Permission to Pause
I love Mercury Retrograde. As a Virgo Rising, Mercury is my ruling planet; I feel Mercury's shifts and transits quite deeply in my body. It went retrograde yesterday and, like clock work, the night before, I could feel my body wanting to slow down…to sleep a little longer…to go to bed a little earlier. I could feel my psyche orienting itself inward…wanting to self-reflect and pause.
Mercury Retrogrades are three-week invitations for us to slow down, pause, and reflect on whatever themes are coming back around, pertinent, and present for us. It's not the time to decide on the thing. It's not time to barrel ahead on the thing. It's the time to ask ourselves questions like:
What am I being asked to revisit, rework, or reimagine right now?
Where might I need to re-clarify my needs or boundaries — first with myself, and then also possibly with others?
What wisdom have I gathered from past experiences, and how is that wisdom guiding me through this situation right now?
In honor of Mercury Retrograde's gift of supporting us to pause, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite oracle cards, accompanying message, and practice from my oracle deck, Your True Nature Oracle.
We live in a culture that over-values immediacy and under-values patience. We are steeped in a society that favors a speedy pace and brushes past the power of a steady one. For these reasons, it is truly both a rebellious and revolutionary choice to pause.
Pausing is a rare treasure of our times.
After you place food in your mouth, to receive the best possible benefits from it, you have to chew it well, swallow it, and let your body digest and integrate its nutrients. The same is true for your life experiences. There is a certain potency that is lost when we don’t allow ourselves to pause, digest, and integrate life.
In a world that praises busyness, consumption, action, and achievement, it can feel challenging to see the value in pausing. We can easily (and understandably) mistake pausing for being lazy. But here’s the truth: Action is not your only potency. Pausing is your own kind of superpower.
Pausing is a quality that nature naturally embodies, and we would do well to take its lead. Nature innately knows that pausing is part of the natural rhythm of things. Give yourself space to wait…to nap…to let your brain and body be restored…to let the action you’ve taken marinate…and use the sacred space of this temporary rest to integrate and digest your life.
Inner Reflection:
Are you feeling called to press pause? What parts of self and life could benefit from some breathing space?
Journey Deeper:
Practice the Gentle Pause Meditation here. A wonderful daily ritual.
With care,
Heather
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