Finding your balance

Finding Your Balance by Allison Feehan, N.D., D.Psc., CRMT

I’ve been meaning to write this article for some time and with the high retrograde energy and busy hectic yet beautiful summer there is no better time than now. The July energy of Mercury in retrograde sent most of us reeling in chaos. I experienced a period of problems just raining down on me. Thankfully, all problems were fixable and no one’s health was impacted. There was however, electronics and machines breaking, lost orders, mis-communications, missing of appointments, etc. My life and most of my client’s lives were so out of balance. This retrograde energy ended into August but the residue of it could be felt well into the Lion’s Gate energy of 8-8. August flew by and we are all now in prep for the upcoming hecticness of going back to school. Even if you don’t have little ones going back to school you will still be impacted by the amount of school buses on the roads. I’ve been in total need of finding balance, peace, and organization. Perhaps, you are wondering what balance even looks like. I can tell you that being out of balance can be filled with anxiety, lack of sleep, panic attacks, and stress. Most people seek ‘work-life-balance’ but even that might not apply to those that don’t work outside the home. First and foremost, being mindful and not mind full is the key. Being mindful improves focus and concentration and can even improve your happiness. ‘Mind less’ tasks such as taking out the garbage or washing the dishes can change the way you feel by being aware of the task itself and not just moving through the motions. Be present in your body and what you are actually doing. Eating meals can also apply. Mindful eating can change what you’re eating and how you actually feel post meal. Being mindful may work in MOST situations but when you are battling a certain period of time that you just feel stuck in it can be difficult. No matter what approach I tried during retrograde I couldn’t seem to take that square peg and get it to fit in the round hole of what I was doing. It did alleviate some of the side effects, but I had to sit back and TRUST. Trusting is truly allowing the Universe just to take you with the flow of what will be. It means you let go of almost all control. This is something that is extremely hard for most of us to do. I knew that I needed to be patient and just allow situations to just unravel until the energy shifted. I had to start and end my day for myself. I would take at least 15-30 minutes in the morning to drink my tea and look out over the water, meditate, exercise, journal, review my to-do list. It was what I actually had control over. The same applied for an evening routine. I would stretch and do deep breath work before I got into bed. I would read a few pages of a book I had been wanting to read. Most nights I would review my to-do list and either tick tasks off or write new ones for the new day. This helped to clear my mind with a dump onto a piece of paper so that I wouldn’t keep playing over the list in my mind while I needed to wind down. If you are having trouble doing small tasks just for you, you can try just doing nothing! This can be even more difficult for some. Some of us have a hard time just doing nothing and for me I get super guilty when I just do nothing when I have a laundry list of tasks to do. I found myself only doing nothing when I was so exhausted my body would just set me down. Now, I try and do nothing after I have completed just a few tasks. This helps with the guilts and avoids the complete exhaustion. Finding balance is for sure an art. You may find balance and then fall out of balance. Don’t beat yourself up over this, let go and trust until you can regain your balance and mindfulness. Life is so fluid, and all things ebb and flow. Tune-in to you. Be as present as you can for those transition times. Try to enjoy. Try not to fill every single minute with stuff. Surrender to what needs to be for now. This too shall pass. Many Blessings, Allison

Allison Feehan N.D., D.Psc, CRMT Owner of the Coastal Cottage 64 Bridge Avenue Bay Head, NJ 08742