Tag: <span>balsamic</span>

It’s been a while since I posted here.  A long while.

As I’ve written in many different posts ( here, here & here) the balsamic phase of a cycle is a time when we turn away from worldly concerns ( 1st chakra ‘stuff’) and redirect our energy inward ( or upward) towards the spiritual/cosmic/ethereal,  either voluntarily…….or not.

I have found that it’s best to just go with the flow of this time period rather than try to force anything .   Regardless of the local weather, you’re traveling thru some dense fog and smokey waters.  Meditation/Prayer is the best activity to engage in.  If you can find an ashram or retreat center near by, go.

I live at the sea.  It helps.

The Lunar Balsamic phase lasts 3.5 days.  That’s a pretty easy time frame to work with for pulling out of the rat race.  However, the days of the week may prevent some challenges if you’re on some one else’s schedule and not your own.

Every planet in the solar system goes through a balsamic phase at some point-in-time.  The solar balsamic phase occurs for the 6-week period every year before your birthday. ( The Solar Return occurs when the sun reaches the exact place it was in at the moment of your birth.

The Balsamic phase for Mars lasts approximately 16 weeks.  Jupiter’s balsamic phase lasts about 18 months and Saturn’s balsamic phase is approximately 3.5 years! Few of us live long enough to experience a balsamic phase for the outer planets…..except perhaps Uranus.

In addition, any planet transiting thru the 12th House would also initiate the same kind of energy as a balsamic phase.

All that said, I am currently experiencing a 12th house Sun transit, a balsamic Mars, Jupiter, AND Saturn………………all at the same time.  It’s a miracle I can function!  For those of you versed in Vedic Astrology I have  just completed the Sade Sati which is a 3 year period of Saturn aspecting the Moon, also similar to the balsamic phase.  Whew.  It’s exhausting for no apparent reason.   What keeps me positive is the absolute knowledge that when this period is over I will be poised for a creative cycle beyond that which I have experienced for quite some time.

Teaching yoga is a gift.  Spiritual practice and practices are highly recommended during balsamic periods.   Yoga helps to create a global awareness of body, mind, emotions, and spirit.  For me, yoga helps me to be in the world and in-spirit at the same time.

Today is a First Quarter Phase in my lunar cycle, a time for action, ergo this post.

For the past few months I have been busy working on a private blog which I hope to publish soon, perhaps as an E-Book.

The subject is Astrology for Yoga Teachers/Therapists. If you’re interested  in being contacted upon publication please send an email to: asanctuary@optonline.net.

Astrology journal entry lunar phases Yoga Therapy

The moon returns to darkness once again. Perhaps you can see the slightest sliver of light remaining. Sigh. We’re tired. Something inside is calling for rest, retreat, and rejuvenation. The balsamic phase is the time when we need to honor that feeling, and honor ourselves for all the work and effort we have expended during the previous cycles. This phase of the moon beckons us to turn our attention inward, to the deepest parts of ourselves. It is the time to connect with spirit and the divine energy that lies within. And, if we are not in touch with those aspects of ourselves then perhaps this is the time to search for it.

Many of the eastern philosophies speak of the light that resides within. God is to be found on the inside, deep within oneself. Our disconnection from that source of light within may indeed be part of the problem that permeates society today. Many times when I tell my clients and students to use this balsamic time for meditation, contemplation, soul-searching or prayer they look at me like I’m crazy. “I don’t have time for that” is a common response. There’s “too much to do, too much work, too many responsibilities”.

“But, I wish I could”, is a communal sad song. Well, this is the time to take the time for inward-oriented activities. And, the amazing, magical result of pursuing this inward journey at this particular time is the reduction of stress and the feeling & experience of having more time throughout the rest of the cycle.

The Balsamic Phase of the Moon is when our system is crying for psychic detoxification. It’s the perfect time to pause and reflect on all events and activities of the recent past. A ‘letting go’ time, when we acknowledge ourselves for doing the best we could. Or, if we weren’t able to do our best, we acknowledge ourselves for trying and then let it go.

What does it mean to let go of something? One hears this expression a lot these days. On one level I think it means to not worry or be concerned with outcome. Replace the energy spent on mental/emotional anguish and instead practice cultivating the energy of faith, trust and stillness. The Bhagava Gita gives very explicit instructions for how to do this and the balsamic phase is the time to practice more intently.

During the balsamic period the veil between the conscious and the unconscious is thin. Therefore, it is also a good time to pay more attention to our dreams. Dreams come from the Vijananamaya Kosha, one of our subtle bodies according to Yogic Philosophy. Our higher mind usually has some very important information and dreams are a way of communicating with ourselves. Sometimes they may even take on a prophetic tone. Our need to daydream, fantasize or simply escape our everyday realities is a natural tendency that requires attention just like any other health routine me might employ. We all need time to be alone and connect with ourselves. Long walks or drives, frequent naps, listening to music, connecting with nature, journaling, painting, dancing, practicing yoga, tai chi, chi gong, reading, or just sitting staring out a window are all befitting activities for these days.

In psychological terms this lunar phase is when we are more connected to the collective unconscious. This is a term used most frequently within the Jungian tradition of psychology. Freudians might refer to it as the unconscious or supra-conscious mind. People have created different words for the same concepts for eons. The point is that there is a part of our mind that works from a different operating system than the rest of our mind. And this ‘hidden file’ is very busy connecting to the ethereal WWW all the time.

So, perhaps the most important thing to really understand is that if you do not honor this time, if you continue your daily life and your routine without including “downtime’, then you will not feel energized and refreshed when the next cycle begins. At first the effects of this may not be apparent. However, over time, if you continue to ignore your inner world and focus only on the external the stresses will accumulate and can create obstacles, dis-ease, and crisis in your life.

Without adequate time for pause and reflection, the body/mind/spirit will rebel and hopefully send you some clear signals that things are out of balance. When that happens our lives begin to spin seemingly out of control. We find ourselves in dysfunction, dis-ease, and disarray. And as a result something may happen by which we are then forced (by some external factor?) to give up our routine. Either we land in a hospital, or we are down-sized, laid-off or fired. Either way, we are now forced to use our time to reflect because now we have no other choice. Fate or Free Will……..make your choice.

It’s so much easier to voluntarily step back from our routines then to have them forcibly removed from us. This is the gift of the Balsamic Phase of the Moon. Two days out of every 28 day cycle can go really far in preventing & healing accumulated stress.

©Time & Space Consulting. All rights reserved. This article is an excerpt of my book in progress.

Astrology Holistic Health lunar phases Meditation philosophy Planets and their Cycles Time Management Yoga

Sabbath

Today & tomorrow all of us will be experiencing the balsamic phase of the moon ending on Wednesday at 3;27 EDT when the New Moon cycle at 26Taurus begins. It’s time to dive in again and clean out the internal clutter.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet Wayne Muller who is an ordained minister, therapist and author of Sabbath, Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives. He definitly understood the symbolic meaning of the balsamic phase of the moon. He agrees that, without this time of introverted activity we are doomed to remain a stressed out, disease-ridden, self-centered culture showing little compassion or understanding for others. Whew. It stressed me out just writing that sentence!

The balsamic phase of the moon as I have previously written about here and here is the time to direct our attention to our inner world and our inner life. Many people don’t have a clue what that means which illustrates the need to educate and encourage this practice. Wayne Muller writes about Sabbath from both the Jewish & the Christian perspective. One celebrates this restful time on Saturday, the other on Sunday. I have personally discovered as an astrologer/yogini that using the balsamic time of the moon for my inward journeys to be extrodinarily auspicious.

We on this planet Earth are intimately connected to the cycle & phases of the Moon, our closest neighbor in the sky. We know that the moon affects the tides thru it’s gravitational pull on Earth. We know that we are more than 80% water. It’s not a gigantic leap to realize that we too are affected by that same gravitational pull. And, finally, we know that since the dawning of mankind we have watched and scheduled our lives by the consistent rhythms of the sun & moon. Afterall, isn’t that where our calendar came from? But, I digress.

It does make it somewhat challenging to withdraw from our daily lives if the balsamic phase falls on a Monday & Tuesday! Our contemporary worklife does not have a flexible enough schedule to accomodate the fluctuations of the lunar cycle. We are a solar based society, unlike some of the other cultures on our planet. (See this article on East vs. West astrology)

However, where there’s a will there’s a way. One of the ways I make sure that I acknowledge my balsamic tasks is to step up my yoga & meditation practice during these days. You might want to do the same and attend a class or two. Taking time out to be in nature is another way to celebrate this time. Journaling, napping, day-dreaming, are some other ways to honor yourself and build up your internal bank account. Practice ‘not doing’ as the yogi’s would say. Just Be. You will find that you are even more productive when the new moon comes back around if you take out some time for yourself now.

 

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gurjieff

“When one’s body revolts against work, fatigue soon sets in; then one must not rest for it would be a victory for the body. When the body desires to rest, don’t; when the mind knows it ought to rest, do so, but one must know and distinguish language of body and mind, and be honest.”

G. I. Gurdjieff

ps…..I’m still in the ‘balsamic phase’ of my lunar cycle……………..just popped ‘out’ to do my blog post! I’m not sure I agree with Mr. Gurdjieff’s suggestions here.

Ancient Wisdom consciousness philosophy

lunar phases

On Sunday a Solar Eclipse will occur in the last degrees of Pisces. Solar Eclipses always occur at the time of a New Moon and usually fall within 2 weeks of a Lunar Eclipse. So much has been written across the net on this that I shall leave it to other astrologers to fill you in.

What I’d like to draw your attention to however, are these few days prior to the New Moon/Eclipse. The balsamic phase of the moon occurs just before a new moon and has it’s own indomitable reputation. That being said here’s an article I wrote a while ago on this lunar phase.

Astrology consciousness lunar phases Miscellaneous