KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

August 10 through August 16, 2026

A Leo new Moon/solar eclipse highlights our lives this week, marking the start of a two-week cycle that is designed to shift our focus over the next six months. Because eclipses come in pairs typically, we’ll spend the next two weeks formulating a new plan for the future and researching our options, until the next eclipse on the full Moon, which will call for internal change before we start manifesting our dreams into real life. Monday's Cancer Moon will insist we take care of things on the home front or work that we’ve been neglecting, so that our finances and responsibilities are up to date. Mars will move into the sign of Cancer on Tuesday, slowing our outer movements and speeding up our spiritual and emotional processes. The eclipse occurs on Wednesday under the Leo new Moon, so we’ll want to make a wish and write down our intentions for the coming months. A Virgo Moon sits in the heavens on Thursday and Friday, making these two days ideal for research, organization, clearing out clutter, or cleaning up our workspace to promote ease of movement. The weekend unfolds under a loving Libra Moon, encouraging us to share time with our loved ones and friends.

How to Heal Emotional Triggers: 3 Steps That Will Change Your Life, by Maria Toso

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

We've all been there, and we've all seen others go there, too: an emotionally triggered state where we are not quite ourselves, or at least not our adult selves.

Someone says or does something, and suddenly our whole energy system reacts. If we are even a little present in our body, we may notice this shift. But if we've spent years ignoring the body's signals, we might miss the moment when the breath shortens and something inside contracts. Before we know it, we've reacted—without fully understanding where it came from.

When an old wound gets activated, the nervous system responds as if we're in imminent danger, even if the external event (such as a delayed text) is objectively minor.

And more often than not, shame follows. Because on the surface, the reaction seems out of proportion. No one wants to feel like a trembling child in an adult's body. But that's exactly what happens. A scared inner child takes the wheel, trying to cope using strategies we developed long ago in situations where we didn't feel safe, loved, or like we belonged.

It's also common that two people become triggered at once. As you may have noticed, we often feel drawn, almost magnetically, to the kinds of people and situations that will activate our most tender triggers. We think we can escape by changing partners, jobs, or friends. But if we haven't healed the pattern inside, it follows us, because it comes from us. The contracted energy knots within are essentially programmed with the unprocessed emotions from a event that overwhelmed us; we will project them out regardless of where we are. From a yogic perspective, this is no surprise.

Humans have seemingly long suffered from the pain of reactive cycles. In the Yoga Sutras, written over 2,000 years ago, we're introduced to samskaras, which are energetic grooves from repeated reactions, like a scratch on a vinyl record. When we're triggered, we drop into a familiar groove and replay the same emotional song. The actors may change, but the script remains. Unless something within us becomes conscious enough to intervene, the pattern continues—lifetime after lifetime, draining our life force and disconnecting us from the very love we seek.

Here's the good news: if you can humbly say, "Yes, I get triggered and I don't want to keep doing this," then you're ready to turn your triggers into sacred portals for healing. These painful moments are not obstacles; they are invitations. They are holy doorways into deeper connection with yourself, and with the Divine presence that lives at the core of your being—the loving presence that can melt and heal even the oldest frozen energy blocks.

Step 1: Get Honest About Your "Out"
When we're triggered, most of us try to escape the discomfort. I call these escape routes "outs." They're the default coping strategies we reach for when we feel overwhelmed. Which one is yours?

• Lash out: Do you blame the other person? Do you feel like if they just changed, you wouldn't have to feel this way?
• Numb out: Do you suddenly find yourself scrolling your phone, reaching for sugar, alcohol, weed, porn, shopping, anything to avoid the intensity?
• Check out: Do you retreat into your head? Analyze, explain, rationalize, instead of feeling the discomfort in your body? This one is subtle and can seem "mature," but it disconnects you from your heart and others.

Recognizing your "out" is essential. You might have more than one, but there's usually a primary one to watch closely. Once you recognize it, you can begin to catch it in the act. You might even ask yourself: "Wait, why am I aimlessly scrolling while craving ice cream on a Monday morning?"

Step 2: Catch the Trigger Early
To stop a trigger from hijacking you, you have to catch it before it floods you. The best way to do this is to develop a daily practice, one that includes scanning your body and observing your breath. When calm, relaxed breathing becomes your baseline, you're far more likely to notice when it suddenly shifts. That's often your first clue that a trigger is rising.

Body Scan: Let your awareness move through your body, from head to toe and back again. Feel what's there. What's happening in your belly, your chest, your throat? What's the texture of your energy field?

Where you feel contraction, prana (life energy) is no longer flowing freely. When your energy is contracted, you're less connected to your Higher Self and feel even more at the mercy of the other's actions or lack of same.

And if, at that moment, you can slow down, even slightly, soften your breath and body, you may be able to pause long enough to avoid falling into your habitual "out."

Step 3: Go In Instead of Out
Real healing begins when, instead of abandoning yourself, you choose to stay with yourself in your hour of need. That means going in, it means staying with the rawness. It means choosing love over avoidance and drama. Imagine how you would hold a hurting child: not with judgment or distraction, but with tenderness. You hold your own contracted pain with that kind of compassion.

Scan your body. Find the most contracted place in your energy field and lay a hand there. Breathe. And gently say: "I feel this. I notice. I'm here. I love you. I've got you."

If you have faith in a higher power, you might also call on the Divine to help you heal this: "Divine Loving Presence please fill me with your light, your love, hold me as I stay present with this pain inside. Help me release the contractions inside my body, let light flow freely through me."

Speak to yourself with genuine compassion. As you do, the contraction may soften and the urge to numb, lash, or check out may fade.

Then ask: How old is this feeling? You may discover that this contracted sensation in your body predates the current situation, by years or even decades. You may meet a much younger version of yourself, a part of you that felt abandoned, invisible, or unsafe. That energy is still inside, frozen in time. But your loving presence can begin to melt it.

As it melts, tears may come. Stay with it. Even if no memory surfaces, your loving presence is enough. Some inner children tell long stories. Others just need to be held. The healing isn't in the story. It's in the loving presence with which you stay.

You might already have a sense of where your current main trigger lives in your body. Even now, pause. Lay your hand where it feels tight. Imagine a radiant light flowing into the contraction. Whisper the words you've always longed to hear: "I love you. I'm here. I've got you. You're safe now. I'm not leaving."

This is the path.

Not to perfect behavior, but to deeper loving presence. Not to always be calm, but to always return to yourself. Your triggers aren't failures. They are sacred invitations to heal something that really needs your loving presence, something frozen that needs to thaw in the light of your inner radiance. Your triggers invite you to come home. To love yourself. To finally be the one who never leaves.

To go deeper with this healing path, Heal What Hurts offers an eight-step process that guides you into a daily rhythm of presence, compassion, and Divine connection. This is not just a set of tools, but a lived path, one that invites you to meet your triggers as sacred openings and to bring breath, body awareness, and Divine loving presence into the frozen emotional knots within. In the book, you'll learn to locate specific "trigger knots" in your body's energy field, uncover the scripts held within them, and offer the words and presence you've always longed to hear. With each step, you're not just calming your reactions, you're becoming someone new: a more compassionate, spiritually grounded version of yourself, one who responds from love instead of wounding. This spiritual journey is a homecoming to your truest self and The Divine Loving Presence that is always available within.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2025. All rights reserved.

I was born 10/23/1987. My ex-boyfriend was born 06/12/1981. I had this dream: I was watching a news program on television when it said that my ex-boyfriend was dead. His story was on the internet but in the dream I didn't read the details. I was sobbing all day and night. In reality he is alive; we just haven't talked in a while and I don't know what's going on in his life now. I know there are some issues that need closure, but I find it hard to confront him about them because I doubt he will come clean about everything. Can you please tell me what this dream may mean?

Astrea:

For this one, I had to go back to the old-fashioned dream interpretation I learned as a kid. There are hundreds of old-fashioned ways to see through the dream that you describe. The one I feel is the safest interpretation is this: When we dream of the death of someone we love - someone who probably isn't going to die right away - it means that we are going to have another chance with that person. It means that we are heading for some kind of new beginning in that particular relationship.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you and your ex-boyfriend are going to get back together in a romantic way, but it DOES mean that your spiritual selves are going to open up to one another again, and if it leads to getting back together, then that's great. If it leads to deeper understanding of the way the two of you feel about each another now, that's great, too. Either way, something is going to happen.

How do you work that out? First, examine the reason the two of you haven't spoken in a while. Was there some kind of shameful behavior on your or his part that is so embarrassing you can't bring yourself to face each other? Get past that! No matter what has gone on in your past together, as long as there wasn't any real threat of danger or physical violence, you can work it out.

Words are just words; they can be forgiven and forgotten easier than you might imagine. If there was someone else who tried to come between you, get past that, too. The kind of dream you had indicates that the two of you are reaching out to heal one another on a soul level.

Dreams aren't ALWAYS prophetic. This one doesn't mean that he's dying, but it may mean something like he's dying to TALK to you. I get strong impressions that this is the case with the two of you.

Often when we are in a situation where we feel we can't talk to someone we need to connect with, our subconscious takes over and we begin to have these kinds of dreams. When you love someone, just because there is physical separation doesn't mean your souls are disconnected! Love transcends all physical boundaries and limitations.

Even if you don't get back together as romantic lovers, it's time for the two of you to try to be friends again. You have some kind of Karmic connection with this person, and now isn't the right time to give that up. You two still have a ways to go together, so get going on the same path again. While you're at it, as soon as it's reasonable, ask this ex if he's been having dreams about you too. I bet he has.

*****

Susyn:

Our dreams often bring us mysterious, confusing messages, even though they may involve mundane habits and ordinary aspects of our daily lives such as television and the internet. One way or another, our dreams will find a way to bring our subconscious fears and desires to the surface.

In the dream where you learned your boyfriend was dead, you saw the news both on television and over the internet, which are venues you would have access to on a daily basis. Once you awoke, even though consciously you knew he was alive and well, you experienced an emotional breakdown that provided a release from the pain you actually suffered due to this relationship. It's not uncommon for a dream like this to carry over into our waking state and cause us great emotional distress.

Your dream suggests that there are some unresolved issues you carry about the relationship, and that you have yet to get closure on everything that happened. The dream presented your ex as being dead because he is no longer in your life.

I agree that confronting him would not resolve the issues you still carry or bring you closure. These are issues that you will have to come to terms with on your own. There are a number of ways to achieve this, but the bottom line is that you need to release your need to know the answers to certain questions and simply accept that the relationship has ended.

To begin, I recommend you write all your questions or fears down on paper and take a closer look at them. Ask yourself if having any of these incidents or suspicions confirmed would really make you feel any better. Where your questions feel unanswered, you may want to continue to write about them. Explore your feelings, and based on the facts, what you believe actually happened. Once you are done, burn this writing and ask that Spirit release you from the past.

It is important that you break all ties with your ex so that energies or experiences from your past don't keep you from moving forward into a new relationship. Oftentimes when we feel blocked from moving forward, we don't realize that going back to release the past is the first thing we must do.

The good news is that you do know he is alive and well. This dream wasn't really about him; it was designed to alert you to hidden feelings that need to be faced and released. Once you can clear away the heavy emotions you've carried away from this relationship, you will feel much lighter. Then you can return the focus to your own life and move forward to find the relationship that is right for you.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.