Navigating Winter + Aquarius season
Welcome to 2024!
Astrologically on Saturday there was a huge shift!! It's why I'm in touch, in case you're not following me on instagram especially instagram stories which is where I post the most.
Pluto moves into Aquarius for the next 20 years apart from a short moment in September when it goes back into Capricorn. This is massive! Pluto is the planet of death and rebirth. It reveals your shadow side, all those emotions you've kept under wraps, your shame, your jealousy, your fear and so on..
Be with them as Rumi explains so perfectly in The Guesthouse.
"This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond."
Just don’t let them linger too long. Let them move through you like a wave for also within you are light codes being activated as Kirsty Gallagher explains.
I know. They can feel tortuous. Unrelenting. Miserable. Those feelings of inadequacy or guilt or loss or something else. Triggered by a certain situation such as discordance at work or at home or with your health or your finances or something else. I hear you and I invite you to offer yourself compassion in these moments. It's not easy but it's crucial to move through them. Stored emotions cause dis-ease!
Perhaps you could focus on your breath.
Slow it down.
Deepen it.
And repeat until you feel it pass knowing that in that difficult moment you didn't abandon yourself. You didn't fill yourself up with cigarettes, junk food or alcohol. You sat with it and you breathed through it and it passed and on you go again until the next difficult moment noticing all the beautiful moments in between. But seriously, if this is difficult. If you feel stuck, overwhelmed, anxious, uncared for or you're struggling through health issues of any kind, do get in touch.
When it comes down to it, I love you. Do you love you because that is where healing starts 🩷
2024
I choose a word each New Year. In 2022 it was 'enough.' Enough stress, enough not feeling good enough and also I have enough, I am enough. In 2023 my word was 'magnetic.' I was inviting in the law of attraction more consciously. I was allowing myself to be a magnet for all things positive and fun. This year my word is 'Discipline.' And this particularly relates to my desire to curb chocolate and sweet food. It doesn't mean I never have it. I just don't have it every day, maybe twice a week. I've been doing this since the middle of November after 2 particularly unpleasant migraines and a vomiting bug and I have seen the difference. No more restless legs, no more migraines and more energy!! Not to mention feeling a sense of satisfaction and achievement that a life-long craving is under my control. Whohoo! Discipline also relates to my desire to free myself of negative thoughts and step into presence which means letting go of the past and the future and being kind to myself.
Mindfulness
At the beginning of this year I saw a video on Headspace and it felt good. Dora stepped off the platform onto a train and stepped out of the train into a forest. How helpful I thought to imagine the new year like that or even each day to see the world anew. To refresh ourselves. Even if we're doing the same routines, we can step out in presence, our eyes wide open to greet the day. There's a sense of ease that comes with it and delight at times too. I've still a way to go.
I've started using the numerous daily car journeys to practice presence. Oh my word, it's hard. The music is on, my thoughts drift to the past and the future and I keep bringing myself back. What a better driver I am when I'm present! Practice not perfection I tell myself.
Some health tips during Winter
We are in Water element time in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is part of the 5-element theory, a fantastic holistic system that links the seasons with emotions with organs and so on.
So for the water element it's
Winter
Fear
Kidneys and Ears
Blue/black.
Do you find yourself wearing a lot of blue and or black? You're supporting this element which may indicate it's out of balance. You see, nothing we do is coincidental! We tend to drink less water and more tea and coffee in the winter. Don't! Tea and coffee are diuretic which is dehydrating. That includes green tea. Keep drinking plenty of water but make it luke warm so it slips down easily and you can keep that 2L going in. Always avoid drinking more than 1L in 1 hr. Introduce plenty of warming stews and soups to stay hydrated too and the swollen grains like short grain brown rice.
Note. If you have severe gut issues, you may not be able to consume any grains easily. Potatoes and the other root vegetables may be a useful carbohydrate alternative. Avoid raw food as much as possible at this time of year and if you can, try not to eat too much after dark.
Do get in touch if you'd like personalised advice. I offer stand-alone nutrition and food intolerance testing appointments and more comprehensive sessions which delve into the emotional side too. Click here to find out more.
Sending you a big hug
Sophie xox