I inherited the certainty that someone was praying for me before sunrise.

I woke up this morning peering beyond the drenched trees of my bedroom window to find dark, stone-gray skies.

The trees rustled loudly through the window screens drenched in a downpour.

Thunder was the break in the soundtrack of smooth raindrops dancing together. Orchestrated in perfect unison.

As I inhaled the smell of wet soil and new day, I was transported to one of my earliest memories- back to India - sharing a bedroom as a small child with my grandfather in Kerala.

I remember laying awake in the morning sun, hearing the monsoon rains overtake the village through the bars on the open wooden window panes. Breathing in the fresh cool air into my lungs after days of dry heat as I heard my aunties in the kitchen making coffee and preparing all of the meals we would be eating that day.

Sleeping in my grandfather’s room felt like a privilege—he rarely let anyone sleep beside him. Affection wasn’t something that was expressed openly in my grandparents household, or something I grew up seeing much of in South Asian culture. But because I didn’t get to see my grandfather often, it felt like the rules softened when it came to me. Those small moments of closeness became some of the ways I felt his love.

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From my young memories, I don’t remember him sleeping much...or ever really. He was up at dawn to start his prayers. Little me always knew that he was already busy praying as I slowly opened my eyes to the new day. Part of that discipline inspires me to continue on my spiritual journey of connecting with God, a higher power, the universe. It feels like it lives in my DNA. My grandfather carried the capacity for selfless sacrifice and the trust to keep going even when there was nothing to show for it. He passed it to my mother, and somehow, now, it lives in me too.

It’s like I’ve inherited the energy of The Fool card in Tarot - not ever really knowing if my next step will work out, but trusting that whatever comes of it, is written, and it’s my journey fully. What a beautiful freedom and luxury that inherited mindset feels like. To know that the Universe is always working in my favor, because of the proof that it always has… as seen through the eyes of my grandfather and mother. Against the harsh realities of the poverty they lived in and witnessed, they still had hope and never dared to question if things wouldn’t work out. And if they were able to witness life like that, that is why I will always believe in what we can’t see... in the unimaginable possibilities surrounding all of us.

The memory of monsoon rains in India are filled with so much more feeling than just rain. I am called to remember my childhood and how I got to watch someone build his life around faith. Those memories and that house is sacred to my childhood and where I come from. It’s where my mom grew up knowing the dances of the monsoon seasons. The place where my ancestors lived and believed…the blessings and the relief that the rain brought with it finally breaking the heat and providing for the plants and animals. Drawing water from our well, washing our clothes by hand outside and enjoying the beauty of the palm trees and jackfruit trees that surrounded my family home.

As a biracial New Yorker, my mind and soul were opened at a young age to how culture shapes us and how different life can feel for everyone. And how our differences create an ecosystem of interwoven spirituality, lessons and folklore that we can all learn from each other. I feel grateful to have experienced a life with cultural practices, intention, and connection to the divine early on.

I used to think figuring out my own journey meant figuring it out alone.

Now I am flooded with ideas and memories from my childhood. I wonder if the journey is more about faith and remembering- and using those as guides for my current life.

I wonder if it’s really about remembering the prayers that were whispered before I was even awake.

Remembering that somewhere in my lineage, someone believed deeply enough for me to inherit hope before I inherited certainty.

Maybe that is what ancestry is all about.

Not just how similar we look and our genetic traits, but the beliefs and culture we pass down.

The ways we were taught to open our hearts and see with our real eyes... our third eye.

And believe in something greater even when there is no proof.

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It could be the small talk that leaves you feeling exhausted. The conversations that lack depth. The lack of curiosity about your goals or celebrating them. And you’re left questioning why you’re there in the first place.

When I was younger, I thought something was wrong with me because I could feel the energy of a room so deeply. It would move through my body and settle in my bones, often carrying sadness and anger that I would then project… but that’s an article for another day! It felt like I was carrying an unmistakable feeling that I didn’t belong. Now I realize my sensitivity was teaching me to recognize when a space wasn’t meant for me.

This feeling is really just a sign you’ve outgrown the table or it’s just not the right dynamic, setting, or relationship for you. Feeling like you need to release old dynamics is especially pertinent as we navigate eclipse season this month. This energy is allowing in fated events and change so that these next few weeks can really show you what’s been holding you back from your highest path.

This poem is for anyone who’s ever experienced that ache. That feeling of loneliness in a crowd, work setting, within your own family, and even within society.

The best news I can give you is that there are millions of other tables. And there is a version of you that no longer has to fit yourself into where you don’t belong.

And this is your sign that you’re allowed to leave the table.

It’s okay to leave the table… it’s encouraged to leave the table!

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You’re Allowed to Leave the Table

The Universe speaks when I sit at large tables and emptiness creeps into my core.

A dinner table full of bodies

sharing ideas rooted in the past.

Rooted in the material.

My seat is uncomfortable like hard plastic.

My voice is quiet and shakes.

The syllables I pronounce echo a soft dull whisper instead of the depth and fire I always carry.

I feel like a stranger, lost within the shallow laughter that surrounds me.

But I’m not laughing… What was the joke?

The universe speaks to me when I feel a twinge of in-authenticity ache in my stomach during conversations disguised as caring.

Criticisms and comparisons create our tapas menu at this table.

Time and energy added to the bill as extras.

Like consciousness trapped shut.

A lotus that never reaches the sunlight to escape the matrix of the judgemental muddy waters.

The universe speaks to me when I feel my own potential dwindling, the longer I sit here.

and entertain the lie

that we are all anything less than a miracle.

Living unaware of our potential to bloom

And of the sunlight around us -

Smiling

Beaming

Healing

Indifference breeds stagnation. Criticism makes us question what we’re capable of.

But that was the old table.

The old jokes that never landed. The friendships that made me feel invisible. The rooms that quieted my voice, when all along, I was meant to speak with power.

And there lies the lesson.

I listened to the Universe, to my body.

And now I sit at my own table.

At the head.

Sometimes in the company of people who light me up and sometimes happily in my own company.

Because we deserve to be at tables where our own laughter roars.

Where our voices are celebrated.

Where happiness infuses our auras, and moves through our bodies - striking all of the chairs at the table like a match.

Crackling, in wild, golden flames

All of us ignited, feeding off of each others momentum

Our beauty glowing

Community flowing

Ideas catching on, love growing strong

The universe speaks to me, to us, to show us in ways we don’t always recognize.

A coincidence, a nudge in the body, a dream or hope we can’t move past in our mind.

An ache in our stomach when we continue to sit at tables that our spirit has already outgrown.

Our bodies share undeniable truths with us everyday.

We just have to listen.

There will be other tables where you are met with curiosity. Where your sensitivity is understood. Where your ambition isn’t something to apologize for. Where your fire makes someone else remember they have fire within them, too.

That belief in our potential is part of the battle.

And remembering that we don’t have to become less of ourselves to belong could be the rest of the battle.

This is your reminder to choose the spaces, rooms, and tables that remind you it’s okay to show up carrying hot, soaring flames of intensity and hope.

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Uncomfortable ideas, thoughts and realizations start to enter our conscious thoughts so that we grow. We may start to question ourselves, our relationships, and stories and dynamics we’ve been living by.

This weeks’ full moon has me wondering whether the hardest thing to let go of isn’t fear, but the identities and roles we have assumed without question.

This release feels like it’s centered on what ideas and identities we’ve inherited and never got to reflect on or choose. The energy of Aquarius is all about questioning inherited systems. We’re encouraged to step outside of the lives we’ve been told to live and begin to create one that feels authentically true to us now.

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This energy calls us to questions all of the feelings and unspoken rules we were subconsciously taught or expected to embody. These could be subconsciously learned behaviors too. For example: be practical, don’t ask for too much, make decisions based on what others need instead of what you need, etc.

The full moon this week is that reminder that it’s okay to question the beliefs and ideas we have inherited. It’s okay to ask where they came from, and if they still hold a place in our life.

And then to establish new ideas that fit our life.

What actually feels fulfilling? What identities do you identify with now that are different than how you were raised to feel and act?

Who’s rules are you still living by that no longer feel like they point you towards your inner compass?

Who am I when I stop living by identities that were handed to me?

Personally, this week is reminding me of inherited beliefs of guilt attached to taking up space and sharing the beautiful things that happen in my life. It’s the feeling like somehow I’m taking away from others who have never been given the same opportunities.

I remember visiting Europe for the first time recently with my husband. What a beautiful trip and experience. Sharing photos and videos with friends and family genuinely came from my happiness. But I notice a shift within myself that happens afterwards.

I wondered what my parents’, grandparents and extended families lives might have looked like if they’d been given the same opportunities.

They spent so much of their lives trying to survive that they never got to ask themselves what they actually wanted.

Guilt convinces us that shrinking ourselves is the same thing as honoring where we came from. And that inherited response to a beautiful experience is the exact theme the full moon is asking us to question.

Where did that voice come from, and are going to continue to allow it to dictate our future?

I believe instead that guilt shows us that we’re becoming someone our younger selves never imagined was possible. And that’s proof we are always being guided. Even through the setbacks, doubts, and uncomfortable realizations.

Honor that uncomfortable feeling, and know that you’re not alone. The emotions that bubble up right now are here this week to bring awareness.

What truths feel real for you this week?

What emotions do you feel like are calling for your attention during this Full Moon?

I’d love to know!

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The soil is dry. The air is heavy. You notice that the weeds grow faster than the flowers.

Then, weeks later, you notice the seed never bloomed.

When investigating why the seed never got the change to bloom or grow, we would never blame the seed.

We’d check the soil first. We would try to understand how much sunlight the garden was getting.

We’d also wonder if the seed needed more water or resources that we were not thinking of in the first place.

We’d never expect the seed to grow in conditions that don’t support it.

And yet, this is how so many of us move through our own lives.

We blame ourselves for not blooming before we ever stop to ask whether the environment we’re growing in has given us permission to.

Because environments do more than shape our circumstances… they shape what we believe we’re allowed to become. They teach us what we have permission to become.

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Before implementing an intentional morning practice, I derailed my nervous system for years. I remember sitting at my desk one afternoon wondering why I felt so disconnected from myself. I blamed my motivation, my discipline, my consistency.

It never occurred to me that I’d spent the entire morning consuming everyone else’s thoughts before I’d heard a single one of my own. That routine was ingrained in my day to day for years. I felt lost and overwhelmed before my day even began. I wasn’t yet able to connect to the messages of my higher self or The Universe. There was too much noise.

At that point, I felt like I needed a reset. I needed a real audit of my life…of what I was was consuming, who I surrounded myself with, and how I spoke to myself everyday.

For years, I confused being loved with being agreeable.

I became the version of myself that made everyone else comfortable.

I’d simply gotten used to living in environments where I felt like I had to edit myself. Water down my emotions and opinions because I feared conflict and standing out with the way I viewed the world compared to my peers or family. I wanted to fit in, to find purpose, and to recover after a soul-crushing break up.

I laughed at jokes that weren’t funny. Sometimes it felt like I operated on auto-pilot.

I apologized before speaking. I softened opinions before I shared them.

I didn't realize it then, but I was living in environments that rewarded me for taking up less space.

I understand where my younger self was coming from when she chose peace over conflict. Many of us were planted in environments where survival was the priority.

Where being adaptable was a strength and where reading other people’s emotions kept the peace.

Staying small sometimes felt safer than standing fully in ourselves.

And I have so much compassion for the versions of ourselves who learned those things.

They were responding to the environment they were given to the best of their ability.

But the beautiful thing about becoming is that we get to take our power back at any time we choose and ask:

Does the way I learned to survive still support the way I want to live?

If the actions I’m taking and the environments I’m a part of are not supporting my future self and where I want to be, how do I expect myself to bloom? How do I expect to succeed when my goals ask me to change and transform while still staying in environments and mindsets that may not support that version of myself?

It felt like I couldn’t trust my own intuition while filling most quiet moments with someone else’s opinions online or urging myself to people-please. I had to get honest with myself.

Looking back, I don’t think our environments simply influence us.

I think they give us permission. To dream or to stay practical. To rest or constantly feel the need to prove ourselves. Permission to speak, or stay silent. Permission to trust ourselves, or to look outside ourselves for every answer.

We become fluent in whatever our environment repeats.

A flower doesn’t bloom because it’s able to rely solely on itself.

It blooms because its environment offers the perfect combination of nutrients and support to allow it to safely grow.

Just like flowers, we need those same conditions met in our own lives.

Some environments invite us to become more of ourselves. Others have us shrinking oftentimes without realizing.

If you’re someone who tends to take on energy from the spaces and people you surround yourself with, it’s critical you surround yourself with others who let you take up space. Who let you speak about wins, accomplishments, hopes, and fears and let you sit in them. Never making it about them or turning it around to dismiss your accomplishments.

If we are not regularly auditing the company we keep, they have the power to slowly (on a subconscious level without even intending to) convince us to become smaller versions of who we are.

This could look like a joke that teaches you not to dream too big. A family belief that survival matters more than joy.

A workplace that celebrates burnout instead of balance. An endless stream of voices telling you who you should be before you’ve had the chance to discover who you already are.

This happens through repetition. It’s subtle. And if I hadn’t made it an active practice of awareness, it could feel difficult to pinpoint.

Eventually, those voices become so familiar that they start sounding like your own.

I’ve had many experiences where I’ve learned it’s crucial to become intentional with the spaces, rituals, and environments you participate in.

The people you let close, the stories you consume, the routines and rituals that shape your mornings, and the thoughts you rehearse before falling asleep.

Because every one of them is either nourishing the life within you and raising your frequency, and if you’re not fully aware - they could be asking some part of you to shrink.

And perhaps one of the most loving (but possibly crushing) questions we can ask ourselves is:

Have I been expecting myself to bloom in a garden that was never meant to help me grow?

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If you need inspiration for the second half of 2026

We’re here. We’ve made it.

And whether this year has unfolded exactly as you imagined or taken unexpected turns, this is a beautiful opportunity to pause, reflect, and re-calibrate.

With this Mercury retrograde period inviting us to revisit, revise, and reconnect, this moment feels less about rushing ahead and more about asking ourselves an important question:

Am I building a life that actually feels like mine?

The collective energy to me feels like it’s standing on the edge of something new. A shift. A transition. Almost like it’s an invitation to become more honest about who we are and what we’re here to create.

But regardless of what’s happening in the world around us, we owe it to ourselves to show up in our brightest, most authentic light.

Not filtered or edited. Or shaped to fit someone else’s expectations.

Simply... ourselves.

Because those goals you set back in January are still waiting for you and you wrote them down for a reason. They continue to live in your heart because they matter. The desires you can’t seem to let go of aren’t random; they’re often your soul’s way of pointing you toward the life you’re meant to create.

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The Story You Believe Determines the Actions You Take

Fear can hold us back from taking action on our goals.

Even after years of therapy, meditation, reflection or learning to trust yourself, you’ll still occasionally notice old habits trying to pull you back.

People-pleasing, seeking approval, and making yourself smaller to avoid making someone else feel uncomfortable.

Those learned behaviors sadly don’t disappear overnight because they were often built over decades and childhood.

And that’s okay.

The real work is learning how to bridge the gap between knowing you’re meant for more and actually believing it enough to take action.

I’ve had the sobering realization that confidence isn’t something you wait to feel. It’s something you build through aligned action. It makes me feel like I’m diving into a cold plunge. Or into the ocean on a chilly day. It’s uncomfortable, but you adapt and feel alive afterwards!

Maybe your dreams look different from your family’s. Maybe your definition of success doesn’t follow the traditional script.

Maybe you’re building a business, creating a family, changing careers, traveling the world, or creating a life no one around you has modeled before.

That path requires courage and betting on yourself.

It’s difficult to change your actions while still believing the stories you inherited. Especially if those stories taught you to stay quiet, stay agreeable, or stay small.

As we’ve reached the halfway point of 2026, I’ve been asking myself a simple question:

Where am I still shrinking to make other people comfortable?

Because no amount of self-awareness magically erases old conditioning. Growth is less about becoming someone new and more about repeatedly choosing yourself even when it feels uncomfortable.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that being liked was more important than being authentic.

We learned to keep the peace, avoid disappointing people, and become whoever we needed to be depending on the room we walked into.

The problem is, after enough years of doing that, it’s easy to lose sight of what you actually want.

There are certain affirmations and journal prompts I return to whenever I feel myself slipping back into old patterns.

The ones that remind me that it’s okay to be fully yourself.

It’s okay if not everyone understands you.

It’s okay to stop carrying the invisible pressure of making everyone in the room like you.

The good news is that with reflection and tuning into your own awareness, this creates the space where those stories can be rewritten.

Mid-Year Journal Prompts for Self-Reflection

Set aside 15 uninterrupted minutes this week.

Light a candle. Put your phone away. Grab your journal.

1. Then answer these questions honestly.

• Where have I been playing small to keep the peace or make others comfortable?

• I know my dreams matter, but where am I still afraid of being seen?

• Where am I performing instead of expressing?

• Which people, spaces, or communities feel aligned? Which ones leave me feeling drained?

• Am I shrinking to belong in any area of my life—relationships, friendships, work, social media, or my career?

• Where am I delaying taking action? What fear is underneath that hesitation?

2. Then draw a line down the middle of a new page in your journal.

Label one side: Aligned

Label the other: Outgrown

Start writing. And try not to overthink or judge yourself for what you write down.

Honesty and awareness are always the first step towards change and real movement!

Mid-Year Affirmations for Confidence, Authenticity & Personal Growth

When you’re feeling lost, stuck or uninspired, feel free to reference these as often as you’d like. Write down the ones your body responds to. Maybe even stick one to your wall or mirror with a post it note as a reminder.

• I trust the path unfolding before me, even when I cannot see the full picture.

• I am stepping into a timeline aligned with my highest evolution.

• What is leaving my life is making space for what is truly meant for me.

• I release outdated identities and welcome my next becoming.

• I move with courage before I feel completely ready.

• Momentum grows every time I take aligned action.

• I trust my intuition and act when my soul says, “Go.”

• I am braver than my fear.

• My authenticity is more valuable than anyone else’s approval.

• I no longer make myself smaller to fit into spaces I’ve already outgrown.

• I give myself permission to be fully seen.

• The life I’m creating requires a version of me who believes she’s worthy of it.

Your Second Half of 2026 Starts Today (or whenever you’re reading this)

You don’t need a new year to begin again or need to have every detail figured out.

Sometimes your next chapter begins with a single honest journal entry, a difficult realization, or brave decision.

The world doesn’t need a smaller version of you. There are no rules. Your future self is already waiting arms wide open, in excitement. All you have to do is believe it and let them guide you.

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Growing, changing, and becoming a new version of yourself can feel like moving to a new city.

You have an idea of what it will feel like - the hopes and dreams you have for yourself in that place in time… but maybe you move in not knowing anyone, and are forced to enter a rapid period of change. You start to adapt and learn as much as you can about your new surroundings, neighbors, and community culture.

This is exactly like what’s happening on the inside when we decide to challenge our identity and grow into something completely new.

It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does create fractions in how we relate to comfort and what’s familiar.

Internal change and growth feels lonely because the way you relate to everything around you starts to change. And it isn’t obvious. It’s not a change you can clearly feel happening in your physical reality … at first. That’s because this type of change happens on a subconscious, deeper identity level. It creates a ripple effect. The new parts of your identity are being broadcasted out into the world. This looks like attracting opportunities aligned to what you’re seeking, and unfortunately this also creates a clash with any old dynamics and environments that only you can feel.

I recently explored and reflected on the current phase I feel like I’m transitioning in and out of - the “in-between”. Where it’s not quite clear to me what’s in store, but I know I am changing rapidly in the ways I show up for myself, my goals and ambitions, creativity, and energy.

The conversations that once felt fulfilling may begin to feel surface-level. The environments that once felt comforting suddenly feel restrictive. Relationships that used to feel effortless begin requiring parts of you to shrink in order to maintain them.

And that shrinking feels lonely.

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Sometimes I return to spaces from my past and feel disconnected from the version of myself that once existed there. Not because anyone did anything wrong. In fact, many of those people are kind, stable, and loving.

But I've also been learning that the right relationships don't leave you holding your breath. They feel like an exhale. They just … feel right.

I’ve found that leaning into who you really are- unapologetically claiming your goals, showing up without a mask, making time for discovery, new interests, and reflection - creates an internal awareness and shift. You emerge differently.

And once you become aware of yourself in a deeper way, it becomes difficult to comfortably settle back into patterns that no longer feel like they fit.

It can feel isolating when you crave depth in places that only offer distraction. When you want conversations about passion, purpose, fear, identity, becoming and the people around you may only want to skim the surface or worse - minimize your achievements or interest in your goals.

From my 20’s to my 30’s, I’ve realized this is part of life. People enter us in seasons and chapters.

And some relationships are meant to hold us through one chapter, and maybe not every chapter that will exist in our book of life.

I’ve had a couple of experiences with this. Some people arrive to teach us something specific about ourselves, and once the lesson is complete, the connection slowly dissolves or abruptly ends.

For example, I can recall one friendship - when it fizzled out, I literally never saw the person again despite them living in close proximity to me! I took that as a sign that there was a lesson in that dynamic that I needed to learn in some way.

Sometimes you may not notice it happening right away but there’s a subtle distance and shift that forms. A bridge between you and the person or place that gets further and further away. It’s like you’re no longer neighbors, but now visitors in each other’s lives. You may visit that space or person, but it’s no longer part of your inner world or community.

Another way I make peace with these changes is thinking of our time here on earth like it’s school. It almost feels like we’re all students enrolled in this wildly unpredictable degree program called Earth. Some people are semester-long courses. Some are year-long research projects.

Once the lesson is complete, the bell rings, the classroom empties, and somehow you never see your classmate again.

Not because they weren’t important, but their chapter in your story had already done its job.

At the same time, that’s the part that hurts.

I know there’s nothing wrong with that. Some relationships naturally expire through evolution on both ends.

I’m realizing that loneliness is actually something to celebrate even though it doesn’t feel like it. Even though it feels empty and isolating. I’m realizing that loneliness is proof of the space between who you were and who you’re becoming.

Growth requires periods where your external world no longer fully mirrors your internal one. It’s uncomfortable and unsettling but it is the “in-between”.

There’s something sacred and beautiful about refusing to abandon yourself just to maintain belonging and keep connections to places, people, and dynamics just because they are familiar. You deserve depth. You deserve the space to be seen.

Even when it’s lonely. Especially then.

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An underdog story.

A reminder of what happens when people believe in something bigger than themselves. And if you’ve spent any time in New York over the past few weeks, you know this isn’t really about consecutive wins or a historic playoff run as much anymore.

It’s about community.

It’s about hope.

It’s about neighbors becoming friends.

It’s about a city coming together around a shared dream.

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For a city that often creates polarizing opinions, New York has a unique ability to bring people together. It’s a place that’s frequently misunderstood by people who have never lived here (one of my biggest pet peeves)! News headlines often paint a picture of fear, division, and chaos.

But anyone who has spent enough time walking these streets knows another version of New York. One where people from different backgrounds, cultures, careers, and countries share the same sidewalks, coffee shops, subway cars, and dreams. What makes New York feel even more exciting is how much of a utopia it feels like compared to how divided the rest of the world (and country) are.

And strangely enough, all of this feels perfectly aligned with the energy of today’s New Moon in Gemini!

Gemini is the sign of communication, neighbors, adaptability, local community, learning, and the exchange of ideas.

If I could describe it even further, I’d say it’s the energy of conversations with strangers that become friendships.

The local coffee shop owner who knows your order.

The neighbor whose name you finally learn.

The people who remind you that you’re part of something bigger than yourself.

And that’s also exactly what the Knicks have created throughout this playoff run.

A shared experience.

A collective excitement.

A reason to celebrate alongside people you may have otherwise never spoken to.

For weeks now, New Yorkers have been united by a common conversation.

A common dream.

And whether you’re a basketball fan or not, it’s hard to deny the energy that’s been moving through the city.

There is something incredibly Gemini about it!

Gemini teaches us that ideas spread through communication. Through stories & through connection.

One conversation leads to another. One person inspires another.

One small act of community creates a ripple effect.

Which made me start asking myself:

How involved am I in my own community?

What have I learned from my neighbors?

And if I want more connection in my life, what is one small step I can take toward creating it?

This New Moon in Gemini is reminding us that expansion doesn’t always happen through lengthy travel itineraries, global travel, or more academic degrees.

Sometimes it starts right in our own backyard!

Through a conversation.

A gathering.

A willingness to say hello.

For years, I’ve felt a deep longing for community. I just didn’t know where or how I fit into it.

I’ve always been sensitive to energy, and I could quickly tell when a group or community space didn’t feel aligned.

For the longest time, I kept searching for the perfect space.

Then I realized that maybe I was meant to create it instead of find it.

As an extension of The Art of Becoming, I’ve been feeling increasingly called to build community and create spaces where people can slow down, reconnect with themselves, and connect with one another.

There feels like no better time than a New Moon in Gemini to plant that intention.

To create a space where people can gather, practice listening to their intuition, meet like-minded neighbors, and take a break.

A break from our corporate roles.

A break from our roles as parents, partners, caretakers, and achievers.

A chance to simply be, to listen to the whispers our bodies share with us every day.

Some of my greatest moments of expansion haven’t come from accomplishing something, but instead from connecting with others.

From hearing someone else’s story.

From receiving an unexpected insight.

From realizing I wasn’t alone in what I was experiencing.

Community has a way of expanding our perspective.

It helps us see possibilities we couldn’t access on our own.

And that’s the energy I want to create more of.

On June 24th, I’ll be hosting my first event in Brooklyn: Reconnecting Mind, Body & Intuition.

An evening designed to help us come back into our bodies, reconnect with ourselves, and connect with others in a low-pressure, welcoming environment. We’ll also move through a grounding yoga flow led by Allison- an amazing nyc-based yoga and pilates instructor who brings so much fun into her work.

Because I truly believe we need spaces like this now more than ever.

Spaces where we can slow down, listen inward & build meaningful connections.

And remember that healing doesn’t have to happen alone.

If you’re local to NYC and would like to join us, I’d love to have you there!

*Event details & tickets can be found here.

In the meantime, let’s ponder these questions to harness the new moon energy so that we can manifest sharing our voices, thinking about life through the lens of our neighbors, and what they can teach and inspire within us:

• Who are the people that make me feel most connected to where I live?

• When was the last time I felt a genuine sense of belonging? What contributed to that feeling?

• What conversations have recently shifted the way I think about something?

• What kind of community am I currently seeking?

• What gifts, skills, or experiences do I have that could benefit those around me?

• What intention do I want to set around connection, communication, community, and belonging?

• How do I want people to feel in my presence?

• How do I want to express myself in an authentic way?

• What kind of community am I helping create through my actions, words, and energy?

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Because to feel stuck, or even directionless - often means you’ve entered the in-between. And with the full moon in Sagittarius this weekend, we are being asked to trust what we can’t see.

The in-between is that space where you’re no longer who you used to be, but you’re not quite who you’re becoming yet. It’s frustrating, it’s lonely. It’s nowhere anybody wants to admit they are.

It’s like you’re suspended somewhere in the middle. Unsure of what lies ahead.

And that’s the beauty of change.

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Change rarely arrives feeling inspiring or transformational. More often, it feels like uncertainty. Like confusion. Like failure. Like nothing is happening at all.

But the reality is that your transformation is unfolding in real time… you just can’t fully see it yet.

I think this is one of the hardest parts of growth: the moment when your old identity no longer fits, but your new life hasn’t fully arrived. And you feel confused, and unsatisfied.

The Full Moon in Sagittarius this weekend reminds us that we don’t always need to have all the answers.

Sagittarius is a sign of direction but not in a rigid, carefully mapped-out way.

It’s not asking you if you have the perfect five-year plan.

The energy is more like - “does the path you’re on feel aligned?”

Because alignment is something we often feel in our bodies long before we can explain it. A subtle nudge. A knowing that we are on the right path, even if there is no proof yet.

Under this Full Moon, many of us may experience a subtle but undeniable shift in direction. Not necessarily a dramatic external change, but an internal clarity that changes how we move through the world.

What once felt tolerable may now feel heavy. What once felt confusing may suddenly feel obvious. What once felt far away may begin to feel unavoidably close.

And that can be unsettling.

Because the in-between asks you to trust yourself without immediate proof that where you’re headed will work out.

It asks you to keep going even when you don’t yet know what the destination looks like.

Sometimes I think we mistake this phase for stagnation (at least when I find myself over-thinking and hesitating to action- I do!)

We tell ourselves we’re behind. That we should be further along on our imaginary timelines.

That if we haven’t reached our version of “making it,” then somehow we’ve failed.

But lately, the in-between has looked a lot like outgrowing entire versions of my life in real time.

Old thought patterns, dynamics, environments, and maybe even old dreams.

Some days that feels empowering.

Other days it feels deeply isolating.

Because what happens when the people and environments that surround you no longer see the world the way you do?

What happens when conversations you’ve had a hundred times no longer resonate?

When the places you’ve always belonged start to feel uncomfortable? In my case - going out as much or drinking as much has not felt intentional or aligned lately.

You begin noticing things.. mainy which spaces energize you and which ones drain you. Which conversations leave you feeling expanded and which leave you feeling smaller.

You notice how your body reacts when something is no longer aligned.

And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It can be disappointing because that means you don’t know where or with whom you resonate with anymore.

This is why expansion often begins with friction and feeling “stuck”.

There’s friction in realizing:

• You’ve outgrown something you once chose intentionally.

• Your beliefs no longer match your lived experience.

• Your current direction doesn’t reflect who you’re becoming.

Sagittarius energy has a way of illuminating where you’re no longer willing to stay.

And that awareness changes everything.

But I think this phase teaches us one of the most important lessons we’ll ever learn:

You have to become someone you can trust to walk through uncertainty with.

Even when you don’t know exactly where you’re going. Because people will misunderstand your evolution. Some will question your choices.

Some relationships won’t survive your growth and some chapters will end before you feel emotionally prepared for them to.

And still, you keep moving…because something inside of you knows there is more waiting on the other side of this transition.

That feeling matters.

That inner wisdom and knowing matter.

Even when you’re walking alone for a little while.

The only constant in life is change.

We are all shifting and reshaping ourselves every day—like a kaleidoscope continuously rearranging itself into something new.

So if you’re in the in-between right now, don’t rush yourself out of it.

Trust it.

This is where you are transforming, even if you can’t see the full picture yet. Trust that what is meant for you will become easier to recognize as you release what no longer belongs.

New communities, new opportunities, and new ways of being will emerge. Every time you honor your truth instead of tolerating what diminishes it, you send a clear message to the universe: I'm ready for more. And life has a remarkable way of responding to that.

Journal Prompts for the Sagittarius Full Moon

• Where are you being asked to zoom out and see the bigger picture instead of getting lost in the details?

• What challenge in your life could become an opportunity if you shifted your perspective?

• Are there any habits, mindsets, or attachments you’re ready to release because they’re no longer supporting the growth you’re trying to create?

• What would you try if success was guaranteed?

• Write down any limiting beliefs that have been holding you back from dreaming bigger. Then safely burn the paper. (Sagittarius is a fire sign, and there is something powerful about physically releasing what you’re ready to leave behind!)

Practices to Harness the Energy + The In-Between Phase:

• Sagittarius rules the hips, which are often associated with stored stress and emotional tension. Move your body. Stretch. Spend a few extra minutes in pigeon pose if possible!

• Try something new. Take a class. Book the spontaneous trip. Read the book that expands your perspective. (For me, that looked like booking a last minute flight!)

• Don’t ask everyone what they think. You get to decide what your life looks like. Don’t make your dreams smaller because someone else’s imagination is.

  

Affirmation

I trust that life is unfolding exactly as it needs to. I honor the journey, knowing that every step is shaping who I am becoming.

Song for this Full Moon: The Climb by Miley Cyrus - a Sagittarius reminding us that sometimes the journey is the whole point!

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The older I get, the more I realize how many brilliant women are quietly holding themselves back while far less qualified people move through life with absolute certainty.

I’ve noticed over the past few weeks of talking to many accomplished and inspiring women, that there was a common theme coming up in conversations:

A loud inner critic, doubt, and imposter syndrome despite experience.

I previously wrote about how the awareness around our inner critic is actually a good thing. Our inner critic is ultimately trying to keep us safe when we try something new, or challenge the familiar, so our bodies go into overdrive convincing us that we should stay the same.

Trying new things and creating new versions of ourselves are uncomfortable for the ego. It’s not easy to push through the doubt and the fear. I’m still learning.

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But then I got to reflect more about recent conversations with my female friends.

The women I refer to in this piece are highly educated, come from all different cultural backgrounds, passionate, extremely self-aware, and are even going to therapy.

Many of these women shared that they hold back professionally and creatively.

Fear of being seen and perceived online coupled with deep imposter syndrome were common themes of conversation that came up (themes I also struggle with). The feeling that we’re not “ready enough” to start something or launch something, to apply to an opportunity - because we don’t feel prepared enough or experienced enough.

I remember sitting with a landing page draft open on my laptop for months last year before I launched my business website - rereading every sentence, convinced I needed to edit profusely before publishing it for the world to see.

Meanwhile, I can’t help but notice how when I observe my male friends talk about their goals or ambitions, they speak with zero hesitancy. Zero doubt. Like they’ve been an expert in something for years, yet they may have just started researching it seventeen minutes ago…

I find it truly fascinating and frustrating at the same time!

I started thinking more deeply about why this hesitancy creeps in for some women

Why we feel like we need to constantly continue proving our credentials. Why even with experience in our field, we may second guess our abilities.

There’s a lot to unpack here…

Women are innately wired with deeper levels of emotional intelligence. We have the ability to adapt more quickly to the needs of others around us.

Coupled with how society has conditioned us to stay small, it’s very obvious as to why taking up space and acting like we know it all as our male counterparts do, feels unnatural. It feels wrong.

And oftentimes when we do take up space, we are called bossy, cold, or full of ourselves.

My next realization: where I feel like women have been sold a lie.

Women naturally tend to take more initiative when it comes to mental health, healing, and self-awareness. Of course there are many factors that impact access to therapy and healing spaces, but if you walk into most wellness workshops, holistic trainings, support groups, or healing communities, the majority of attendees and consumers are usually women.

Women are putting in the work to better understand ourselves and the collective. And that’s beautiful.

But I also wonder if the wellness industry, social media, and even some healing spaces unintentionally blur the line between growth and self-rejection.

Because sometimes the pursuit of becoming more “healed” turns into an endless hamster wheel of self-improvement.

You need another course.
Another certification.
Another breakthrough.
Another year of healing before you finally feel qualified enough to begin.

One helps us grow. The other keeps us trapped in the belief that we always need more work before we can fully exist as we are.

And in that space, self-awareness can slowly become self-criticism.

And I think many women have become so focused on becoming better versions of themselves that they forget to trust the version standing here right now.

How many online courses do we need to take before we trust ourselves?
How many books do we need to read before we believe we know enough?

And I’m not saying women should stop healing, growing, or becoming more self-aware. I don’t think that’s possible. Women are deeply attuned to themselves and the world around them, and because of that, they naturally continue to evolve.

I genuinely wonder how many men stop themselves from applying for a role, launching an idea, or hosting an event because they don’t feel qualified enough yet.

My takeaway I urge you to consider:

Please remember the power you already hold.

Please remember all of the work you’ve already put in and all of the battles you fought. All of the achievements and struggles it took to be here.

Let’s be mindful of how our thoughts speak to us.

You do not need to become perfect before you allow yourself to take up space.

And maybe there is something to learn from the audacity of men around us.
Sometimes it’s inspiring and sometimes it’s frustrating.

Maybe part of healing is no longer waiting until we feel completely ready to believe in ourselves too.

This is a disclaimer that I wrote specifically about the personal conversations I was having with friends who identify as female and male these past few weeks. There are clearly so many more structural, socioeconomic and cultural barriers that come into play that could also feed and impact this topic. Thank you <3

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What would it look like for you to show yourself compassion and understanding instead of pushing yourself to rush, chase, and force outcomes?

Everything is energy. The way you carry yourself into a room. The way you notice the tension in the room before anyone says a word. How you feel after leaving a conversation with an inspiring friend.

I like to think of astrology in the same way. If we are all made of stardust and water, why on earth (see what I did there?) wouldn’t planetary shifts impact us?

The moon magnetizes the tides of the ocean and the tides of emotion that flow within us. Water is the element that represents emotion. Forever flowing, forever changing. Feelings in motion that change, evolve and adapt at rapid rates. Emotion is energy in motion. Emotion flows through us to help us experience the highs, lows and everything in between. It’s what makes us human.

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The placement of the moon in the sky is a part of that energy we can feel every day.

This week’s New Moon in Taurus on May 16th is inviting us to slow down and reconnect with ourselves. This energy encourages us to tune into what our bodies, nervous systems, and senses truly need instead of constantly rushing forward.

Taurus reminds us that abundance and comfort can be found in the present moment… in stillness, and in learning how to fully return to our bodies. There is beauty, wisdom, and healing in moving more intentionally.

It’s about noticing our relationship with nature and our values. It’s romanticising the small moments. Appreciating the warmth and light of sunlight peering into our room. The aroma of coffee. Marveling at the height and history of the trees in our neighborhood. Noticing the texture of how grass feels beneath our bare feet. The quality of our sleep and being intentional about what we put into our bodies.

Taurus reminds us that we do not always have to push, chase, or force in order to receive abundance.

New moons are typically the time to plant seeds and intentions.

This energy invites us to lean back, soften, and trust that we are already worthy of receiving what is meant for us.

Taurus teaches us that worthiness is not something we have to earn through exhaustion or overworking.

There is power in moving slowly, intentionally, and with deep trust in ourselves. When we are grounded in our worth, we stop trying to control every outcome and begin allowing ourselves to receive.

You can plant the seed and ask for what you desire without needing to know exactly how it will unfold. Taurus energy asks us to trust the Universe, trust divine timing, and trust that what is aligned for us will not require us to constantly prove our value.

This energy also shines a light on self-worth. It asks us to believe in ourselves more deeply and to remember that we are deserving of abundance, care, softness, and stability exactly as we are.

Because Taurus is an earth sign, one of the most supportive ways to anchor into this grounded energy is by reconnecting with nature. Spend time outside, feel your body supported by the earth beneath you, and allow yourself to slow down enough to fully arrive in the present moment.

How to manifest this energy and attract abundance: Drop into your body and physical space.

• Sit or walk barefoot, feel how the earth holds your body and supports you.

• Go on a walk in nature without headphones.

• Be extra present with nature and observe everything with fresh eyes and gratitude.

• Rest. Meditate. Do not chase. The energy is asking you to move slowly because you are already worthy.

• Buy fresh flowers or plants: fill your space with beauty to remind yourself you are always worthy.

• Create self-care moments. Nourish your body with movement, healthy foods, and practices that feel like special rituals.

• Lastly, hug a tree… Those are the vibes this week!

Write down what you are calling in and manifesting and bury this into the soil outside or a plant. This allows you to literally plant your intentions! Carry the energy of gratitude as you write down what you are manifesting.

And most of all, remember to admire the the mundane. Take no second for granted.

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The whistle of the cool breeze that hits me on this rooftop makes me pause. The wind dances across my skin as the sunlight peeks in and out through my sunglasses. I reach for my pleather jacket, then take it off ten minutes later when the sun returns… reminding me why spring has always felt like hope to me. It’s like a pause right before the sun returns for good. You can feel it in your bones, but there’s that final ounce of patience you need to make it through.

The tang of the spicy margarita in front of me reminds me of simpler versions of myself. Earlier versions. Versions that somehow feel both deeply familiar and yet impossibly far away from who I am today.

It’s funny how we rarely notice the biggest transformations while they’re happening. We expect change to arrive dramatically … in grand revelations, heartbreaks, or milestones. But most of the time, identity shifts happen on the smallest scale. Through ordinary moments, tiny decisions and repeated thoughts. These small acts of courage compound over time.

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The change happens in the day-to-day.

The quick decision to go on a walk where an unexpected realization surfaces.
The moment you realize while folding laundry that you no longer have anything in common with someone you once couldn’t imagine losing.
The new cafe you stumble into that suddenly becomes the place where you can finally hear yourself think clearly again.

You are changing every day whether you notice it happening or not.

On this rooftop, it feels like I’ve lived through a hundred versions of myself already. Beginnings. Endings. Reinventions. Grief. Expansion. Lessons I didn’t know I needed.

Sometimes I think our lives evolve the way the moon does, slowly, subtly, almost imperceptibly while we’re inside of it. We don’t notice the shifts until much later, when we look back and realize the tides within us have completely changed.

Maybe that’s why growth can feel so disorienting. Because while we are living it, it often just feels like confusion, restlessness, and discomfort.

But eventually, you wake up one day and realize your inner world no longer resembles the one you used to live inside of.

And maybe that’s the beauty of becoming.

Not that we remain fixed and certain, but that we allow ourselves to evolve at all.

You are allowed to shift and soften and transform with every season you survive. You are allowed to feel tethered to nothing. You are allowed to start fresh no matter how old or how settled you feel. If you feel the call within your soul, you must answer.

The only constant in life is change. You’re changing more than you realize!

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It might feel like a knowing you didn’t want to admit is starting to surface.
At first, it’s easy to brush off like a passing thought. Something you tell yourself you’ll deal with later.

But it doesn’t go away and keeps building. It lingers and then it circles back.

And eventually, it lands in your body like a heavy, undeniable. anchor. Like something sitting on your chest asking to be acknowledged.

This is the energy of the Full Moon in Scorpio.

Scorpio energy reveals, exposes and transforms.

And right now, it’s illuminating something in your life that’s ready to be released. Sometimes whether you feel ready or not.

Because your power grows on the other side of that release.

Start to consider the following:

• Where have I been giving in a way that’s actually taking from me?

• What feels draining, but I’ve been avoiding looking at?

• Where am I showing up from obligation instead of joy and intention?

This week, I actually felt it in my own body.

Midweek, I hit a wall. Burnt out, stretched thin, trying to hold everything at once. My corporate work, my Reiki practice, my writing, showing up online… all of it.

And my body spoke the way it always does: tight shoulders and a stiff neck. That familiar signal that something is off.

It’s almost like a built-in check and balance system reminding me when I’m overextending, over-giving, or overthinking.

Maybe you’ve felt that too. The sense of being spread thin and trying to juggle everything…holding more than you actually have the capacity for.

If that’s also you, this is your reminder:

You are the prize.

Your energy, your presence, your attention are parts of that prize. These are not things to give away unconsciously.

They are meant to be chosen carefully and protected.

And this full moon is asking you to take your power back.

To look at the commitments, the dynamics, the patterns that are pulling you away from yourself… and decide what stays and what goes.

Especially with strong fire energy still moving through Aries, emotions can feel heightened. Reactive. Even a little sharp.

So if things feel intense, you’re not imagining it.

And you don’t have to meet intensity with more force. You can meet it with awareness and choice instead.

Rituals

Something that will help this weekend is water. As a water sign, Scorpio reminds us that water is medicine right now.

Anything involving water this weekend will feel especially cleansing, especially powerful.

Take a bath. Sit with a cup of tea. Drink a glass of water slowly and intentionally.

Water holds energy. It responds to intention.

You can even leave a glass of water out overnight, let it absorb the energy of the moon, your intention, your release.

And when you drink it, let it be a ritual.
An agreement with yourself to let go.

To begin again.

Let the waves of uncertainty and doubt wash away

While the light within you grows.

An intention to carry into the next few days for you:

I honor what needs to leave my life in order to uphold the love and transformation occurring within me.

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This was important for me because creating from a place of authenticity is the most spiritual thing we can do. Consuming less creates the space for us to listen to our inner world, and when we’re quiet enough, the divine can literally channel creativity through us.

Plus, being a 90’s baby, everything analog feels nostalgic and intentional (way before it got cool for gen Z). I’m even writing this article currently on a clickety-clack keyboard I purchased because it reminds me of simpler times. There’s something about the idea of using a flip phone that’s easy to romanticize.

My favorite part being flipping your phone closed to hang up- byyyyee!

What drove me to buy a flip phone in 2026

I’d find myself on most days setting goals to start my day with an intentional morning routine. Stretching, movement, journaling, and meditation on good days if I had the time. On not as productive days, I consider it a win just being able to write my gratitude list and meditate with a few minutes of silence before starting work.

One of the methods I’ve used to limit distractions was through using the Opal app (I’m not sponsored, just feel this is a great app!) As I’ve been updating social media, my website, and checking slack for work, I noticed that I’m still chronically on my phone- hence why I thought the flip phone would be the answer I was looking for.

In addition to that, something would happen mid-day for me that would deplete my dopamine by 2pm. I experienced spirals of anxiety coupled with the feeling of being unable to do anything else that day. Physically and emotionally. I was feeling frozen from the overconsumption of content and the different items on my to-do list playing like melodies in the background of my mind. All while my inner critic repeated all that I had not completed that day. It felt debilitating.

Until 31, I thought that the intense sensitivity, emotion and lack of consistency was just part of life, and that I needed fixing. That maybe one day, with buying one more planner, I’d solve this puzzle of finally being able to feel unstoppable, and organized. Turns out, through my regular therapist and then getting evaluated, a part of the anxiety and emotional dysregulation I was experiencing was rooted in untreated ADHD.

Learning that my brain is wired completely differently helped me realize that the amount of will and drive to do anything (executive function) is lower at the start of my day than someone who is neurotypical. And that consuming content is a hazard operating on a much deeper degree that could significantly impact my quality of life and quite literally everything else if I have no dopamine left to move my body and get up.

So, can a flip phone help with all of this?

Fast forward to me doing all the research. Ironically, this looked like endless tik tok videos and youtube videos listing out the specs of different phone models and reviews. After all of that "“research”, I decided to purchase the TLC flip 3. It has KaiOS software, and zero apps you’d be able to doom scroll on (the whole point of why I bought this in the first place). There was even an an app for me to use maps, if I needed directions. It was also extremely easy to order on Amazon.

I set it up with a number directly online though the tracfone service. This was a $20 flip phone so I wasn’t expecting much. The phone number service plan was $10 for 1 month. This would be my trial month, I told myself.

I wondered if a simple $30 investment could bring me back into the present. If it could shift my mind just enough to create more than I consume, feel more grounded for my Reiki clients, and look up long enough to actually take in my surroundings and New York… maybe it would be worth it.

1 week in

I set up my ringtone (unfortunately not a hit song like back in the day- but a default sound the phone came with), and start texting family to let them know this would be my flip phone cell #. Unfortunately, there is no way to forward texts from my iPhone to this phone. But there is a way to forward phone calls using a setting on the iPhone. So that gave me a peace of mind. I could put away my iPhone and all of it’s distractions, and if there was an emergency, all calls would get forwarded to my flip phone.

I started the day at home, leaving my iPhone in a drawer and had my flip phone next to me while working from home. I even went to a cafe in my neighborhood with my flip phone and just brought my laptop to work without trying to take breaks by doom scrolling. I started bringing a book in my bag just in case I wanted something to read. A couple of days with this routine felt good. I started reading books during lunch instead of my usual youtube binge that turned into doom scrolling the latest astrology hot takes and psychology hacks.

After dinner, I would check my iPhone and still occasionally scroll, respond to texts, and easily check email and Substack. I didn’t say anything about going cold turkey, I just wanted to give myself some peace during the day from the constant chatter that comes with my many interests (and looking up those interests on youtube and tik tok).

Week 1, I was feeling good.

Week 2: Where Things Took a Turn

There’s something about the software on a flip phone that makes it really difficult to use. Again, I spent $20 on my phone so I wasn’t expecting a phone that always worked, but you’d expect core functions like a morning alarm and the phone responding to the buttons a requirement. I figured that setting an alarm with my flip phone would make me way less likely to look at notifications and see things in the morning on my iPhone that I shouldn’t be seeing. This alarm and my phone ended up glitching. Either my alarm never went off or it kept going off after I turned it off, which made me have to power down my phone in the morning to get it to stop. If it didn’t respond to the power button, I’d have to turn off my phone by taking the battery out.

It was glitchy and becoming unusable in many ways.

Secondly, using the subway and leaving my house was actually inconvenient with my flip phone. The MTA in New York works by tapping your smartphone to pay for the train. Cafes to work from have tap to pay (and I usually don’t always carry my cards on me unless I’m going to dinner or traveling and never carry cash).

Although I’m a millennial and learned how to text fast using the basic number keyboard back in the day, it felt like a chore to text back (something that I already struggle with on the iPhone- you can ask my friends + family for proof).

These drawbacks ultimately disrupted the experience and challenged the idealized version I had of using a flip phone.

What This Experiment Really Taught Me

While I had the phone, I also started going to cafes more and leaving my house to get work done. With ADHD, body doubling and changing your environment can also significantly help focus and enhance your productivity. So I was actually able to experiment with both a flip phone, and environmental changes.

Here’s my verdict: Simply getting dressed and working around other people made a bigger difference in my phone habits than switching to a flip phone. It’s not the conclusion I was hoping for, but it’s the honest one.

The need to doom scroll when you’re surrounded by inspired New Yorkers kind of goes away at least for a few hours, which is a few less hours than I’d be inclined to open up socials at home in my pajamas.

Over time, I kept leaving the flip phone at home, knowing I wouldn’t feel inclined to check socials or watch youtube in a public space with mascara and a fashionable outfit on (and remember, I couldn't use it to hop on the subway, either).

I realized around the 1 month mark that I was romanticizing the idea of the flip phone more than the actual day to day use of it. The novelty of it was more exciting than the actual practice of committing (is there anything more ADHD?) - plus the software and phone bugs that would make it impossible to rely on really didn’t really help.

So, my verdict is that no, a flip phone wont just magically change your focus, at least for me personally. But changing your environment, if you can (I understand that it’s an extremely privileged position to be in ) has made a larger impact on my content consumption than switching to a flip phone. This might be different if you don’t live in a city or have a completely different lifestyle.

But I’m not saying I’m no longer open to using a flip phone. I would love to find one that has better software. I wonder if companies like Apple and Android are already sensing the large shift to analog and will create something totally new so that the software is usable, and modern. If you have recommendations on other devices, I’d love to hear it in the comments!

As for now, I’m going to continue using Opal to block social media apps, and explore cafes and coworking spaces all around the city, since I know those methods are currently working for me and my needs.

What are practices you’ve tried to implement into your routine that have helped actually lower your content consumption?! I’d love to know.

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There’s a new moon in Aries this week on Friday April 17th, one that’s all about fresh starts, courage, and actually doing something new with your life.

Not so much in a dreamy, vision board and journal kind of way, but in an aggressive a get up and move kind of way…gotta love this Aries energy!

There are weeks where the energy is actually nudging you to rest, reflect, and take a second to recalibrate…think things through and set intentions. Typically, new moons are this time to plant a seed and write down your dreams.

This is not one of those weeks.

This is the kind of week where something inside you could feel more intense than usual. Hangry much?

Maybe you’re feeling like you have no patience for certain conversations or people anymore. You could even find yourself feeling restless because you’re not sure where all of this intensity is coming from.

Maybe you need people to speak a little faster this week or watch your content on 2x speed.

This new moon brings to light what you’ve been avoiding. It highlights where you need to take courage to make things happen.

It’s almost like life is shaking you.

“Make the damn move.” “Do the thing you’ve been thinking about for weeks/months… it’s now or never!”

This transit in the sky is teaching us that once you bet on yourself, there is no going back.

Aries is a sign of bravery, courage, and tenacity. It’s pushing us to show up boldly in an area of life we may have tried to ignore or delay due to fear. Fear of vulnerability, fear of failure, fear of visibility.

We have 7 planets in Aries…a once in a lifetime event.

The last time this happened was in the 1800’s.

This is pure audacity energy in motion. This is a manifestation portal waiting for us to take a leap and do THE thing. Only you know what that is.

Because the stars are basically saying once you do it… there’s no going back. And if you commit, you could see an insane amount of momentum and reward. This is the year of the fire horse after all. The astrology right now is showing us that what you do right now matters more than usual—the effort you put in will come back to you quickly.

So this is your “stop playing small” week.

The week you:

• finally send the message

• stop over-explaining yourself

• walk away from what drains you

• or start the thing you keep saying you’re “not ready” for

The Aries energy is pushing us to take action. It’s telling us we need to move on to something we kept telling ourselves we need more time or knowledge to do.

From finally starting my Substack this year after delaying it for months (mostly from fear and not feeling “ready enough”), I can now share with you that action truly creates clarity and not the other way around. You don’t have to have a perfect plan to execute on an idea or to start sharing vulnerably online.

It’s quite the opposite. The action I’ve taken to show up every week here and the writing practice I’ve committed to, has only led me to feeling more capable, and vulnerable with my writing. It’s lead to beautiful connections with other fellow writers here that feel like we are in each-other's corners. It’s led me to know that every single person has a unique perspective that is valuable to share - including my own.

So now, I can share that from actual experience, the second you do the thing you’ve been avoiding, you teach yourself that you can do anything. And slowly but surely … you trust yourself again.

So if you feel a little fired up right now, good.

That’s the point of this energy. It’s here to wake you up, not soothe you. So this can feel uncomfortable. Keep in mind that Aries also rules over aggression, impulsivity, and war. So make sure to be mindful of your emotions and create ways to channel your intensity this weekend into the beginning of May.

Channel it by going for a walk. Exercise and move the body to release all of that pent up intensity that could be coming up to the surface. Rearrange your space. Put your phone down and actually do something.

This isn’t energy meant to sit in the body. It’s meant to move through you. Without incorporating some type of movement or presence outside of your thoughts, you could feel extra activated and anxious, so please take time for yourself this weekend.

Big sister advice from me to you:

The life you want isn’t waiting on perfect timing, but for you to stop hesitating. (I think I need to print that out for myself to put up on my wall?)

Your only assignment this week (It’s not journaling, and not intention setting - which I’ve never said before) is to:

Do the one thing you keep thinking about… and haven’t done yet.

That’s it.

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In my recent pieces, I’ve talked about how to tell the difference between anxiety and intuition, and how to stop second-guessing using your body’s wisdom. But where this lesson shows up most clearly for me and so many people I care about in my life is in romantic relationships.

This is because who you choose to love will shape the entire trajectory of your life.

Looking back on using intuition to make the decisions I’m most proud of, they all had one thing in common: I felt a sense of expansion and lightness in my body after making them.

But this is not a story about one of those decisions. The relationship I stayed in for 4 years in my early twenties felt like the opposite.

This is about a time in my life when I didn’t know how to listen to my body. I didn’t know how to honor my needs for an extended period of time. I want to share how that felt in my body, and what that taught me with you.

Ironically in that season of challenge in my life, The Universe basically ended up burning everything to the ground so that it could eventually push me towards a life that felt joyful, free, and aligned... way beyond what 24 year old me would have thought was possible at the time.

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In college, I dated someone for four years who was confusing to be with. One second they were supportive, interesting, and fun to be around- and the next- there was explosive anger and reactiveness (directed towards me). It took repeated patterns, and what felt like intervention from The Universe for me to finally walk away. Looking back, I now understand how my body and intuition were guiding me away from this relationship from the start.

First off: I knew I was settling.

But I told myself stories that he was struggling, that his past had shaped him this way, that with enough support, enough patience, things might change.

And beneath all of that was a quieter truth I didn’t yet know how to face:

I was abandoning myself. But I don’t blame myself.

That feeling didn’t come as a loud, obvious warning. It was quiet. A constant heaviness that lived in my body. It felt like there was injustice living in my body. It felt like uncertainty.

I became the fixer. I would always think “one day he will change and step into the potential I see in him.” The love that I was willing to accept could never meet what I needed and how I deserved to be treated.

I stayed focused on school, on building my life, and in many ways, I stayed in denial.

The Relationship

Partners with a lack of self-awareness and projected unresolved trauma can feel “normal” if you’re someone who tends to hold more compassion than boundaries.

I often felt alone in the relationship because it was one-sided. I was the parent in the dynamic.

In college, we would go to house parties with friends and I would find myself bracing for those nights. I was angrily yelled at in front of friends on multiple occasions. It could be anything… something as small as spilling a drink. This was a theme especially when alcohol was involved. He just didn’t have a filter and often insulted me and others. He lacked self-awareness. I became hypervigilant and embarrassed while we were in group settings- hoping and praying he wouldn’t embarrass me. His most common behavior would be getting into debates with strangers or friends. About politics, religion, and whatever else he could yell about. I felt the energy in the room of a close-knit friend group catching up on the weekend go from friendly and warm to chaotic and uncomfortable for everyone there. I was ashamed. My friends knew me as confident, intelligent and determined. This was the exact opposite type of relationship they would expect me to settle for.

Much of his behavior was rooted in unresolved anger from a traumatic childhood experience. And because I understood what it’s like to grow up in environments shaped by trauma, I had a deep sense of empathy for him.

So I stayed patient. I stayed understanding. And I kept forgiving.

I also loved his family. Being around them felt grounding - like a version of love that was warm, stable, and easy. It made everything more confusing. How could something feel so good in one space, and so heavy when it was just us?

He often told me he wouldn’t go out to bars with me and my friends in college because he didn’t want the possibility of other men approaching me. He would say things like, “I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”

Looking back, that should have scared me more than it did.

Instead of feeling carefree like college is meant to feel, I felt constantly on edge. Like I had to monitor my environment, his reactions, and my own behavior all at once.

I don’t recognize that version of myself anymore.

I was empathetic, but I had no boundaries. I over-functioned in the relationship…over-explaining, over-accommodating, and taking responsibility for things that were never mine to hold.

At the same time, I was navigating an intense academic schedule as a biology undergrad with two minors, and working multiple jobs to support myself. And beneath all of that, I was dealing with (undiagnosed until 2 year ago!) ADHD, struggling to focus, to stay organized, and to keep up with everything life was asking of me.

I was already overwhelmed and struggling on my own. And yet, I carried him too.

There were moments I normalized that I can’t believe now. Like the time he abandoned me at a music festival because he was “annoyed,” leaving me to figure out how to get home on my own. Or the times I walked in on him misusing his stimulant medication at parties - triggering fears I hadn’t fully processed from my past.

There were also moments where he made inappropriate, uncomfortable comments toward my peers and coworkers. I remember feeling a deep sense of embarrassment…wanting to disappear - especially knowing how hard I worked to build those connections and support myself.

Slowly, it became harder to show up in my own life. And still, I stayed.

Because it felt familiar. Because I believed I could help him. Because I loved his family. Because a part of me wasn’t sure I would find something better.

Staying in situations that feel familiar is the single most dangerous thing you can do for yourself. Looking back, I can now tell my younger self that you deserved so much better and WILL find better.

The relationship only felt “normal” when we were alone and everything was controlled. When we were in our dorm, with Netflix on, and ordering pizza. Just the two of us. The moment other people -or alcohol - entered the picture, everything shifted.

That quiet discomfort in my body started to feel louder to the point where I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

The Dumpster Fire that was The End

Around that same time (towards the end of the relationship), I felt a pull deep within me to make a big change. I decided I wanted to apply to schools for a graduate degree and got accepted to a University in Boston. This big life change to move from New York to Boston didn’t necessarily make sense on paper (or financially for me) but it felt right in my body. When I thought about the possibility of going to school, and starting fresh in a new city, something inside of me jolted. I felt excited, expanded, and hopeful for my future, like I knew there was more waiting for me in Boston.

That decision to move threatened everything about the dynamic we had because it meant distance, independence, and the chance to be on my own and learn about who I was without him.

Within 2 weeks of me settling into my new apartment, he came to visit and everything unraveled…like a dumpster fire that couldn’t be extinguished.

One morning, while he was asleep next to me in my new apartment, I grabbed his phone to look up some simple fun things we could do in Boston before he drove back to New York later that evening. I usually didn’t ever use his phone, but something inside of me felt like it was pulling me to look. Like The Universe was whispering “use his phone” and it felt so instinctual I grabbed it without a second thought.

Being new to the city, I was excited to explore the neighborhoods and bring him with me.

I opened google chrome on his phone and started typing into the google search bar: “f-u-n t-h-i-n-g-s t-o…”

Immediately, previous searches popped up in purple as I was typing.

Two of them being: “create a dating profile” and “online dating website”

I had to do a double take at what I was seeing.

I clicked on the first search term and saw a purple link on the search results that had been visited before. To my surprise, it was an online dating site where his account was still logged in.

“Looking for friends” it said- next to a photo I took of him and his dog. Unsurprisingly, he even lied about his height…

All of this hyperfixation on my activities and who I talked to for 4 years, only to have that exist as a projection of his own behaviors. He was the one who thought about cheating. He was the one who created a full blown dating profile to talk to women within weeks of me moving to Boston.

My body felt flushed. I heard my heartbeat turn into a drum solo.

My chest felt like it dropped into my stomach. My mouth went dry. My hands began to shake.

It felt like everything in me knew before my mind could even process it.

Like this was a confirmation of all of the discomfort I felt in the last 4 years of mothering, making sure he scheduled therapy appointments and coaching him through bouts of depression, anxiety and anger that were often directed towards me, all while I was struggling myself.

For four years, I had been questioned, challenged and embarrassed. All of this started brewing again as I saw this photo of him smiling with his dog.

I woke him up immediately. I confronted him but parts of that moment feel blurred out now.

I remember excuses. I remember deflection. I remember him saying he felt like I was “moving on to better things,” and he wasn’t good enough for me. That our paths were different now… even though I had never once been unfaithful or disloyal.

And that was it for me. The last straw. The end of something that was giving me 0% back anyway.

This was a man constantly threatened by beautiful successful women. Imagine trying to flourish and feel joy in a new city while your boyfriend was threatened by everything you were all along.

It felt like a lightbulb went off for me at that moment. This was not someone I could build a life with.

When I say that ending that relationship felt like the lightest I’ve ever felt in my body, I mean it.

Yes, there was fear and heartbreak. I was in a new city, and didn’t know a single person. I was trying to rebuild my life.

I questioned how I would navigate everything on my own. I created a break up playlist where Burn by Usher and I don’t fuck with you by Big Sean became my top played tracks for months.

I was still terrified of being alone. Terrified of not finding someone better. I even questioned if disappointment was just a part of love. Was that the standard?

That time in my life took me to a dark place. Especially as someone who always sees the good in people. Someone who roots for potential.

But underneath the fear, there was relief.

My body had been carrying the weight of that relationship for four years. I felt like because I no longer had the weight of this relationship and the worry that came with it to carry, the possibilities for me and my life were endless.

I could stay out all night. I could talk to anyone I wanted to. I could learn about who I was without taking on the responsibility of needing to care for someone that couldn’t take care of himself, let alone of me.

But I look back to that time of being single with so much appreciation for younger me. It’s the most rapid growth I’ve ever experienced in my life. The most I’ve ever cared for myself and put my needs first. It was addictive. I didn’t want to settle down with anyone. I wanted to be single, have fun, and focus on building friendships with my peers and new friends in Boston.

I learned 2 things that changed everything for me

1. You cannot change people. No matter how much you care. No matter how much potential you see in them.

2. Who someone is in the beginning is often them on their best behavior.

With that relationship, I finally came out of denial and listened to the whispers that had been there all along.

Through therapy, spirituality, and the persistence to keep going, I knew there would be a light at the end of the tunnel. And I can tell you, there is.

After I made the decision to truly choose myself and stop tolerating relationships that didn’t feel aligned, I met my husband within two years.

My younger self is now unrecognizable. My relationship with my now husband feels freeing, expansive, supportive, and fun. Like a safe place to land and for me to fully express myself without fear.

I stopped settling for relationships that kept me feeling small. That relationship- despite being draining and toxic taught me about what I’m willing to accept for myself. It taught me I was whole on my own already.

It taught me that intuition is subtle. It can feel like quiet exhaustion.
The feeling that something is off even when everything looks “fine” on the outside.

And when you ignore it, it doesn’t disappear.

It just gets louder until there’s a breaking point. The Universe eventually steps in to cut ties if that opportunity or relationship is not for you.

If you’re questioning your relationship, pause for a moment and ask yourself:

• Does this feel like peace or pressure?

• Do you feel expansive or held back being around this person?

The universe doesn’t punish you for choosing yourself. It rewards you for it.

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Building on my previous pieces about how to rely on the wisdom that lives in our bodies when we make decisions, and how to stop second-guessing ourselves, I wanted to share how I’ve learned how to differentiate between anxiety and intuition. Through many trials and tribulations in my life, I’ve noticed some stark differences between the two. And once I started learning how to differentiate the between anxiety and intuition in my own life, my life dramatically shifted for the better.

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Your life is a reflection of the decisions you make. And when those decisions are driven by fear or made while ignoring your intuition - you end up further away from the life you actually want. The real shift happens when you learn to trust yourself enough to take one small step toward your dreams, even when it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Logic serves the left side of the brain. It’s rational. It’s how we are taught to think and approach life in childhood, school, early adulthood and how we stay safe.

But what about decisions that are not physically tangible or measurable? Like who you stay in a romantic relationship with and who you walk away from, where you live and the life you build there, the job you accept, leave or outgrow, and who you let into your inner circle. These are life altering decisions that tend to require deeper considerations and the ability to listen to our own needs unapologetically.

What’s tricky is that sometimes the paths that are most aligned with our lives also feel the scariest. This topic has come up so often with others that it inspired me to write this article to reiterate the true power we have when we make decisions.

So how do you know whether you’re sensing danger or standing at the edge of expansion?

If you’ve read my two previous posts on decision making and self-trust, you won’t be surprised when I say that the answer lives in the body and how the body communicates with us.

Intuition and anxiety show up completely different in our bodies.

Intuition

Intuition tends to feel extremely subtle. Like a gentle whisper, or a thought that comes through while you’re washing the dishes that feels like gentle guidance.

But if it’s an aligned opportunity that is out of your comfort zone, those decisions rarely feel completely subtle or calm. This is where it gets trickier.

These bigger aligned decisions often feel like standing at the edge of something larger than your current life. There’s probably fear, but this type of fear has a different texture than anxiety does.

You might notice:

• curiosity mixed with nervousness

• a sense of possibility

• a feeling of expansion

Even if the path is unfamiliar, there is a quiet sense that it could lead somewhere meaningful. A little thought that whispers that you could take the leap and trust.

With intuition, sometimes life and The Universe even begin leaving strange little breadcrumbs, or synchronicities to show you what’s aligned. For example, maybe a conversation appears about the exact topic you’re considering. Maybe you scroll across content that is tied exactly to your situation. A book recommendation shows up unexpectedly or maybe you notice repeating numbers or coincidences connected to the idea.

Moments that feel almost symbolic.

It’s almost like there’s this expansion and release happening on a microscale within the body. Like you can finally take a breath AND take a chance- even though it’s the unknown, it feels like a weight has been lifted when you think about making that decision.

Anxiety

On the other hand, anxiety is LOUD. It’s not gentle. It’s not comforting. Repeating thoughts, worries that dysregulate you and keep you feeling on edge.

Instead of expansion, the body contracts. Anxiety feels heavy in the chest and loud in the mind. You feel activated and dysregulated. You could find yourself breathing more shallowly, and feeling restless. Sometimes when there’s anxiety, and your intuition is not signing off on this decision, you could feel like there’s an urgency to answer. The decision often feels rushed and there’s pressure to say yes quickly. And if you are feeling excitement, it comes mostly from how the decision looks, not how it actually feels.

Thoughts like “this would look great on my résumé.” But when you imagine living inside the decision, your body feels tense instead of expansive.

That tension is information.

I’d go as far as say that tension is confirmation that the decision isn’t rooted in alignment.

My practice and questions to differentiate between anxiety and intuition

Quiet your mind. Pick a place in your home where you won’t be disturbed.

Now I want you to slow your breath and try box breathing. So in for 4 counts, holding for 4 counts, and breathing out for 4 counts. As you start to feel more grounded, ask for guidance. That can look like asking for guidance from your higher self, God, the Universe, etc. you can journal this, or sit quietly.

And remind yourself to detach. You don’t owe anyone anything. You are not obligated to choose anything. You simply choose from a place inside yourself that resonates. Feel into that energy of disconnecting from urgency, and take note of any bodily sensations that arise. And remember, the more regulated the body feels, the clearer that answer becomes. Notice any thoughts that naturally come up. Then, you can ask yourself these questions for further clarity:

• When I imagine saying yes, do I feel expanded or lighter?

If it’s hard to answer that question, you can break down where your perspective on how to answer is coming from

• Is my inner child seeking safety?

• Is my ego seeking validation?

• Or is my decision coming from my higher self—the quieter voice that feels calm and steady?

Learning to distinguish between anxiety and intuition changed everything for me. It’s something I’m still learning to trust, again and again.

Next week, I’ll share how my body led me out of a destructive relationship in my 20’s and into the beautiful partnership I have today (with my now husband!)

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You struggle with trusting yourself.

And most of that didn’t start with you.

I wrote an introduction piece for this topic on how vital our connection is to our body when making decisions and developing our own perspective and internal compass here.

If your nervous system grew up around unpredictability, cultural pressures, or any type of instability, decision-making can feel uncomfortable and induce anxiety.

Your body learned that being wrong might not be safe. There was no room for error or play. Decisions may have felt serious, because they were. How you responded and behaved may have impacted the whole household, generated criticism, or introduced you to limiting beliefs.

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My Own Nervous System and How It’s Shaped the Way I Listen to Myself

When your environment is unpredictable, the nervous system becomes highly adaptive.

From my own childhood experience looking back- I learned how to do some of the following to keep myself safe.

Maybe you can relate:

• Read people quickly and anticipate reactions

• Dissociate by fixations on hobbies (for me it was music, daydreaming, and television shows always playing in the background for escape)

• Monitor emotional shifts of the people around me

• Analyze situations constantly so I can decide how to best show up, or speak to avoid “rocking the boat”

I became extremely perceptive but also deeply uncertain about my own desires when constantly trying to keep my nervous system safe. Sometimes it can feel like there is no room left for my voice. No room left for me to listen to my own needs.

Growing up neurodivergent (something I didn’t even realize until two years ago, right after turning 30) and as a first-generation eldest daughter - making my family and community proud wasn’t optional. It was expected.

But it isn’t that simple. It’s an intricate and layered childhood experience because alongside that pressure, I have deep love, respect and gratitude for my family.

I’m in awe of parents who leave everything they know behind to create safer, better lives for the next generation.

And because of that… the pressure to achieve for first generation children means that much more.

It’s not just about me, but what was sacrificed to get me here.

So without even realizing it, I learned how to perform.
How to make the “right” choices. And how to quiet the part of me that already knew what I actually wanted.

I was a storytelling, dancing, silly, deeply creative kid. That was my natural state. But it didn’t take long to realize which versions of me were accepted… and which ones weren’t.

So I adjusted.

The parts of me that didn’t fit the mold weren’t really encouraged but questioned.

If I didn’t want the traditional path like medical school or a job in a STEM field, and instead felt pulled towards writing, it wasn’t seen as bold or exciting, but risky.

So I learned how to override myself and unfortunately how to shrink and choose what made sense to everyone else.

If you spent years trying to stay safe and accepted, you likely learned to prioritize approval and harmony over authenticity.

This is why many of us experience a strange tension in adulthood. You can easily see patterns in everyone else’s life, but when it comes to your own path, the signal feels foggy. The call drops.

For many of us, decision-making was shaped by a question that sounded like:

What will make others comfortable with me?

Instead of:

What feels aligned for me?

Over time, this creates a habit of scanning externally before checking internally.

What will they think?
Will this impress people?
Will this make me look successful?

These questions may be circulating without you knowing. And they rarely lead to clarity in making your own decisions. When your life decisions are shaped around external validation, your body tries to communicate that with you and quietly resists.

And that resistance eventually shows up as burnout and chronic second-guessing. Our connection to our own autonomy feels distant.

The Question That Changes Everything

When I’m faced with a major decision, I now ask a much simpler question:

If no one could see this choice… would I still want it?

If the answer is yes, the signal usually becomes much clearer.

If the answer is uncertain, it often reveals how much outside perception is influencing the decision. If you haven’t taken the time to reflect on where the decision making is coming from, this can feel uncomfortable. You’re not alone.

The way we navigate and make decisions while relying on logic rather than our body may have never been modeled to us. That reflex to people please is wired within us. But that means it can also be re-wired with intention, building pauses and a relationship with our happiness and what fuels us.

And the body always knows the difference… like a spark lit within us.

When something significant appears in your life, try asking:

• If I removed the need to impress anyone, would I still want this?

• Am I imagining how this decision looks, or how it actually feels to live inside it?

• When I imagine sharing this news with loved ones, am I seeking approval or simply sharing joy?

• Does this path align with my happiness, or only my performance?

These questions slowly bring the decision back to where it belongs- inside of you.

In next week’s post I’ll be sharing about how I’ve learned to differentiate between anxiety and intuition as a part 3.

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You might feel more emotional. More reflective. Maybe even more aware of the direction your life is moving in.

It’s as if your inner world is asking you to pause before the next chapter begins.

And interestingly enough, the cosmos mirrors this exact moment. If you’ve been feeling this shift too, keep reading because this week’s energy explains a lot and might help you move into your next chapter with more clarity and purpose.

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On March 18th, we welcome the New Moon in Pisces - this energy can feel like a reset wrapped in emotion, intuition, and inner reflection. Pisces is the final sign of the zodiac, the place where everything dissolves before something new begins. It asks us to soften, to feel, and to listen beneath the noise of our routines.

And this particular new moon carries extra weight.

The Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Mars are all in Pisces, creating a powerful concentration of Piscean energy. When this much of the sky gathers in one sign, we feel it. The themes of that sign become louder, more present in our lives.

Pisces rules emotion, imagination, compassion, dreams, and the unseen world of intuition. During this time, we may feel more inclined to slow down and feel things more deeply than usual. Old emotions may surface. Creative inspiration may return. Our inner world becomes louder than our external one.

Pisces is the last chapter of the zodiac story. It represents completion, integration, and release.

Before we begin something new, we must first allow the past to dissolve. And right now, the sky is helping us do exactly that.

But there is something else happening at the same time…something that signals forward movement.

This Friday, Mercury ends its retrograde! (Thank goodness). The fog that Mercury retrograde often brings—miscommunication, delays, reflection—begins to clear. What once felt confusing starts to make sense again. Decisions feel easier. Conversations become clearer.

If Pisces is the closing chapter, Aries is the first page.

And on that very same day that Mercury ends it’s retrograde on March 20th, we reach the Spring Equinox, when the Sun enters Aries.

This moment is significant because Aries marks the beginning of the zodiac. While January 1st marks the calendar new year, the entrance of the Sun into Aries is often considered the true energetic beginning of the year—the start of the astrological new year. As an Aries, I relate more to the feelings of initiation, excitement, and new beginnings now more than ever!

The energy shifts from reflection during the middle of the week to initiation towards this weekend. The energy feels like we are going from dreaming to doing.

From imagining who we want to be… to taking the first steps toward becoming them.

Aries carries the energy of action, courage, and forward momentum. It asks us to start, even if we feel uncertain. It reminds us that clarity often comes through movement, not overthinking.

And this year, the transition feels especially potent.

With Mercury ending its retrograde at the same time the Sun enters Aries, the sky seems to be offering a collective green light. Conversations that stalled may begin moving forward again. Ideas that lived quietly in our journals may finally ask to be brought into the world.

We may feel an unexpected surge of motivation—like something within us is waking up.

In many ways, that is exactly what is happening.

Nature is waking up.
The earth is softening and light is returning.

And we are part of that same rhythm.

Let Your Feelings Dictate Your Goals

Over the past few months, many of us have been reflecting on how we truly want to feel this year. Not just what we want to accomplish, but how we want those experiences to feel.

This Pisces New Moon on March 18th invites us to connect with that feeling.

We’re invited to imagine the version of ourselves that moves through the world with more ease, more creativity, and more honesty.

And as Aries season begins, we are gently asked to take the first aligned steps toward that version of ourselves.

Not rushed, but more intentional. We’re called to set goals based on how we want to feel.

This week plants the seeds of the quiet inner work that begins to meet action.

Where dreams begin to take form. Where we allow for the new year to finally start….we feel it. The energy is shifting. Nature is transforming.

And so are we.

Tools to Harness This Energy into the Astrological New Year

Set aside a few minutes to write down answers to any of the prompts below that resonate for you:

• What emotions have been asking for my attention recently?
• What dreams, ideas, or creative impulses have resurfaced lately?
• How do I want to feel this year—not just what do I want to accomplish?
• What parts of the past am I ready to release so I can begin a new chapter?

Pisces reminds us that clarity does not always arrive through logic. Sometimes it arrives through stillness, intuition, and allowing ourselves to simply feel.

Lastly, Set Intentions Based on Feeling

Instead of only setting goals around productivity or achievements, try setting intentions around how you want your life to feel this year.

You might ask yourself: What kind of energy do I want to bring into my days?

Examples answers can include:

• more peace during my mornings to feel anchored

• more time for creative expression to feel connected to joy

• scheduling time to move the body to feel healthy and strong

The seeds we plant in quiet reflection now often guide the direction of the months ahead. So let this week be a moment to reconnect with your inner compass and think about how you want your life to feel.

Happy Astrological New Year!

Rooting for you always,

Christina

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But our bodies are the first to respond and quietly make a decision.

Your nervous system & body hold the wisdom of previous lifetimes and ancestors steering you. Science proves our bodies are constantly navigating life by absorbing information & energy everywhere we go - from people, environments, and emotional atmospheres. We are constantly responding to the energy around us, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Most of the decisions we struggle with have already been answered by the body- it’s a matter of being able to listen.

I’ve spent the past decade learning and testing this in waves. Through big turning points in life, relationships, careers, moves, transitions… my life experiences, therapy, reflections, and spiritual practices got me to finally listen.

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How do we confidently make decisions when we were never really taught how to listen to the body?

I’ve noticed that before the mind forms an opinion or makes a realization, the body has already reacted.

You might notice:

• Your body relaxes around certain people.
• Your shoulders tense when you open a specific email or see a text pop up.
• A quiet sense of excitement and expansion when something is aligned.

Your nervous system is constantly sensing the world around you. Every interaction leaves an impression somewhere in the body.

Your body holds a wisdom that logic cannot always access.

We often believe decisions are made in the mind. But in reality, the mind usually arrives after the body has already spoken, trying to narrate and justify what we feel.

I think of it like a phone that rings and rings. Some days we answer immediately. And other days we’ve had our bodies on silent mode so we barely hear the call at all.

And sometimes the signal feels confusing. Is the call coming through or did I just imagine it?

The confusion and second-guessing occur not because the body isn’t speaking, but because life taught us to disconnect from ourselves and to trust logic over our feelings.

When We Learned to Leave Our Bodies

Not everyone grew up in an environment where feelings were safe. Some of us learned very early that disconnecting was the safest option.

If you grew up in chaos, criticism, unpredictability, or emotional absence, your nervous system likely adapted around survival rather than clarity. My heart goes out to anyone doing the brave work of rewiring their nervous system, just to show their inner child that they’re finally safe.

I’ve realized making decisions from this past, unaware version of ourselves can sound like:

Instead of asking
What do I want?

You may subconsciously ask
What will keep me safe?

This happens when our nervous system is always scanning. Always looking for potential threats to safety, possible confrontation, and unpredictability. Your nervous system learned to prioritize safety over authenticity.

You may notice subtle emotional shifts in people before they even speak. You may feel the energy of a room as soon as you walk in.

Many neurodivergent and highly sensitive people also experience this heightened awareness. It can feel like absorbing information all the time…patterns, emotions, tension, tone.

And while this sensitivity can be a gift, without proper reflection, it can also make clarity within your own feelings and thoughts difficult… leading to feeling indecisive, unsure, or stuck.

Because when you feel everything, it becomes hard to know what feelings are actually yours.

Coming Back to Yourself

I began recognizing these patterns in myself over the past decade and I’ve been learning how to support my nervous system differently by coming back into my body.

In order to make decisions that you resonate with that feel expansive and lead you to the best opportunities, you have to show up and listen to what you need. That is done by creating space with yourself - checkpoints with yourself, and small pauses throughout the day.

This ability to have a dialogue and a supportive relationship with yourself might feel odd at first, but it becomes a foundation for making decisions confidently, trusting your intuition, and actually calling in opportunities and people that are aligned to who you are now. Present you is always evolving and demands your attention.

This can look as simple as remembering to set a reminder to check in with yourself throughout the day on how you’re feeling. Maybe reflecting on how you feel after interactions, conversations and new environments. It’s a practice that will highlight what your body needs in that moment. Creating this time will eventually remind you that the most important opinion and experience is your own.

You are the main character in your life. It’s crucial to be able to tune out the noise of the world to better hear the whispers of your soul because it’s leading you towards the opportunities and experiences that light you up.

We’re only able to know what sparks joy within us through feelings that aren’t easy to navigate. The sadness, the grief - it makes us human. Sitting with and processing these feelings is vital. Because they remind us how beautiful a good day can feel.

Sitting with your thoughts and reflections can point you to an expansive life because you are able to trust your decisions and take committed action.

And because the wisdom you spend so much time searching for doesn’t live outside of you.

It’s been inside of the body all along.

Small Steps To Start Listening to Your Body

Try asking yourself throughout the day:

• How does my body feel after this conversation?
• Do I feel expanded or tense after making this decision?
• What signals does your body give you when something feels right or wrong?

Your body will answer if you pause long enough to notice.

And remember - you are more capable and know more than you realize.

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1:1 Energy Healing Sessions

Eclipses are cosmic course correctors. They have a way of reminding us that our perceived control over everything is, in many ways, a delusion. That there are bigger workings happening in conjunction with the Universe behind the scenes… movements we cannot yet see, but that are unfolding for us.

This is why eclipse seasons often bring endings. Or sudden awareness. Or realizations about patterns, habits, and environments that no longer serve the future version of who we are becoming.

Think of the next few months as a universal refresh.

The energy of this Virgo Lunar Eclipse clears away what, in the grand scheme of your life, is not truly meant for you.

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Virgo Eclipse Themes: Perfectionism, Overworking & Control

Because this eclipse is occurring in Virgo, and it’s bringing to focus patterns that don’t serve us, we may be reminded of the following themes:

• Perfectionism

• Self-criticism

• Overworking

• Overgiving

• Hyper-responsibility

• The need to control outcomes
  

It’s asking you: where can you release control?

Maybe you’re realizing you’ve been over-giving to others.

Or maybe identity feels comfortable in the role of “problem solver” even when constantly managing everyone else’s emotions burns you out.

Maybe you are deeply compassionate toward others, yet relentlessly critical toward yourself.

Virgo energy can convince us that if we just fix one more thing, learn one more skill, organize one more area of our lives - then we will finally feel secure.

But that finish line keeps moving.

It’s time to be kinder to ourselves.

South Node in Virgo, North Node in Pisces: The Collective Shift

This Lunar Eclipse activates the South Node in Virgo / North Node in Pisces axis.

Astrologically, the South Node represents outdated patterns we are releasing. The North Node represents where we are being asked to grow.

Collectively, we are shifting:

From second-guessing every detail, and needing proof before we trust, to allowing intuition to guide us.
We are being asked right now to trust divine timing and to surrender control to something greater even if there is no proof.

The outdated energy of the South Node in Virgo sounds like:
“Where is the proof that I’m where I’m supposed to be?”
“If I just commit to doing or learning one more thing, then it will finally be enough.”

The North Node in Pisces reminds us:
“Everything you need is already within you.”
“The Universe is working in your favor - even when you can’t see it yet.”

Trust what falls out of your life. Whether it’s people, jobs, habits or environments that no longer resonate with the elevated version of yourself.

Letting Go

Trusting divine timing does not mean doing nothing.
It’s more about releasing fear-based control and allowing life to unfold without micromanaging every outcome and criticizing yourself in the process.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop trying to perfect everything.

Eclipse energy lingers for months. What is revealed now is only the beginning!

Tonight, ask yourself:

• Where and when can I be kinder to myself?

• What environments do I find myself over-performing and feeling drained?

• What changes in my routines and habits can I make to connect to creativity, spirituality, and trust in myself?

And remember:
You do not have to perfect yourself into worthiness.

The version of you that is emerging does not require control and over-giving.

Trust that you’ll be able to look back someday and see that the Universe was always working with you.

P.S Subscribers will receive a personal email that includes practical tools, embodiment practices, and guided reflections to help you align with the deeper lessons of this Lunar Eclipse in Virgo.

Happy Full Moon!

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