By: Lavene Gass
There’s no escaping it...Mercury goes retrograde on this Sunday, February 16, 2020. It’s currently in its pre-shadow period. So, you might be experiencing some of its energy. Mercury, the planet closet to the Sun, is the ruling planet of Gemini and Virgo and controls travel, communication and technology.
Unfortunately, Mercury Retrograde gets a bad rap because of mishaps that can occur during this period. However, if you become mindful of this time period and how you communicate with yourself (pay attention to your mental chatter) and others as well as plan accordingly to events surrounding travel and technology, you’re in the driver’s seat.
Mercury Retrograde will end on Monday, March 9, 2020 but it won’t be completely over. There’s the wonderful post-shadow period that will last for about 2-3 weeks after the retrograde ends.
While this retrograde will begin in the air sign of Aquarius, the majority of the time, it will be stationed in the water sign of Pisces. Pay attention to any sudden sparks of creativity. Pisces is a dreamy, intuitive, creative sign. During this period, your creativity maybe enhanced. Tap into all of this energy and use it to not only brainstorm but to also create projects. Lastly, tune into your intuition - follow your gut-feelings. However, be mindful of those gut-feelings. This is the year of mindfulness. In each of my meditation classes, I will be honing in on mindfulness – the state of being in the present moment, without fear or judgment.
It’s imperative to understand the power of your chakras. For instance, if your Solar Plexus Chakra and Third Eye Chakra are imbalanced, trusting your gut, may not be optimal because imbalance in these particular chakras can lead to paranoia or over-confidence – skewing decision making.
What is Mercury Retrograde?
Approximately 3-4 times a year, Mercury appears to move backwards in its orbit. Key word: appears! It’s an illusion. The planet isn’t moving backwards; instead, it’s moving at a slower pace. During this slow pace, hick-ups and snafus centered around communication, travel and technology (each of these things are controlled by Mercury) tend to occur. Some people experience “Mercury Retrograde Hysteria” due to the malfunctions that may occur.
I, on the other hand, think that we can take a page out of Mercury’s book. If a planet can slow down. Why can’t we? Rather than focusing on the “wrath” of Mercury Retrograde, let’s focus on what we can do to circumvent such occurrences, but more importantly, take this time to rest. During any planetary retrograde period, I encourage people to focus on the prefix “re.” So, reflect, refocus, rewire, reevaluate, rethink, etc.
Chakras to Work on During This Period:
Sacral Chakra (Creativity)
Solar Plexus Chakra (Gut-Feelings)
Throat Chakra (Communication)
Third Eye Chakra (Intuition)
Other things to do during Mercury Retrograde:
Practice the pause
Think before you speak
Balance your chakras
Communicate effectively
Slow down
Practice mindfulness
Journal
Brainstorm: Creativity Intensifies
Meditate
Do Yoga
Thoroughly prepare projects
Triple check work