The Rx of the Pause

"It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as well as a fundamental spaciousness." - Pema Chodron, from When Things Fall Apart

Pema Chodron's words remind me of some of the grace and opportunity that exists during the retrograde period of the inner planets, such as in this Mars retrograde period that we are still moving through, which ends on June 29.

During Mars retrograde, instead of moving forward in our outward, forward, yang-directed and usual manner, if we reflect the motion of the planet, we go more inward. By going inward, by being more yin, receptive, and going slower, we can see things that we couldn't otherwise when we're on our rote pathways. We notice more. That yields great riches.

I like to frame this as the Rx of the Pause. 

And, of course, pausing and going slow and being receptive isn't limited to retrograde periods. 

Yet, since it's not necessarily most people's natural instinct and is something most of us usually have to readily focus upon, committing to being intentional about it during the retrograde periods is a place to start. 

We've got six more days of Mars retrograde. Explore and be in the pause, and be transformed.