Jessicas Stover 0:09 This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University. Rosa McAllister 0:23 Hi, everyone, it's Rosa McAllister. And this is our monthly Healing Circle time, our healing call where we come together anonymously, to join together to think, hold each, other hold space for one another, breathe, listen, maybe move a little bit and just kind of enjoy ourselves together, coming together as we do each month. We've been doing this for I think a year now. I think it's maybe a little bit over a year on the first Monday of the month, at 8pm eastern time, and I'm thrilled to be leading us this time, as I have on several other occasions. And each time that we do this, I think - or at least each time that I'm in the lead - I think I say, my goodness, here we are at another potent time. It seems each time we have one of these healing circle times, there's things, other things going on. Other things in the world that are kind of maybe tumultuous, maybe nerve wracking, maybe infuriating, maybe joyous. And here we are again, it seems so much is happening. And one of the things that is happening for us right now that we're in the midst of is an amazing super full moon. It occurred actually early in the morning yesterday, Sunday, between Saturday night and Sunday and depending upon your timezone it may be affecting you a little differently, your temperament and everything else. But I thought I'd take a little bit of time honoring this beautiful super full moon. I was very fortunate to actually help lead a celebration last night for dear friends, a couple who have never married or have decided not to go through that kind of traditional bounds as they call it or binding as they call it. But have lived together and been together for many decades and are quite the pair. Oh my goodness. And they wanted to celebrate who they were - an anniversary of their finding each other many decades ago. And so last night we had a beautiful ceremony and the hills of Maui - West Maui mountains, starting just before the moon crested over the mountaintops and then continuing on after that for quite a long time. It was on their property, kind of a rustic, beautiful property. The wind was really high. It was very cold for Maori standards. And it was incredibly beautiful with that moon. And I was so glad and honored to be a part of that and to actually be leading that celebration for these wondrous crazy characters that they are. But more than that, I was really happy because this this super full moon has been getting some bad press and I don't like when things get bad press. I always like to do the, "Yeah, but..." What about. So I'm taking that side of the yeah, buts, and the what abouts, to help us all look at this full moon, who is very - she is very, very potent. It's the first Super Moon of 2017 and a super moon as many of you know, it's - it's not that it's really super duper anything bigger, more unusual than the typical full moon. It just appears to be more on the horizon and appears to be larger. And if you haven't seen, check out search online in the through the internet images of the super full moon last night it was quite amazing over New York City and many other places. And many locations were blessed with incredibly clear sky. This Super Moon or full moon was in Gemini, for those of you interested, and it's typically known as the cold moon because it occurs in December. Not cold heart, just cold in temperature typically. So I have a couple of different readings I want to do here. But before we launch into that, as I often like to do with us together, is let's take a moment to breathe together. It's one of those things that I just like drinking water and reminding myself to get up and move when I'm having a work day in front of my computer. Breathing is something that I I know that I do, but sometimes I need to remind myself to really do it. So let's in our own way in whatever is comfortable for you all together, now. Let's breathe together. A deep breath through our nose. Hold it for as long as you can. And then let it out ever so slowly, also through your nose. Breathing in this way, a very conscious breathing, long breath in hold and a very slow breath in both through the nose. breath in and breath out through the nose is not something that we oftentimes do. And in some pranayama, which is breathing techniques or yogic breathing, we want to do through the nose for both the intake and the outtake. Because it awakens the pituitary. The pituitary is a wonderful gland - an amazing, magic gland within our body that helps balance hormones and do all kinds of other things. And helps to calm us or right us when we're feeling a little unbalanced. And many are talking about this full moon in Gemini, this cold moon, super moon as being an unbalancing. So let's remember to do whatever we can to balance. So just to read you a little bit about this full moon. It's from Chani Nicholas who writes and is an incredible astrologer, mystic mama. And she writes, "...today's full moon in Gemini occurs as Its ruler Mercury stations retrograde." We hear a lot about - I'm going off script here - we hear a lot about retrograde Mercury, and we're going to talk about that too. This full moon is anything but clear or straightforward. But sometimes weeding through the distortions and discomfort is incredibly illuminating. It forces us to sit with the task of parsing out what is our own issue, and what is someone else's. Because this full moon is square to Neptune, issues around boundaries about Neptune can leave us feeling overwhelmed with emotion, anxious or too unprotected. Because Mercury is stationing retrograde in conjunction to Saturn. The consequences of losing our boundaries are felt with even a greater weight. But this is a gift. Saturn helps us learn our lessons the hard way most times, so we don't forget. So we don't twist the tail. So we understand that learning a lesson through and through is always worth the path of doing so. Notice when you feel anxious or untethered, believe me, you will feel this. What is happening? What set it off? What does it teach you about your needs, your tendencies and your patterns? What might you do differently next time so that you feel more taken care of, or protected or acknowledged. The moon is trying to teach us how we might communicate more effectively with ourselves. And then everyone else. Listen lovingly, and give yourself what you need accordingly. Let's take a moment, and take another good, deep breath in through the nose. Hold it as you can, as long and then out through the nose very slowly. Awaken that pituitary gland. And now let's add in a bit of a stretch, whatever body part you want. It might be your eyes or your eyebrows, or your mouth or your tongue. It might be your fingers or your hands or your feet or your toes, your legs or your shoulders up to your ears and then done - whatever it is. Maybe it's all of the above. Give it a good stretch, open up your channels. And then come back to center. Now I have another reading from an interesting character named Mastin Kipp. Many folks follow him. So here's something a little bit more about this retrograde stuff that we hear. Mercury gets a bad rap, a really bad rap. And Mercury Retrograde. Oh my goodness, we hear about that. So Mastin writes, Quote from Mastin Kipp 9:57 "I'm sending you a warning email today. decide not to buy into the collective superstition that Mercury in retrograde will mess up your life or break your technology. My technology breaks all the time, not just during Mercury Retrograde. Don't give your power away to something outside yourself. In my book 'Claim Your Power' I write about the anatomy of transformation, five internal layers that you can control that determines the quality of your life. Behavior, number one; Thoughts, number two; Emotions, number three; Beliefs, number four; and your OI, number five, your OI (pronounced oy). You and only you decide what this life means and how you will interpret the events of your life. There is no meaning to life or Mercury in retrograde unless you give it meaning. That's how powerful you are. That's who you are. be less concerned with a planet 48 million miles and more concerned with your own ability to choose right here in your own body. So stay with me loud and proud Mercury is in retrograde, but I am not." Rosa McAllister 11:09 And if your technology breaks or something else - I add in - maybe it's just because you need a break. So let's take another minute together to breathe and stretch. What does Mercury Retrograde have to do with anything? [In response to a question from a caller] That's okay. That's quite all right. But - Oh, not a problem. And my apologies, No, I'm glad you're mentioning that. Mercury Retrograde - t's basically the idea - it's an astrological phenomenon that occurs. And a lot of people give it a lot of attention. It occurs, actually for a long periods of time and several - and very often - and there was a period not too long ago. [In response] I'm sorry the planet Mercury - the planet [In response] - Not so much the place of birth - it doesn't have to do with, it has to do with what's happening in our celestial skies and our happen. And so your longitude and latitude will affect you to some extent. But when mercury mercury - many people believe when Mercury goes in retrograde it affects many people. Very big, very big and causes - it's kind of like the trickster that pulls out all kinds of things out of its hats just to make us feel unbalanced, untethered, etc. Similar, similar a little bit. Okay. So no, no, no problem whatsoever. no problem whatsoever. Glad you asked. And there's a whole lot more to it. So yeah, Google away - you'll find probably more than you want to know. But I like his take on this. Like, let's not give it more power than it really is. It's just a celestial happening. And while it might be something that kind of throws us we don't have to buy into it wholesale, to the extent where we're blaming everything on it and going back to bed and pulling the covers over our heads. Okay, So - no worries. I'm glad you did. Thanks. Glad you're joining in, not a problem. So anyway, on that note, let's take a breath. let's stretch, and then let's coil inwards. So whatever that means for you is the opposite of stretching. So take a deep breath in through your nose hold it. Let it out through your nose slowly. Stretch widely whatever buy parts are all All body parts that you want, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it. And then coil inwards. Whether it's wrapping your arms around yourself or curling in a ball, or clenching your base or your fists. Whatever it is - tighten, tighten, tighten, hold it, hold it, hold it, and release. And now I'm going to read something else for you. It's called she let go. Quoted poem from Safire Rose 14:33 She let go. She let go without a thought or a word. She let go. She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the right answers and the right reasons wholly and completely without hesitation or worry she just like out She didn't ask anyone for advice. She didn't read a book on how to let go. She didn't search the Scriptures. She didn't Google it, she just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all the calculations about how to do it just right. She didn't promise to let go. She didn't journal about it. She didn't write the projected date in her day timer or her calendar. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn't check the weather report or reader daily horoscope. She just let go. She didn't analyze whether she should let go. She didn't call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn't do a five step spiritual mind treatment. She didn't call the prayer line. She didn't utter one word. She just let go. No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her for praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go. There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn't good. And it wasn't bad. It was what it was. And it is just that. In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her, and the sun and the moon shone forevermore. (https://safire-rose.com/books-and-media/poetry/she-let-go) Rosa McAllister 16:38 So if you could, what could you let go of right now. Conjure it up. Maybe it feels too big and too hard to let go. But maybe there's a part of it or a piece of it that you could let go of. Try to imagine what you would be like without it - f you let go. What if in the magic of mercury retrograde and the super full moon and the cold moon and everything else, suddenly whatever it was, was taken from you. You didn't even have to let it go. It just went. What if... Take a breath, hold it. Stretch wide. Coil inwards. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Relax, come back to center. And breathe again. A deep breath with a really long exhale. What if not only you could let go, but you could help others let go? Maybe through your example. Or your breathing with them? Or you calling them and just letting them know that you're thinking of them? Or you're holding them close, or sending a virtual hug or a text, or a Facebook message, or an emoji, or whatever? What if you could really help someone else? In fact, what if you could help a bunch of someone's let go? I bet that would make us all let go more too. it's not just that easy. We know that and there's more to it than just a breath and a stretch and a coil. It's certainly much more than a horoscope or astrological phenomenons or full moons. But there are some really basic things that we can do. Breathing is the number one thing. Conscious breathing, that is not just the [panting sounds] really short breaths that I know I do sometimes, especially when I'm stressed. But the deep conscious breathings. The really impartant - important part of the breathing is the holding it and the slow exhalation, the slowly letting it out. That's the most important because that's when we're pulling up from our innards and getting out and really dry stale air. The Deep breath in is important, but not so much as the other two parts. So what if you could consciously do that regularly. Some other tips and some other things that we can do when we feel we can't let go or when we're swirling or when mercury or whatever is getting the better of us. Placing your right hand on your navel - on your belly button - just placing it. Just try it if you can, right now. Place your hand, on your belly, on your abdomen, your right hand over your navel. It's an anchoring or grounding that's used in many, many beliefs and practices. And interestingly enough, when we have a tummy ache or what have you, what's the first thing we do? It's almost always that right hand goes right to that navel, right to the belly button. The umbilicus or the belly button is a really important center of our body. That's where we were connected to our life source within our mamas. And the energetically, it's known as being the center of our being. Putting our right hand there is not only comforting and grounding, it actually can really help us kind of pull ourselves back together. Especially if we do it with a little umph. So those times when you really stress lean in on that hand and give yourself some firmness in that touch. Some other things we can do is taking a shower or a bath, or putting our feet in water, just a bucket of water or if there's any natural source of water. Just think for a moment of how it feels when you put your bare piggies in a cool stream of water. How it immediately grounds you. Taking a shower and taking a bath is not just a simple pleasure that we can do but it's a grounding thing to help us really feel better, feel more in control. Eating more foods particularly with better green or have green energy, like kale and lettuce and spinach and green juices and broccoli and brussel sprouts, etc. And yes, mint chocolate ice cream I would add to that list. These are all things that are life-enforcing, just thinking of the green filling your body. It's a metaphysical, it's a metaphorical kind of way for us to strengthen ourselves even more. Now, I am not suggesting you all go out and eat a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream, nor am I suggesting a whole head of kale or broccoli or what have you. But focusing on the greenness, both outside and in some places, finding green outside at this time of year is hard. So focusing on the green that we can intake and put into our bodies. Sometimes it's really important. Using of essential oils, particularly very relaxing ones, lemon, vetiver, chamomille, lavender, vanilla, things like that, using that to scent the area and very, very sparingly on ourselves. But be very mindful that a lot of times we don't want to be putting essential oils directly on ourselves but scenting an area. Or I know people that carry a little sniffer with them, and when they are stressed, they pull it out and very secretly just sniff a little bit. It's amazing, amazing to us how that can stimulate a calm reaction in us. Some other things that we can do that really help us certainly is movement - Yoga Pilates, exercise, walking, etc. But just the simple things we did of stretching and coiling. Opposite movements are really, really good to ground us. And then there's sound - listening to lots of different sounds. Soothing, yes, but also jarring. Fluid, yes, but also dissonant, and mixing up the sounds that we're listening to. Not all at once, but over the course of, for example, a day. So I've been finding myself listening to some of the same CDs frequently, and I've been trying to purposely mix it up so that I'm mixing up my responses and my reactions a little bit more too. What's coming into my body into my sphere into my energy field, to help me balance out some of the other energies that come up this time of year, because of the full moon, because of mercury, but also because of the holidays. And because of the weather. This is a time of year that throws many of us off a little bit. And so doing things consciously, not just to soothe us, but to also throw us into different modes, different moods, different physical status, like with the stretching, and then the coiling innards, the music, the soothing, and then the otherwise the dissonant. So yeah, the holidays are here again. And as we approach them, we can approach them with more self-care and more loving to ourselves. Self-love, self compassion, extra emotional support to one another, and to ourselves - will help make the holidays more bearable, more fun and more joyous for all of us. And remembering to breathe. So one last time all together. Let's take a deep breath in, Hold it as long as you can. And then send it out to one another and out to the world with a lot of love. Thank you all. Talk to you next month. Bye. Jessicas Stover 25:30 Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer. If you want to be kept informed of upcoming events, subscribe to our channel to be kept up to date on our future programs. Click on the link provided in the description if you wish to receive emails about our upcoming events and offerings. Transcribed by https://otter.ai