Experience The Equilibrium of the equinox
Hello Friends!
Fall has certainly made its appearance, no doubt, as everything just got busier! I have felt the energy shift from the playful, fun summer energy to the more structured, "back to the routine" type momentum that makes me feel like I have to get that "to-do" list back out. Welcome Virgo energy!
Last month I wrote about love, and I am still deep in inquiry with this subject though now I am understanding that this is a lifetime apprenticeship program. The truth is that as I write I now realize that the journey from the head to the heart and the true integration of what I am learning about love and heart-led living is really a lifetime process of integration in small steps with many of them repeating. It is not an A to B to C process like my engineering mind so loves. It seems to be a constant dance of "Aha" moments and then the reality of "how the heck do I actually do what I just realized was so key." The partnering of wanting to do it, full of my desire to "get it and move on" and the realization that most of the lesson is in the non-doing and the surrender to it all, becoming blank and open. I have never done it and so honestly I don't know how to do it and so if I willfully try to "get it right" then I will just end up repeating my old habits of what I thought it was supposed to be like. Then comes in my 2 friends: frustration and confusion. Then sometimes the feeling that I should just forget about it completely because it seems to allude me... and then another "Aha." How strange this life really is! I feel that I have experienced this same cycle in other topics be it love or how to start a business or how to make cookies. I guess the longer on this path I trod, I see that it is all connected anyway and the repetitions are seeming to be quite the key step in this path to my truth.
Welcome to all this retrograde energy in the planets... calling in more reflection, re-visiting the past, redoing what I thought was done, hearing it again, seeing it again... hitting the same walls until it dawns on me... perhaps there is some new element of truth ready to emerge from all the practice of redoing the same things so many times. So, maybe all this repeating is how we integrate? We feel it until we don't need to feel it anymore. We do it until we don't need to do it again. We think it until we don't think it any longer. All in due time. Virgo is the sign of initiation, the healer, integration and I guess it has truly been my teacher this month. I am trying to love the repetition as much as I love the "ahas." I am trying to soften my expectation that just because you realize a new truth doesn't mean it will set you free instantly... that sometimes new freedoms, new places to stand, new embodiments of our Self means we have to practice it until it fits and need not be practiced any longer because it has been fully digested.
So, I write to you and hope to encourage you to celebrate your repetitive lessons, experiences of the dances of confusion and clarity. I think it just might be the way to deepen our healing and initiate the process of deeper self love and love for this life. And we must learn to love it from the jumbled puzzle pieces to the finished, all in the right places, project. Much love to you all!
Here are some fun events coming your way this fall...
Fall Equinox Workshop at Yoyo Yogi: Saturday, September 26th 8-10pm
Mercury Retrograde/Eclipses/Astrology of the Times Workshop
Sunday, September 27th 6:30-7:30pm Tanner Springs Park (YoYo Conference Room in the event of weather)
This is a very potent time we are in! Learn about the lunar eclipse on this day, Mercury retrograde and all the other major astrological happenings. I want to offer a class to allow us to learn how these astrological events affect us and how to use this time for deep reflection and discovery.
More information on my website.
Fall Gorge Retreat October 23-25, 2015
I am very excited to offer a new expression of what has been life altering for me! Come retreat to the Gorge to attune to the healing powers of nature while we seek truth and authenticity in our lives. Gather in community and claim your next chapter while celebrating your journey. Yoga, astrology, nature, community, quiet reflection...
Learn more here.
Moon Watchers Events
I am back to offering my new moon intention setting gatherings! The next New Moon gathering will be Monday, October 12th at 7p at Tanner Springs Park. If inclement weather then the YoYo Yogi Conference Room. More details here.
Schedule Changes
Once again, fall brings more change to my schedule. I am no longer able to keep my 9am Hatha class at OHSU due to my kiddo's school schedule. I will only be teaching at YoYo Yogi and Yoga Pearl. Please check out my updated schedule here.
My Astrology Writings
I am adding a page to my website to share astrological reflections for the times. I will write on this weekly so you can check out what is happening in the sky and my thoughts and truth as to how I am working with the energy. After my last Venus circle, I realized how much I enjoyed doing this each week, so star lover or not, check it out. You can find the latest muse here. I will also try to post updates on Facebook. Hope you enjoy!
Today I release myself from the pressure to be perfect. Perfection is not possible and I am destroying my spirit trying to keep up this façade. Today I will let someone in on the real me. I will admit my hardest truths, my most painful scars, even if it is just to myself. Today I will stop spending so much time polishing the outside and start healing the inside.
-Rachel Macy Stafford
Love and Light,
Jill Case