1. Embodying the Zodiac

Transcript

Welcome to a space where you can relax and connect to the inspiration within you. Find a comfortable position, either seated or lying down. Maybe cover yourself with a blanket or find some other way to get cozy.

And once you've found a position you like, feel free to get out any wiggles or energy that just wants to move, to flow, before finding some stillness. Take a deep breath in through your nose, letting your ribs expand, your belly expand, until that air is ready to release. And breathe in again, imagining that you could bring that breath all the way down to your feet, into the tips of your toes, filling up your entire body.

And release. And one more deep breath, sending it into any place you feel tension in your body, imagining and allowing the breath to soften and massage that space. Good.

Now let your weight drop down a little further into the ground, releasing anything you don't need to hold up into the flow of gravity. Beautiful. Today we are going to be exploring the first three signs of the zodiac, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini.

Whether or not you have planets in your birth chart, like the sun, the moon, or Jupiter in these signs, all of us have every sign within the wheel of our birth chart. And all of us are affected by the energy of a particular sign's season. In the Northern Hemisphere, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini mark the season of spring.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the season of fall. No matter where you are in the world, it is the start, the middle, and the end of Earth season. The zodiac is a wonderful way to get to know archetypes, and what we're going to be exploring in this series is the progression from one sign to the next as they shift through various modes, elements, and relationships to our bodies and our ability to manifest in our lives.

Let's explore these energies within you. So again, take a deep breath and feel the air coming into your lungs, gently pushing your diaphragm so that your belly expands, and let that breath go. Take another deep breath in through your nose, fill up, and let go.

We'll begin by exploring the energy of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac that begins our journey through the wheel. Aries is a fire sign, as well as a cardinal sign, and ruled by the planet Mars. Fire signs carry passion, heat, and ambition.

Cardinal signs get things started. And Mars is the planet of action, so it's quite appropriate for us to begin here. Aries also rules the head, the brain, and the eyes.

So I invite you to bring gentle attention to your head, your face, your eyes, your brain. And just notice, is there any excess tension there? Any holding there? And just allowing yourself to gently release it, to gently let go.

When we think of moving forward, of taking action, we often unconsciously start to tense our bodies like we're getting ready for a fight. And while Aries does have fire starter energy, I invite you to see if you can hold that energy of initiation without tension. What is it like to feel the momentum of a brilliant, inspired idea bouncing around through your brain without holding on too tightly?

Let yourself feel that energy. Feel the possibility, the joy of beginning something new, the excitement of new growth just beginning. Maybe something specific in your life, your career, or your relationships comes to mind.

And maybe you just allow yourself to experience that energy without a story. Now bringing the focus to your eyes, allowing yourself to feel into what it means to be visionary, to see new possibilities, to imagine what a different life might look like, a different world might look like, what a fuller expression of your truth might look like. Allowing the energy to flow in your eyes and in your inner eye where visioning happens.

And again, can we practice this cardinal energy of getting things started but without force? Our visions can be micromanaged and pressured, or we can simply receive them. We can allow them to come through, to trust them, and we can begin when the time is right and our energy is clear.

Feel this potential of a new cycle beginning. Let it fill up your brain, your eyes, your head. We are just getting started.

Next, we move into the sign of Taurus, an earth sign and a fixed sign. If cardinal was the energy of inspiration and getting things started, fixed energy is the energy of sustaining it, and the earth connection with Taurus helps us in this. Earthy, fixed Taurus helps us find what is sustainable, and what from our initial inspiration and visioning can be brought into form.

Taurus is also ruled by Venus, a sign of pleasure, of money, beauty, of the arts, and so we make our visions real with Taurus. In the body, Taurus is ruled by the throat, the neck, and the vocal cords. So I invite you to bring your attention from the head area down into the neck, imagining all of the things inside of your neck, your throat, your esophagus, the base of your tongue, your thyroid gland, vocal cords, your spine.

And just notice if you're holding any tension that can be released. Notice how available the energy feels to flow. Some of us have consistent access to throat energy, and for some of us, it comes out more easily in conversation with others.

Just noticing how your throat energy feels right now, what's the quality of the energy? Perhaps you can allow it to slow down from the excitement of the head and become more deliberate as we experiment with the Taurean energy of steadiness. Allow yourself to be where you are in this process, from idea to creation to transformation, which we will get to as we move into Gemini.

You may identify with one part of the process more than another, but right now we're just giving our minds and our bodies space to feel and explore where you're at today, noticing what gems and insights and relaxation is available to you. I invite you now to bring in the energy of making something real, of bringing form to your ideas, of stubbornly choosing what you want to exist in your life. Of stubbornly choosing what you want to exist in your life, in the world, in your work, your creativity, and your relationships, and doing what needs to be done to sustain that.

It may come from action, and it may also come from communication from your throat, from your vocal cords. What do you need to declare to life and declare to yourself about what you intend to sustain? Let that intention fill your body, with special attention to the throat area.

Next, we move out of Taurus and to the mutable air sign of Gemini. Gemini is ruled by the planet Mercury, which is all about communication. Its airiness and mutable nature makes it quick and adaptable.

This brings a lightness to our experience after we have sustained what we have chosen to get started. Here, we have the opportunity to experience more flexibility and lightness. In the body, Gemini rules the arms, the lungs, the hands, and nervous system.

Let's explore this together. We'll start with the lungs. The lungs are large organs, spanning from your collarbone to almost the bottom of your ribcage.

I invite you to bring your hands to the front of your body to scan the length of your lungs. Now feeling the sides of your body as you breathe in, allowing your lungs to expand your ribcage towards the sides of you. And then feeling what you can of your lungs from the back as you inhale and exhale.

Lungs are irrevocably connected to your breath, moving the oxygen that keeps your system going. Through our lungs, we take in the variety of the world, a variety of perspectives and experience. They're what fuel our vocal cords and allow us to share what we've learned, which is an aspect of this part of the journey of bringing in new ideas, new possibilities.

Perhaps under the influence of Gemini, you understand additional ways of moving your vision forward. This energy is also about sharing and communicating what you've learned in the process so far, from the vision and initiation of Aries to sustaining and making it real in Taurus. Gemini is a mutable sign because it comes at the end of the season.

We are already in the throes of transformation again as we move from spring to summer or from fall into winter. This transformation can be represented by allowing the breath to move through you easily, not needing to hold on to any one breath, but knowing that another is coming. Another idea is coming.

Another inspiration is coming. Another season is coming. Now bring that attention down into your arms, from your lungs into your arms, allowing them to have a feeling of this flow, of the energy moving within.

The feeling is like when you're talking with one of your best friends and the ideas are flowing and you're laughing and enjoying one another and telling stories. Feel that energy move from your arms down into your hands. If you.