Summer 2018 three eclipses in a row
shake up both our inner and outer realities.
July 12 — the Cancer New Moon Solar Eclipse
July 27 — the Aquarius Full Moon Lunar Eclipse
August 11 — Leo New Moon Solar Eclipse.
(The first is discussed in my latest Cancer 2018 Blog. The last two will be discussed in the next Leo Blog.)
Since we begin to feel the eclipse energies several weeks before they actually happen, it is wise to begin early to hone our awareness and refine our sensitivity to these energetic shifts. This period from the end of June through mid August, will be filled with emotional intensity and a general atmosphere of internal and external anxiety, stress, and even upheavals.
How to Process and Benefit from the Eclipses
The intensity begins with the Cancer Eclipse, which will increase our sensitivity and bring suppressed emotions to the surface. We can use this opportunity to recognize
(1) programmed reactions that do not serve us,
(2) feelings that do not nurture us, and
(3) attachments that we don’t really care about and can thus let go of.
Our best strategy is to
(1) be present to what we are feeling and to not get distracted by analysis or caught in fear, blame, shame, victimization, and the many stories by which we define our lives.
(2) relate to what we are feeling as energy, let it flow through us, and feel it as aliveness and fuel for action and transformation.
Most of us think this is a good idea. But ideas alone don’t create change. And thinking is not a substitute for feeling. Commit to doing this exercise 3 or more times with conscious inhales and exhales when you feel intense emotions. It works if we do it.
Cultivating Feeling
One of the essential elements for cultivating the art of feeling is to give ourselves permission to feel everything – pain and pleasure, the comfortable and the uncomfortable, and the acceptable and what we might consider the unacceptable. The problem is that if we can’t feel what we don’t want to feel, we aren’t going to be able to feel what we want to feel.
The gambit of feelings and sensations of life available to humans is vast. Yet we confine ourselves in a very constricted cage of what we believe is acceptable. It is important to keep in mind that we are the only ones who feel what we feel. Nobody can eavesdrop and snoop into our personal feelings. So rest assured that what you feel is your own personal experience. Even if you talk about it, you are not opening the door to your inner sensation based reality.
Why do we stop ourselves from feeling the multiple varieties of sensations available to us?
(1) We don’t want to feel the painful feelings that percolate with fear, anger, anxiety and stress.
(2) We are afraid to feel what we feel, and we feel guilty and shamed for having feelings at all. (3) We don’t accept and honor the fact that having emotions is part of being human.
(4) We are so preoccupied with thinking that there is no room left to feel.
(5) We hope that the feelings will go away, i.e. we live in denial of a basic facet of life.
As a result of our beliefs and programming about emotions and feelings, we have trained ourselves into a state of numbness. We struggle and don’t allow ourselves to relax. We pretend that everything is ok, when it is not. We shut down and hide from even ourselves. Instead of listening to our feelings as a vital communication mechanism of our soul, we distract ourselves with mental chatter.
A beautiful way to give ourselves permission to feel is to feel our breath, which is absolutely neutral. Our breath does not have an opinion. There is no shame attached to breathing. We don’t have to be afraid of our inhale and exhale. Our breath may be shallow, but it is not painful to breathe. In fact the more we feel our breath, the more alive we feel in our body. The more alive we feel, the more we give ourselves permission to feel.
Meditation on the Breath
The Pranic Meditation below (taken from page 142 of Transitions to a Heart-Centered World)
is a good meditation to do during this time. Tuning into and feeling our pranic body breathe is always beneficial and even essential for balancing our nervous system and becoming aware of the energetic nature of our being.
It is important to pay attention to the flow of the breath and how the breath and the energy that it gives you feel in your body. At some point you will experience that everything is energy and that you too are a field of energy.
Follow each inhale into your nostrils, up to the bridge of your nose, and deep into the center of your head, where you awaken. Then focus on your inner eye. Maintain your connection to your inner space as you slowing and powerfully exhale, releasing stress and other impurities.
Allow your breath to be your guru. It will teach you many things. Above all, it will pull you into a deep space beyond thinking where you can be present to what you are feeling in your body. It
will simultaneously calm you down and energize you. You may find this to be a very pleasurable experience.
Yogi Bhajan Quote on Truth
“The fundamental truth is to realize, to feel, and to experience life within you. We normally feel and experience life within us in relationship to environments; so we feel environments, not life itself. One who experiences life experiences the source of life. One who experiences the source of life knows infinity, and that person knows the past, present, and future.” Yogi Bhajan
Pranic Meditation
In Easy Pose with a straight spine, make fists with index (Jupiter) fingers straight out, thumb resting on tucked fingers. Jupiter fingers cross at middle sections, with right on top, palm facing down, and left underneath, palm facing up, at diaphragm level. Fingers are straight and flat.
Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose, and exhale slowly, completely, and forcefully through a puckered mouth (not whistling) so it can be felt on the tips of the index fingers. The inhale and exhale are of equal duration. The entire cycle lasts 15 seconds. Fingers will feel cold. Never do this with a quick breath.
Meditate on your own prana carried by the breath for 11 minutes maximum.
To end, lock fingers and stretch arms overhead.
COMMENTS: This meditation will maintain youthfulness of mind and body, despite age. It brings health and healing ability—fertilizes the brain so there is no depression. You may yawn or stretch, but keep on with the breathing. It also eliminates fatigue and gives a constant flow of energy. You’ll become intuitive and universally sensitive (sensitive to phenomena like earthquakes, etc.), you will not feel tired, and you will dive deep into the pleasure of feeling alive.
