Repatterning - Embodied Astrology for Aquarius Season (January 19-February 18, 2021)

(Aquarius corresponds with the nervous and circulatory systems and is an energy we experience in a-ha! moments of revelation, awakening, and repatterning) Photo credit/Model: Fayola Kaliça photographed by Gabz Tosi for Ser Trans. The #eabodiesproject has an open call in 2021 for your body love images and videos. You’ll get a year-ahead report for your sign in exchange! Learn more here.

Hello loves,

I’ve been trying to write an introduction to Aquarius Season for this email for days now. I’ve written drafts that are political and drafts that are astrological, and one that tried to be both. I’m noticing tension in my body when I read them all. The tension I’m noticing is a familiar kind. It happens when I am trying to either absorb or articulate too much information. This is a cue for me, one that I am learning and trying to learn. It’s a cue to come back to my body and my breath, to not get too spun out on “making sense,” but rather to be as present as I can with what is present.

I’ll say that, probably like many of you, I’m experiencing a range of mixed emotions right now. Deep relief in some ways, hopefulness, and excitement. And, also skepticism, sadness, a sense of uncomfortable anticipation and mistrust. I know there is so much farther to go. Not just here in the US, but everywhere. 

Today, I am held by the steadying comfort of the Taurus moon as it transits through aspects which, over the next 30 days, will be repeated multiple times by planets moving through Taurus and Aquarius. Using the symbolism of medical astrology, we might understand Taurus as the body’s dense matter, the voice and vocal channels, the throat and the function of swallowing/consuming. Aquarius can be understood as the circulatory and nervous systems as well as fascia. Think of the structures and tissues that connect and hold the whole of our bodies together and distribute life-giving energy and information to all of our various parts. 

The aspects formed in Aquarius Season (scroll down to find the month-ahead highlights) are, in some ways, a blueprint for the year. They suggest powerful, consistent attempts to change. Again, coming back to the body, I think of experiences I’ve had with myself, clients, students, family, and friends. I think of how change happens, and the first step is always “waking up” to the need and possibility for change. Waking up happens all kinds of ways – sometimes harsh, sometimes more gentle – and in general isn’t just a one time event. Rather, waking up is usually a slower process, a gradual recognizing and uncovering that requires learning new language and movement and replacing old habits with new patterns. 

When I tune in to what feels real and present for me, ‘repatterning’ is an excellent word. I feel myself pushing for new awareness in so many realms of my life and experience. I feel myself reaching for change, attempting again and again to do certain things differently, falling back again and again into ways of being that are wound so tightly in my personality, my DNA, my cultural conditioning. Everyone I talk to is doing their own version of this. Everyone is trying to shift something, somewhere. Trying to wake up and stay awake. Trying to stay accountable to their own intentions. 

I just want to honor our efforts. I want to yell and whoop! and jump into a huge hug for the ways I know you are showing up every day for work that probably feels at times exhausting, endless, and maybe sometimes hopeless, but you’re doing it anyway. You’re doing it because not doing it simply isn’t an option anymore. 

Repatterning work has to happen on all levels: somatically, psychologically, mentally, relationally, economically, politically. When we work to repattern in ourselves, we work to repattern together. Some of my main tools for somatic, psychological, mental and relational repatterning are sensory awareness and breath. When life is giving me big doses of insistence that NOW IS THE TIME to grow or let go, tuning into my breath is literally one of the only things that can help me move through the anxiety of future fantasies. Being (truly, just being) with the sensations moving through my body is one of the only things that can tether me to my own strength, sense of clarity, and/or ability to be in choice.

I offer a short set of breathing/moving practices here that I brought to the subscriber meet-up for Aquarius Season. These practices are simple. If you use them, please modify and adapt them for your body’s needs. As we seek to repattern, I’d like to also suggest a simple repatterning that not everyone will need, but many will... Which is that connecting with your body isn’t supposed to be enforcing something on your body. Pain does not equal gain. Pushing yourself to limits that push past your intuitive sense of boundaries doesn’t make the practice any “better.” Though these movements are gentle, they also work deeply with the nervous system and spine. Give yourself the support you need to explore them fully. If what you see my body doing isn’t what your body wants to do, just take the suggestion I’m offering and let it inspire your own knowing.

All my love,
R

These horoscopes are sign-specific for the month ahead of AQUARIUS Season (JANUARY 19-FEBRUARY 18, 2021). Check your sun sign to understand more about your inherent nature and ego, your rising sign to understand more about what's going on in your life right now, and your moon sign to understand more about your relationships and emotional landscape. Horoscopes are poetic pieces of mystical suggestion. Take what works and leave the rest. Use the affirmations as questions, metaphors, and reminders.

ARIES
You are worthy of your future plans and desires.
You are worthy of your needs and wants being met.
Honor the value of the friendship you can offer.
Invest in mutuality, collaboration, and sharing.
There is enough. There is more than enough.
Your contribution increases abundance for all.
Listen to the ARIES horoscope for Aquarius Season here

TAURUS
Freedom is a practice.
Like breathing, an exchange.
Support the world around you in its freedom,
and be supported in turn.
Work to liberate the work you do.
Work in ways that liberate those you work with.
Listen to the TAURUS horoscope for Aquarius Season here

GEMINI
Is the vision you’re envisioning
actually the vision you want to pursue?
How do you test the strength of your dreams?
Tune in to the subtle layers and liminal states.
Learn to see in the dark and
open up all your senses.
Listen to the GEMINI horoscope for Aquarius Season here

CANCER
Revolutions come and go. People change.
With every change, new rituals are born.
It’s good to notice, from time to time,
when rituals have become rules.
Notice any spaces of habit or expectation
that block trust.
Notice energy arising that needs a form to hold it.
Deconstruct, research, and rebuild.
Listen to the CANCER horoscope for Aquarius Season here

LEO
Feel your heart is
warm and radiant.
Life, love, and vitality
strong in your center.
Breathe in and out with trust and relaxation.
Inspire and exchange.
Circulate.
Listen to the LEO horoscope for Aquarius Season here

VIRGO
Your task is to show up
every day. To be with
this idea, this knowing, this vision
for your life.
Commit to the priority and you’ll know
which details to attend to, and when.
Listen to the VIRGO horoscope for Aquarius Season here

LIBRA
It’s time to get serious
about having fun.
You came here with one life to live.
Don’t give that life away
to fear and insecurity.
Trust the growth opportunities that are arising.
Listen to the LIBRA horoscope for Aquarius Season here

SCORPIO
Notice how the ground underneath you
supports your weight and posture.
Reach down with curiosity and expanding
awareness.
Sense how your posture is always
Responding and resonating in relationship
to that and those around you.
Listen to the SCORPIO horoscope for Aquarius Season here

SAGITTARIUS
Investigate the pause.
The space between inhale/exhale, between thoughts.
The empty space will bring you into presence.
Presence is your best guide
to make decisions, think thoughts
and relate with the world in ways
that are healing, awakening, and free.
Listen to the SAGITTARIUS horoscope for Aquarius Season here

CAPRICORN
Invest in currencies of connection and compassion.
Seek to accumulate goodwill.
Work to promote joy and love.
The more you value life and a life well-lived,
the easier it is to let your greatness grow.
Listen to the CAPRICORN horoscope for Aquarius Season here

AQUARIUS
As one star in a galaxy of stars,
what kind of light do you shine?
What shapes and constellations do you help form?
Know yourself, truly.
So that the universal intelligence you are a part of
can express itself fully.
Listen to the AQUARIUS horoscope for Aquarius Season here

PISCES
Making space for change is simple.
Simplicity is often a challenge.
Do less. Listen more.
Tune in. Be still.
There is so much guidance and inspiration available for you
in the in-between of space and time.
Listen to the PISCES horoscope for Aquarius Season here