest and each exhale softening, opening, and expanding your heart chakra. Stay here for 3-5 minutes, breathing deeply.
Half-pigeon variation
To transition out of your heart bench, lower all the way onto your back, bend your knees, and press your whole back into your mat. Feel your whole back grounding into the Earth, resetting the spine.
When you feel ready, cross your right ankle over the bottom of the left thigh (right under the knee). Then prop yourself up on your forearms and roll the shoulders back to open the heart as you energetically push your right knee away from you, stretching the hips. Spend a minute or two here, breathing deeply into the heart center, and then repeat on the other side.
Low lunge
Slowly find your way to downward-facing dog and pedal out the feet. When you feel ready, inhale to step your left leg forward. Lower the knee onto a mat or blanket, and create enough space in the hips so that you can really feel a stretch into your right hip flexor. Inhale to lift the arms overhead, bending back into a crescent lunge.
After a few breaths with this arm variation, stack your palms over your heart and breathe into your hands, keeping your back bending.
Stay here for ten more breaths, then repeat on the other side.
Mountain pose flow
From your lunge, step the back leg forward into a forward fold at the top of your mat. Hold opposite elbows to help pull your chest to your thighs and find a few breaths here.
When you feel complete, release your arms and inhale to a flat back, palms to shins or thighs. Exhale to fold forward. Inhale to roll all the way up to stand, reaching up and back. Exhale to fold all the way forward as you chant “YAM” (pronounced YUM), the bija mantra for the heart chakra.
Continue to flow with your breath for at least 10 complete cycles. Let yourself find a rhythm and find softness through the face, the knees, the heart, as you move.
Dancer’s pose
After your last exhale, hold in your favorite version of forward fold for a few more breaths. When you feel complete, inhale to roll up through your spine and find mountain pose with your arms at your sides.
Create a stable foundation by grounding down through your left foot, pressing into all four corners of the foot and through each of the toes. Bend your right knee and take the ankle into the right hand behind you. Inhale to lift your left arm over your head.
Feel free to stay here. If you’d like to go deeper, use your next exhale to slowly kick your right foot back and hinge forward at the hips, opening your heart and your right hip flexor. Stay here for at least 10 breaths. If you find yourself feeling unsteady or falling out of the pose, practice talking to yourself in a loving way and come back into the pose without judgment!
After ten breaths or whenever you feel ready, use an exhale to release everything back down and take the post to your other side.
Cobra pose or upward facing dog
From mountain pose at the top of your mat, fold forward, and step back to downward-facing dog. Inhale to shift forward to plank and exhale to either lower halfway or lower all the way onto the belly. Inhale to lift into cobra or upward facing dog. Stay here for a few breaths, rolling the shoulders back, pressing into the tops of the feet, and firming through the legs. After a few breaths, exhale to shift back to downward-facing dog.
Repeat this sequence one to three times, then stay in downward-facing dog for a few breaths.
Child’s pose
Inhale to lower your knees, and exhale to shift your hips back into your favorite variation of child’s pose. Let this child’s pose be a place of deep presence with yourself — with your breath, with any feelings or thoughts that are coming up to the surface. Practice speaking to yourself lovingly and tending to yourself with care. Stay here for about twenty breaths.
Cat/cow flow
From child’s pose, inhale to lift yourself into tabletop. Start to move through a cat/cow flow with your breath, using your inhale to lift your tailbone and open your heart, and your exhale to round through your spine and tuck your chin. Feel free to add in any other movements that feel good to you, like opening up through the sides of your body or incorporating hip circles.
Heart to Earth pose
When you feel complete in cat/cow, find your way back to a neutral spine. Start to walk your palms out in front of you, keeping your hips stacked over your knees, slowly lowering your chest and forehead all the way to your mat.
This intense pose invites us into a place of deep surrender. Keep your awareness on your breath, sending it into your heart space, and let yourself be with whatever comes up here. Stay here for at least 10 breaths, but feel free to stay longer if that feels right for you.
Bridge pose
Slowly shift back into tabletop and all the way onto your back, bending your knees and planting your feet on your mat. Inhale to slowly lift your hips and lift your arms all the way overhead, backs of palms touching down behind you. Breathe here in this bridge pose variation for 10 breaths, using an exhale to slowly lower your hips and arms back down.
Find a counterpose after you come down by walking your feet wider than hip’s distance and releasing your knees to rest in on each other. Place your palms on your belly and rest here for 5-10 breaths.
Reclining cobbler pose
Find your savasana in reclining cobbler’s pose, bringing the soles of your feet together. Rest one palm on your heart and one palm on your belly, letting yourself rest, relax, and integrate the benefits of your practice. Stay here as long as you like, but make sure you let yourself spend at least three minutes here.
Explore more blogs to help you cultivate self-love here:
How to Get Started with Spiritual Activism
If you’re reading this, you probably have a desire to make the world a better place. But you may feel like you’re not sure how to go about it in a way that aligns with your spiritual practice and values.Your spiritual practice and your activism aren’t separate, they’re one. They can be, and I think they should be— because the world needs you, as an activist, to show up as a spiritual being...and as a spiritual being, to show up as an activist.
If you’re reading this, you probably have a desire to make the world a better place. But you may feel like you’re not sure how to go about it in a way that aligns with your spiritual practice and values.
Your spiritual practice and your activism aren’t separate, they’re one. They can be, and I think they should be— because the world needs you, as an activist, to show up as a spiritual being...and as a spiritual being, to show up as an activist.
This means that not only are we meditating on healing the world, manifesting collective healing, and whatever other healing practices you have…but we’re also bringing that work into how we show up in the world as agents for change. We show up as our whole, spiritual selves when we call our senators and representatives. When we march, when we protest, when we volunteer, when we donate, when we organize, when we listen, when we post on social media.
That is spiritual activism.
COMPASSION
One really important piece of spiritual activism is compassion for yourself and for others. It’s really easy and often justified, to get caught up in your feelings and forget that the person you’re engaging with is also a human being. A human being who may be really offending you right now, but still a human being.
Remember that your feelings are justified. And of course, you don’t have to continue to engage with someone who is hurting you. But remembering some of the truths that are likely part of your spiritual practice, like compassion for all and the idea that at the core of it, we are all one, is just as important in these situations as it is in others.
ANGER
Ask yourself:
How do I want to feel?
How do I want others to feel around me?
List these answers out, and think about how they apply to your activism. If you want to feel inspired, open, safe, joyful, free, loved, whatever it is — you probably want other people to feel that way around you, too.
How can you approach your activism in a way that holds space for that? How can you approach your activism in a way that makes yourself and the people around you feel that way the majority of the time?
A note about anger: you probably want to create change around two things: things that break your heart, and things that make you angry. In some dialogue about spirituality, anger is bad. It’s something to be stifled and ignored.
But anger is human, and I think the only thing that makes it bad is repressing it. You’re going to be angry about injustice. It’s what we do with our anger, how we express it, and how we channel it that can help or hurt us.
So instead of repressing your anger or using it to lash out at people, I invite you to channel your anger into productive change, remembering that compassion and anger aren’t mutually exclusive.
START WITH YOU
When it comes to activism, start with you. It can be hard to wrap your head around at first but understand that you are not separate from the problem. You are not separate from these oppressive systems.
As a white person, racism isn’t about someone else. It’s about me.
As a cisgendered person, violence against transgender people isn’t about someone else, it’s about me.
The list goes on.
Ask yourself: in what systems am I an oppressor?
You can be oppressed in certain systems, like gender, and be the oppressor in others, like race.
This is where we get into the idea of privilege.None of this is about berating yourself for being a bad person or being complicit in these systems. You’re not a bad person! But the point of this being the first step is that when we know better, we do better. But we can’t do better if we don’t immerse ourselves in the “know better” step first.
Ask yourself: what privileges do I hold?
(Ideas: able-bodied privilege, white privilege, cisgendered privilege, straight privilege, thin privilege, in your country legally, etc.)
Take some time to really think about how those privileges manifest in your life and how they’ve become systems of belief. For example, what beliefs have you absorbed about people who don’t hold the privilege of being documented, or who don’t hold thin privilege?
What can you do to root down, shift those beliefs (which always manifest into actions even if you may not realize it!), and create more equality in your own life?
How is this spiritual activism? I think it comes back to the idea that healing yourself is healing for the world. I think most of us can probably get behind that. In this sense, cleaning up your own baggage, the ways in which your hurt and oppress is the most important thing we can do.
RELEASE
These days in this political climate I think it’s really important to have an embodiment practice to help you release trauma, anger, and other emotions you’re storing up from your cells. Tapping, breathwork, and a good old-fashioned scream are great ways to release.The practice can look like anything you need it to, but choose something that’s a physical release.
What Are the Doshas & How to Determine Yours
Ayurveda is known as the sister science to yoga. It’s a traditional Hindu system of medicine developed in ancient India, based on holistic integration of mind and body for optimal balance and health.The word literally translates to life science or knowledge, showing Ayurveda’s holistic approach to health. Unlike Western medicine, Ayurveda focuses on food and lifestyle, rather than medication, and prevention to help you get healthier before you get sick.
Ayurveda is known as the sister science to yoga. It’s a traditional Hindu system of medicine developed in ancient India, based on holistic integration of mind and body for optimal balance and health.
The word literally translates to life science or knowledge, showing Ayurveda’s holistic approach to health. Unlike Western medicine, Ayurveda focuses on food and lifestyle, rather than medication, and prevention to help you get healthier before you get sick.
Ayurvedic Doshas
Doshas are the different types of energy in your body. Each dosha is associated with different elements and qualities, which I’ll get into below.
We’re each born with a specific dosha constitution, or makeup. We can learn a lot about what’s best for our bodies by understanding our our dominant dosha constitution.
There are three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each of us has all three doshas within us, but we are typically dominant in one or two doshas. The qualities of each of these doshas manifest in your mental, physical, and emotional bodies (remember that holistic approach I talked about above!).
Vata is composed of space and air. Its qualities are dry, light, cool, rough, subtle, and mobile. You may be more Vata if you…
Tend to get stuck in your head or get more anxious energy
Have a lot of active, creative energy
Have dry or brittle skin and hair
Tend to run cold
Get constipated easily
Sometimes feel “spacey”
Have a thinner, lighter frame
Pitta is composed of fire and water. Its qualities are oily, sharp, hot, light, fleshy smelling, spreading, and liquid. You may be more Pitta if you…
Have active digestion
Usually run hot
Have oilier skin
Have to eat regularly and may get lightheaded or cranky if you miss a meal
Have a more fiery, aggressive personality
Get sweaty easily
Are a leader
Kapha is composed of water and earth. Its qualities are unctuous, cool, heavy, slow, smooth, soft, dense, viscous, and stable. You may be more Kapha if you…
Tend to need more sleep
Have a heavier frame
Have dense, thick hair
Move more slowly
Tend to get excess mucous
Are fairly laid-back
Are well-grounded
Are an empath or very sensitive person with a big heart
These are general guidelines. I recommend taking this quiz from Banyan Botanicals to find out for sure!
How to balance your Dosha
So you’ve discovered your dosha constitution. Now how do you balance it?Ayurveda uses the principle of like increases like, and therefore you can look to opposites as medicine.For those of us more dominant in Pitta energy, you can balance that Pitta by focusing on:
Sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes (think sweet potatoes and basil for sweet, turmeric and cumin for bitter, avocado and apples for astringent)
Cool and dry environments
Cultivating practices that help you go with the flow rather than force
Fresh, cooling foods
A cooling, relaxing yoga practice
For those of us more dominant in Vata energy, you can balance that Vata by focusing on:
Sweet, sour, and salty tastes (think dates and cashews for sweet, lemon and pickles for sour, and celery and sea salt for salty)
Calm, grounding environments
Stabilizing routines
Wetter, warmer climates
Warming, mushy foods like kitchery and soup
Doing one thing at one time (not multitasking)
Regular meditation
A warming yoga practice that cultivates fluidity and is easy on the joints
For those of us more dominant in Kapha energy, you can balance that Kapha by focusing on:
Pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes (think onion and garlic for pungent, turmeric and cumin for bitter, and avocado and apples for astringent)
A warm, dry climate
Warming, light foods (nothing too heavy)
An active routine including things like biking, running, and hiking
A more challenging, intense yoga practice in a warm environment
Learn more about the elements that make up the doshas from The Ritual Deck (pictured).
Resources for further study
As you can imagine, Ayurveda is a complex, in-depth system that you’re not going to learn in one blog post. If you’d like to go deeper, I recommend checking out some of these resources:
Ayurveda: The Science of Self Healing by Dr. Vasant Lad
The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies: A Comprehensive Guide To The Ancient Healing of India by Dr. Vasant Lad
Ayurveda by Sahara Rose
The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook by Kate O’Donnell
Getting Started with Intuitive Eating // 6 Tips
Most of us are inundated with conflicting messages about food for our entire lives.We’re told to count calories, to eat certain portions of this or that, that this food is amazing for you and this food should be avoided at all costs.We’re taught to trust everything but ourselves when it comes to food (and actually, this is true in general, too!).Intuitive eating is a kind and compassionate return to trusting yourself with food. It’s an anti-diet way of eating that focuses on connecting with your intuition.What does your body need? What would truly nourish your mind, body, and soul in this moment?The truth is, your body knows what you need. You just need to listen to it!
Most of us are inundated with conflicting messages about food for our entire lives.
We’re told to count calories, to eat certain portions of this or that, that this food is amazing for you and this food should be avoided at all costs.
We’re taught to trust everything but ourselves when it comes to food (and actually, this is true in general, too!).Intuitive eating is a kind and compassionate return to trusting yourself with food. It’s an anti-diet way of eating that focuses on connecting with your intuition.What does your body need? What would truly nourish your mind, body, and soul in this moment?
The truth is, your body knows what you need. You just need to listen to it!There are 10 simple principles of intuitive eating from one of the leading books on the subject, Intuitive Eating.
1. Reject the diet mentality. We’re inundated with information about diets from the time we're kids. Weight Watchers. South Beach. Atkins. Paleo. Keto. Grain-free. They’re all based around the idea of restricting food. How would it feel to reject the idea that you have to eat other than how your body naturally wants to?
2. Honor your hunger. When you feel hungry, eat. When you feel satisfied, stop. It’s as simple (and as difficult) as that.
3. Make peace with food. Remember that food is not your enemy, to be fought with. It’s fuel, it’s nourishment that is here to support you and help you live the life you want to live.
4. Challenge the food police. These are the rules like “You have to eat three meals a day,” “carbs are bad for you,” and you’re “good” for eating a salad for lunch. You don’t need the food police. You can trust your body.
5. Respect your fullness. This is about eating more consciously. Listen to your body’s signals that you feel full and satisfied. Try pausing halfway through eating to check in with how you feel.
6. Discover the satisfaction factor. You may be physically full but still not satisfied. That’s okay. Discovering the satisfaction factor is realizing that when you eat what you want, you’ll likely feel more pleasure, more satisfaction, and overall more content.
7. Honor your feelings without using food. Sometimes we use external things like food to numb out when we don’t want to feel what we need to feel. Try finding other ways to cope and comfort yourself that don’t involve eating.
8. Respect your body. We’re taught from a very young age to have a lot of judgment around our bodies. Many of us have a constant critical dialogue running in our heads, especially around food. Learn to love and accept your body as it is right now.
9. Exercise - feel the difference. Moving your body isn’t about exercising to punish yourself, or burn enough calories so you can eat the thing you want, or to look a certain way. Reframe moving your body as a way to feel your best and nourish yourself.
10. Honor your health. Be gentle. Connect with how certain foods make you feel and remember that it’s about the consistency of what you eat over time— one meal or one day of eating won’t cause you to be unhealthy or gain weight.
Ready to get started? Below are six tips for intuitive eating.
1. Take an inventory of your social media presence.
Are you following any accounts that are helping create a toxic relationship with food? Do you follow fitness accounts that make you feel bad about yourself whenever you see their photos pop up in your feed?After you purge your social media feed, can you bring in some more body-positive Instagrammers whose feeds and relationship with food inspire you to have a more loving relationship with your body and your plate?
2. Discover your physical signs of hunger and fullness.
What does it feel like to be hungry? What does it feel like to be full? To start connecting to these feelings, try placing one hand on your belly before you get to the table and taking a few deep breaths into your stomach. Your belly is where you feel hunger and fullness first, so taking a moment before and after eating to connect to those feelings can help you eat more intuitively.
3. Give food your full presence.
Oftentimes, we’re eating on the go or while we’re reading, scrolling on Instagram, or working. See if you can give food your full presence. Eat each meal slowly and mindfully without distractions, really savoring each bite, chewing it thoroughly, and paying attention to when you feel satiated. Think of it as an eating meditation!
4. Notice your food self-talk.
Is there a voice in your head that declares you “good” for eating vegetables and “bad” for eating dessert? (Spoiler alert: the answer is most likely yes.) Start to notice those thoughts (it can be helpful to write them down) and reframe them.For example, a thought like “Eating dessert makes me lazy and weak” can become “Eating dessert has nothing to do with who I am as a person. Eating sweets fills my soul and I am free to eat them as I like.”
5. Notice how foods make you feel.
Start to make the connection between certain foods and feelings. For example, certain foods may make you feel:
Energized
Sluggish
Cranky
Creative
Uninspired
Light
Tired
Or a variety of other feelings.
6. Don’t forget pleasure and satisfaction.
We aren’t machines. Food is deeply connected to memory, to pleasure, to joy. We don’t always need to eat the “healthy” thing. The key is to remember that those foods you often restrict and then binge on are limitless. You don’t need to binge on them because you can always eat more tomorrow. There are no restrictions. When your body wants dessert, see if you can offer it dessert without judgment or attachment to what you think “eating dessert” may mean.Here are some journaling questions that can help you get started with a more intuitive way of eating:
Think about your current relationship with food. Describe it and then describe how it makes you feel.
What would you like your relationship with food to look like and how would you like to feel about food?
What foods make you feel amazing?
What would eating mindfully look like for you?
What is one thing you can do today to start eating more intuitively?
