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August 5 through August 11, 2024

The first full week of August starts out on a stabilizing note, as the Moon moves through Virgo Monday through Wednesday. Grounding, organizing, and fruitful, this earth sign is famous for bringing things into perspective and allowing us to chart a course for the future. A Libra Moon prevails from Thursday to Friday, and combined with the Leo Sun will focus on bringing all aspects of ourselves into balance. Spiritual, emotional, and physical imbalances will need to be addressed, as we turn our attention to our own personal worlds. Personal relationships will also be a theme as we seek out any areas where things are off course and make the effort to restore loving and nurturing connections. The week ends on a spiritual note as the Moon moves into Scorpio, calling us to go inward for intuitive direction and soulful exchanges. Although there are no major astrological shifts this week, the internal work we do will set a course for the future.

Dealing with Emotional Tension: Discover Clarity for Tackling the Big Problems and Making the Big Changes, by Ann Todhunter Brode

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The mandatory time out and social distancing of the past few months have given us an opportunity to look deep and evaluate what's working and what's not. Unresolved emotions are floating to the surface. Unresolved issues are demanding attention and calling for change. As a result, the need for both personal and communal healing has become loud and clear. But, before we're able to address the issues, we need to process the emotions.

With one thing piling on another and no end in sight, most of us are dealing with low-grade emotional overload. The side effects are easy to spot. Your chest is tight. Your hands are sweaty. You wake up tired and carry a bit of angst in your belly all day long. The slightest thing gets you irritated. Your vision is fuzzy and your mind is buzzy. Regardless of intentions, fielding a bunch of fear, grief, and anger affects your ability to handle a challenging situation. As neuroscientist Candace Pert explains in her book, Molecules of Emotion, triggered emotions block neural pathways, undermining clarity and compassion. Perhaps the first step in healing our community is healing ourselves.

We're all in the same fix. With questions about social unrest, climate change, political morality, financial security, and what the future holds, the stakes are high. Just tune in to your body right now and, chances are, you'll find an undercurrent of doubt, despair, and uncertainty. In this state, you really can't think clearly, listen compassionately or make good decisions. Although it feels imperative to sort things out, your perspective is impaired. In order to bring an open mind and open heart to the table, you'll need to address what's happening in your emotional body.

Although the emotions surfacing right now may feel calibrated to this novel situation, they probably have a taproot deep in your psyche. This isn't the first time in your life that you've felt unhappy about what's happening and uncertain about what's happening next. Chances are, then and now, you've ended up trying to manage your negative feelings with negative behaviors. In the long run, this doesn't work. As somatic healers know: when feelings come up and don't move on, they get tucked away and become the body's tension patterns. Based on this understanding, anywhere there's habitual tension, numbness, or agitation (forehead, jaw, stomach, chest, neck, and so forth), there'll be an emotional component.

Stored emotions play it forward. As you go through life, a random comment, piece of music, or certain smell can stir up old feelings. A movie, news item, or unexpected sound can bring up old traumas. Confronted with a worldwide pandemic and isolating protocols, it makes sense that your body would anchor down and go on high alert. Instead of trying to ignore what you're feeling, this is an opportunity to pay attention and do some emotional healing. If you feel comfortable, just ask the following questions with an open mind and listen to the answers with an open heart.

• "Where do I feel it?"
• "What does it feel like?"
• "What does it sound like?"
• "What does it look like?"

Staying focused on the physicality helps you identify the emotion without judgment or interpretation. Adding expression helps the emotional energy move out of your body, releasing in pure form. As Rachel Naomi Remen, MD says, "The only bad emotion is a stuck emotion.” Like weather coming and going, the natural state of all emotional energy is fluid and moving. Emotion= E+motion.

Dealing with E-motional Tension

1. Find a private time and place to sit quietly. Tune in to your body and get honest with what's going on. Where do you feel tension? Is your jaw clamped shut or tongue pushing against your teeth? Are your stomach, shoulder or calf muscles tight? If so, there's probably an emotional connection.
2. Without trying to construct a story or analyze the situation, notice how the tension pulls your body into a certain expression. What feeling does its shape imply? Your response will be very personal. For instance, a tight stomach might be linked to anxiety, anger, fear, or …? Just go with your first impression; don't try to over-think this.
3. On the next three exhales, make a sound that represents the tension. If the tone seems sad, mad, scared, maybe it is. Don't hold on or try to interpret it. Just let it go.
4. Now, use your hands to brush away the energetic residue; wiggle a bit to disengage any leftover tension. Don't worry about sending negative energy out into the world. Once released, there's no toxicity—it's just energy.
5. Pause. Take a moment to feel the peaceful opening where there was turmoil. Align your body-mind-spirit to be in this moment with clarity and compassion.

Following the outline above is one way to get your emotions moving and moving on out. Some other ways to deal with E-motional tension are going out for a brisk walk/ run, exercising strenuously, dancing with abandon, and working in the garden building up a sweat. And, as your body moves, breathe out the negative emotions and breathe in the positives.

Taking the time to heal your emotional body unblocks your neural circuitry. The results are tangible. Even if you're not triggered by something specific right now, just be aware of what's happening in your body when you listen to the morning news. If you end up feeling agitated, tense, or on hold, take some time to do some body-based emotional healing and evaluate the results. Once the E-motion got moving, were you more relaxed? Could you breathe more freely? Was it easier to stay in present time and be positive? Did clearing the energy lead to perspective, compassion, insight? Breaking up the blockage can be the breakthrough that helps you see the forest and the trees.

Maintaining emotional clarity in these turbulent times is an ongoing process. If your feelings get triggered along the way, get them moving and moving on out. Then, you can show up for what's happening with an open mind and open heart. Hearing what's being said, responding with compassion, and having spiritual perspective is especially important in times of upheaval and change. So, whenever you read something, watch something, or hear something that makes your body uncomfortable, it's asking you to do some emotional healing. And, when you walk away from a tough conversation, feeling anything other than interest or empathy, it's an opportunity to do some more.

Take the first step. Your commitment to healing makes it possible to show up and stand up for necessary changes. Whether about racial equality or environmental justice or reordering the dynamic of a personal relationship, the Covid-19 time-out has put us at a crossroads. As messy and uncomfortable as it may feel, remember: when feelings surface, a wound is ready to heal. Seen as a therapeutic process, clearing the fear, impatience, anger, despair, sadness, shame, and helplessness is a powerful way to embrace change. If we all take responsibility for our own healing, we can show up to tackle the big problems and make the big changes.

Please note: If you don't feel comfortable doing this alone, ask someone competent to help. If it's not the right time, put it off. Perhaps, diving in to the emotional stew is not for you. Adding the intention of clearing emotional energy to your regular practice of meditation, biofeedback, yoga, tai chi, or simple breathing exercises can achieve the same goal.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. All rights reserved.

My question involves myself, Liz (Scorpio), ex-hubby Jon (Capricorn), and current love Walt (Sagittarius). I was married to Jon for 13 years. These were the best years of my life, and this was the most loving relationship I'd ever known. We were BEST friends, but he lacked passion. I ignored that issue because everything else was so blissful between us. Then years ago, sadly I initiated a divorce after meeting Walt. I wanted a mate who could return my passion. Jon understood and reluctantly let go. We remained friends, and it seemed almost nothing changed between us but our addresses! We talked daily, shared activities - even had sleepovers (still no sex.) Walt, a bit of a loner, seemingly accepted my friendship with Jon, so I gained a lover but didn't lose my best bud. Jon rarely dated and I felt guilty I'd found new love when he hadn't. I prayed he'd find a happy committed relationship so I could enjoy MY new love guilt-free. Then just recently, Jon did find love, and has pulled away to enjoy his new partner. My wish came true! He seems so happy, fulfilled and PASSIONATE, and his partner adores him.

Why do I suddenly feel devastated? It doesn't seem very spiritual of me. It's not that I really want Jon back as a husband. We truly weren't compatible as mates, but he was my first "rock," and that aspect of my life has diminished. I thought I'd be able to commit more fully to Walt once Jon was happy in a relationship too, but now all I think about is Jon. Crazily, I'm regretting that our marriage ended, even though I know it wasn't a real marriage since the flame of passion was so dim on his side. I feel jealous when I should feel grateful that he too found the gift of mutual passion. Suddenly I'm having the hardest time making peace with being divorced from Jon, even though it's been three years! I feel stuck in the past. Can you help me evolve and move forward? Walt loves me so, and I truly love HIM. I know there's an important growth opportunity in here somewhere. Thank you! - Liz

Dreamchaser:

Liz, as you are a Scorpio, I can absolutely understand your need for passion. Jon has found his own special someone and you are jealous. You really liked knowing that he still loved you and that the door was still cracked open for you if you needed to go back through it. Now that door is closed, and that completely freaks you out on MANY levels. As odd as this sounds, you feel very alone suddenly. You are also jealous because he is not paying as much attention to you and you miss him. You want your friend back.

You're also wondering how he could find passion with someone else and not YOU. It gave you some comfort seeing him remain single and passion-less, but now that he has this love and he is happy and full of LIFE, you can't help but wonder if something inside YOU prevented the spark of passion in your relationship. You are comparing yourself to his new love, and this brings up feelings of inadequacy that stem from your childhood. You do NOT like how this feels. In your eyes, Jon is now the perfect man, for the one element he was missing has been found, so you want him back.

Liz, there are lots of people who are amazing friends, but very poor lovers. There are also some people who are amazing lovers, but very poor friends too! You and Jon are most assuredly soul mates. You are supposed to be together in SOME form in this life. When you met, you loved each other instantly. It was a comfortable, comforting kind of love. You "knew" on some level that it was not everything you wanted, but it was REALLY good. He is a very good man and a good friend to you. You made the trade-off that MANY people make when they say to themselves, "Well, he (or she) is probably as close to perfect as I am going to find."

If there is something important missing in a relationship, such as sexual compatibility, then you're not meant to be lovers. Like you and Jon, people can stay friends and go on to find the element that is lacking elsewhere. SO many people fall into this same "hole" Liz.

You and Jon are not meant to be lovers, you are meant to be friends. You two together cannot summon the passion that you find with others. He is not leaving your life. He will still be your best friend. I think your feelings are telling you to look at your own marriage carefully. Are you lacking something important there, or do you have everything you need?

*****

Astrea:

You seem pretty darned enlightened to me, kiddo. What you're experiencing is ONLY HUMAN! No matter how spiritual we become, we are still HUMAN beings with HUMAN feelings and human hurts. Of course you're going to feel some resentment that Jon has found someone who seems to be able to ignite the passion in him you weren't getting when you two were married. This is entirely NORMAL! We ALL feel like that when our exes find happiness with someone else, whether we're still in love with them or not.

What you're also feeling is a FINAL kind of separation from Jon that you haven't had to feel before, because you've been able to BE enlightened and remain friends, even though your Karma as husband and wife is finished in this incarnation. This is why you find yourself thinking of him constantly, and even wondering what it would be like to be with him again. I really don't think that you WANT to be reunited in that way. You do love Walt and you've found happiness with him. You may have found that during this time of emotional struggle for you, he gets on your nerves a little bit (little things jump out at you), but this too is normal and will pass.

You ARE facing this in a VERY SPIRITUAL way, because you're QUESTIONING why you feel the way you do about the situation. Don't think that there is something spiritually wrong with you. Jon is all happy now, and okay, that's hard to take because the two of you stopped creating that for one another. He's probably busier now, and his new love might not really want him with you all the time, like he was able to be before. I'm sure he is all caught up in his transition from being single to being in a happy new relationship. I'm sure at times he even seems to be "rubbing it in," but he doesn't mean to.

This is nothing but a new TRANSITION in your friendship too. Once the "new" wears off his romantic relationship, Jon will be back to being the friend you've known him to be. It's hard to get used to sharing his energy, but that's all you really have to accomplish. I know in your heart that you are THRILLED that he's happy; it's just your head that needs convincing now. You'll get to a good and comfortable place with this new experience if you just give yourself some patient time to adjust. If JON loves this girl, you will love her too in time, because you and Jon are so very much alike.

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.