Libra Solar Eclipse Meditation: Navigating Shadows (75)

Hi everyone and welcome back to how the Wise One Grows. Thank you so much for taking the time to land here together today. I know that there is a lot happening in the world right now and I think this space is really important for us to acknowledge that. Last week we spoke in episode 74 with Ashley Coleman about shamanism and how we can turn pain into purpose. We also dove into the difference between the ego, the soul and the spirit. If you missed that episode, I definitely recommend going back giving it a listen. It is a great go-to, especially if you are getting more and more curious about spirituality in the spiritual realm. The link to that is in the show notes, episode 74 with Ashley. 10 out of 10 recommend Something we talked about with Ashley. Quite a bit is really relevant to what is happening in the world right now, both in current events and astrologically. That is what we are going to lean into together today. Before we dive into that, I just want to take a moment to give a shout out to two new members of the Dream Team, susan and Elena. Thank you so much for joining. You're incredible. For those who don't know what the Dream Team is, it's a group of people who support this podcast every month. The coolest part is that not only does it make this podcast possible, but your contributions also support community causes. The Dream Team members get to help choose what organizations we support. For the month of October, we're going to be looking into ways we can support some relief funding for people being impacted by recent events. Stay tuned for that. If you have any recommendations on which organizations to support, please let me know. You can leave a comment. You can check me out on social media and drop it in my DMs there. I also really want to take a moment to hold space for what's happening in Israel and Palestine and to hold space for us to be with the deep pain that comes from that and the suffering of our fellow humans around the world. In episode 66, I shared a loving-kindness meditation. I think this is a great place to start when something as tragic as what's happening right now arises. It's a way you can tend to yourself and to others. It's not to be a spiritual bypassing thing. It's just a way in which you can tend to yourself, resource yourself, so that you are able to take the necessary action and to support others in the natural world through times such as these, the link to episode 66 in the show notes. Feel free to jump there if you need that release right now. You need that support right now. That's there for you. And today we're going to focus on what's happening astrologically with the solar eclipse on Saturday, october 14th, and we're going to continue to go into shadows and how that relates to ourselves and to the world around us. So we're going to touch on that in today's meditation as well. So take a moment, find a space that feels safe and supported for you and we'll get started. Just start by noticing where your body makes a connection to the earth beneath you. Let yourself be held here, know that you don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Allow them to soften down the back as the earth holds you here. Notice where in your body you feel your breath and take a big breath in and a big breath out. Inhale, fill your chest, fill your belly with air, exhale, open your mouth, let it all out. Inhale, fill the chest, fill the belly with air, exhale, open your mouth, let it all go One more. Inhale and exhale and allow your awareness to rest either where the body makes contact with the earth or where your breath flows through the body, whichever resonates with you most right now, and I'll begin to share a bit about the eclipse and the new moon that's coming up. So on October 14th there is a solar eclipse in Libra, and a general thing to know about eclipses is that it's all about shadow and light. These can be a time of speeding up endings and beginnings, and there can be a lot of energy about letting go and releasing. Scales can also hold unstable, unpredictable, uncertain energy. But rather than trying to overdo things, trying to control that, it's important to take a step back and just watch what comes up, witness what shadows arise and try not to take them on, not to define yourself by them, but just to witness it. This particular eclipse is in Libra, and Libra is about balance. It's about relationships, it's about reorienting ourselves, it's about equity and justice. So a good question to lean into for this eclipse is what is needed? What do I need to rebalance here? If something feels off, what do I need to let go of? What do I need to shine light on to find balance? As we look into shadows with this eclipse, I invite you to ask yourself what is your own shadow right now? What in your life is just outside of your conscious awareness. What are you just kind of stuffing to the side, in that box, in the corner that you haven't opened up, and how can you bring that into awareness? So, instead of keeping it in that corner, turning your back to it, can you turn to that shadow, can you shine a light on it and bring that into awareness? So take a moment now, scan your body from head to toe and, as you do so, notice if there's any part you try to speed through or resist feeling what's there. And if you find that point, I invite you to bring your attention to it, shine a light on it, breathe with it and be with it, knowing that shadows don't define you. They aren't bad. They are simply a part of the whole. I invite you now to ask yourself what is draining me, what's taking away my energy, that's leaving me feeling depleted, and what do I need to do to protect my energy, to protect myself, so I don't feel so depleted, so weakened by that thing? What boundaries do you need to set? What patterns might you need to let go of To protect yourself, to protect your energy? What might you need to recalibrate, to balance yourself in your life in this moment and then, as we look to what's happening in the world around us, what shadows are present, what heaviness or darkness are you putting in that box in the corner? Are you keeping in the shadows? There could be a lot of things in there. It could be what's happening in Israel and Palestine, it could be the climate crisis, it could be a number of things and ask yourself and first, instead of turning away from it, let's turn to it and shine a light on it. Become aware of what you're feeling here and just take a few moments to be with it and to breathe with it. And then ask yourself what do I need to do to protect myself, to honor my energy, so that I can take action to support others in the world around me and myself around this? Maybe bring a hand to your heart or to some other comforting gesture, if you haven't already done so, and repeat in your mind may I be happy, may I be safe, may I be free from suffering, may all beings be happy, may all beings be safe. May all beings be free from suffering. Exhale and exhale. Return to the sensation of being held by the earth beneath you and you can slowly open your eyes as you return to this space. Thank you for taking the time to be with the shadows today. I hope that this is a grounding force for you as we move through this eclipse, as we navigate what's happening in the world, and may we take care of ourselves, one another, in the natural world, as we move through it together. Until the next time, let's keep taking it one breath at a time.