Enriching Compassion: Tonglen Meditation and the Saturn/Neptune Square

Overwhelmed.

That's a word I've heard a lot recently when asking clients, friends, and family how they are doing.

Overwhelmed: It makes sense. It seems like so often these days when we turn on the news, or engage in a conversation, there's yet another story of suffering or something that has us questioning reality.

To me, this feels like one of the ways that the Saturn/Neptune Square—which began late last fall and features a final alignment in September, and yet which is quite potent this month—is weaving its way into our collective conscious.

astrology, mindfulnessStephanie GailingAugust 15, 2016tonglen, pema chodron, ashley dahl, meditation, saturn neptune square

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.

astrologyStephanie GailingJune 23, 2016mars retrograde, pema chodron