 We all want passion. It makes life worth living. It's the joie de vie that takes life from dull and mediocre, to exciting and fresh. It can keep us going, moving, and actually make us want to expand ourselves in a natural way. Yet most of us are often stuck in neutral, coasting through life, feeling the struggle of life's challenges, rather than the juicy, good stuff on the other side of the struggle. Passion for many, is little more than wishful thinking, a subtle desire, a yearning, or perhaps something that is fleeting. We all have access to greater and greater passion though. It's a muscle that needs to be used, practiced, flexed, explored, played with. It's not something that magically appears, rather it's an intrinsic part of our nature that has to be cultivated and nurtured. Right now, the planets are ripe with passion, helping us each to explore this part of ourselves in more intimate ways. Nature gives us these time periods to dip our toes in, or jump full body, into the rivers of passion. Venus has been chasing Mars for months- and this combination is ideal for inducing passion. Mars is our inner fire, our warrior spirit. He is decisive, clear and action oriented. He doesn't think (that's Mercury's job) but instead chooses to go forth without question. Venus on the other hand is connected to our inner waters (jala) and by default our creative life force, our shakti. Venus connects us, helps us relate, to be in relationship. Venus is a co-creative planet and it helps us to feel nourished, to receive nourishment from life, from others, and ultimately from ourselves. Venus is the planet of love for this reason. The combination of Mars and Venus induces a fire and water combination, yet these two are neutral to each other (they tolerate each other in other words). As Mars moves into Pisces on February 11th, joining Ketu here, our passions increase, as well as our desires. These themes intensify as Venus moves to Pisces on the 15th of February, its sign of exaltation. An exalted planet can fully expand and express itself (for better or worse) and so we will see our inner waters swell and increase as well. This can be a time of maximum creativity, maximum love flowing, and more open channels for all things Venus (such as money, love, the feminine, relationships, creativity, art, beauty, worldly pleasures). With exalted Venus conjunct Mars and Ketu, we get a warrior like re-structuring of our love, our creative flow, our relationships. The combination of Mars and Venus creates a feeling of passion within us. This is a result of fire and water merging, creating steam within us. This steam can be a powerful force- energizing, clearing and purifying. What steam is being created in your life right now? As you look at your jyotish chart, locate Pisces, the number 12. This is where the conjunction of Mars, Ketu and exalted Venus is happening for you until March 12th. You'll want to notice what house Pisces is in (based on your rising sign) as this placement will heighten the theme of passion in this area of your life. Pisces by default connects us to our feet (12th house matters) and therefor working with the feet as a primary body part resource can be helpful right now to assimilate the nourishment arriving, the intensity of the passions we are experiencing, and also to ground us in the now. Working with the feet allows us to "step forward" in our lives and "stand our ground" and also to "leap and land". Simultaneously, Venus connects us to our pelvis. Working with the dynamics, the relationship between feet and Pelvis can help us maximize our creative connection, our feeling level of life, while rooting us in this nourishing awareness. Here are three simple steps to help you create more passion in your life and to capitalize on the increased passion available to us at this time. 1) Connect with your feelings. What makes you feel joyful, enthusiastic, inspired? What induces a feeling of love in you? What makes you feel nourished and satisfied? Get descriptive. 2) What activities inspire the above feelings? Maybe it's cooking a wonderful meal or reading a book with a cup of tea. Maybe walking in the woods with your dog. Write down the activities that induce these feelings of joy, love and nourishment within you. 3) Circle the top three activities that bring you the most joy, love and nourishment. These are your "go-to" activities to create greater passion in your life. These activities will push your passion buttons, open the channels within you and awaken a deeper connection with your life force. Make sure that you are using these activities once a week, or even daily, to connect to the passion coursing through you. Remember, passion is like a muscle that must be flexed, used, and developed. It takes practice. I invite you to notice where the sensation of passion is stirred within your body. Where do you feel the passion enlivening you? What body part is connected to this passionate feeling moving through you? This body part can be a powerful ally of support and an important resource for you so pay attention to what messages it has to share with you. Enjoy the passion moving through you! My Jyotish Basics Classes have begun! Don't miss out on these transformational and healing classes. Sign up for details.
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Slow, gentle and conscious are the themes for this week's somatic awareness. Use these words to prompt your movement exploration. Focus on spine (flexibility and support) as well as pelvis (creativity, receiving and vulnerability). Notice where these two connect, support each other and provide mobility.
As Vasant Navaratri approaches, as well as the thick of spring, it is an ideal time to plant our seeds- literally and metaphorically. Intentions are powerful things, especially when we put some action behind them. Come to your drawing pad. Using the experience from your movement exploration, draw your garden in full bloom. What textures, colors and shapes are present? What images are alive? What are you cultivating and growing? What seeds did you plant? This garden allows us to work backwards so to speak. Look at your garden in full bloom. What are the pieces alive in your garden and your life as you look at it? What desires have blossomed and what efforts have come to fruition? Write them down. Write down the desires that are in bloom, the actions that are alive and visible in your garden. Then put some thought into what has to happen in order for the full blooms of summer to take place. What action steps need to take place before you bloom. What seeds must be planted in other words. There may be multiple seeds that have to be planted, what are they? Use your garden as a visual map and a reminder of what is coming; what is growing within you. The beauty of this garden is that only through time, nurturing, and letting go of the outcome, can we truly enjoy this cultivation process. We have been working with our warrior masks. Masking, unmasking, creating dialogue with these two pieces of ourselves. This is a new Moon week, and a powerful one at that!
As per this week's Horoscopes: New Moon is in the early hours of 11.3 at 06:50am CDT while Moon is in Libra and Swati nakshatra. Sun and Moon are in exact degree at this time with five planets in Libra (debilitated Sun, Rahu, retrograde Mercury, exalted Saturn and transiting Moon), all in Swati nakshatra. This nakshatra is ruled by Rahu, the north node shadow planet. It's important to strive for balance at this time (though it may feel impossible). This new Moon on 11.3 brings a solar eclipse with it beginning at 04:05 am CDT and ending at 09:28am CDT. And of course we are celebrating Diwali on 11.2- dedicated to the goddess Maha Lakshmi, goddess of abundance, wealth and prosperity. Pelvis is our creative energy center, our fertility zone. Use this body part for the focus of your body part dance and notice the connection to spine (strength, flexibility) that it offers. Note how these two co-create and are essentially interrelated. Come to your drawing pad and draw a big circle. Fill your circle (New Moon) with your abundant desires, prosperity and hopes. Nothing is too big, nor too small for this circle. What gifts are you asking of Goddess Lakshmi at this time? What brings balance and harmony to you and your life? Who is invited to join you on this new, sacred, abundant path? Give your New Moon Mandala a title. As per this week's horoscopes:
This two week period between eclipses is a good time to "clean things up" internally and externally and will culminate on Diwali, the Vedic celebration of light where we honor goddess Maha Lakshmi. Think of the next few weeks as creating space for more light to enter, more wealth to flow, more creative abundance to course through you. Clear, clean, purge, and cut out all that is not working in your favor. This will be happening for you on a conscious and unconscious level as well as on multiple levels of existence. Surrender to the uprooting process. We have been creating masks over the last few weeks. First we created a warrior mask, then we "unmasked" this warrior. This week, we will create a dialogue between the two. Start with body movement- the pelvis is our body part focus right now (four planets transiting Libra which correlates to the 7th house, the house of pelvis). This is a place of creative potential, and also a very vulnerable part of the body. Vulnerabilities are invitations for strength and awareness to be realized. Start in a standing position and bring awareness to your alignment. Then begin to rock the pelvis back and forth, then side to side. Finally, make circles both to the left and to the right. Pause. Has there been any shift for you? Continue your spinal/pelvis exploration through standing poses, seated poses and by lying on your back. When you are ready, come to your drawing pad and place both of your masks in front of you. Begin with your warrior mask and ask it these questions: What do you need? What do you want? What is your purpose for me? What do you have to tell your unmasked self? Ask your "unmasked" warrior to respond: What do you need? What do you want? What is your purpose for me? What do you have to tell your masked self? Pause and breath. Wait for the emergent ["the third"] to arise. What conclusions can you draw from these two parts of your self? Are they each necessary? Why or why not? Do both have value and purpose for you? How can these two parts of your Self offer insights and awareness to your life process? If you would like to share your masks, please send them to me at [email protected] "...through the Creative Engagements I'm able to embody and consciously embrace the information my feeble brain can't always absorb. WHAT A GIFT!!!...these weekly offerings are filling a void i feared would only get deeper, more vast. thank you for helping me fill my coffers with love, insight, art and my own, authentic medicine." ~ S.R.
Creative Engagement Activity for the week of 9.9 ::: Last week we used the pelvis as an entry point into our creative potential. With the intention of creating for our New Moon cycle, we developed a mandala and wrote "I am creating" statements that came from our dance and mandala experience. This week, continuing the mandala theme, and in honor of "removing obstacles" because of Ganesha Chaturthi, we will build on our previous work. With "the act of creating something new for our lives" in mind, we will work with the ribcase. The ribcage/ribcase houses and protects our heart and lungs, two of our most vital organs, and it also protects our main life-support systems. Here we can feel the rhythm of our breath, the pulse of the heart beat, a letting in and a letting out. Lie on your back, prop your self up comfortably in a seated position. Place left hand on heart, right hand on belly. Take at least ten minutes here feeling the breath, noticing the movement of chest with every rise and fall. Come to your drawing pad and create three mandalas- one for the mental, emotional and physical levels (extra credit for a spiritual level). Finish these statements: What am I opening to? Closing to? What am I releasing? Inviting in? |