Author: Elise Kindya

Hello friends!

I’m not sure about you, but Mercury Retrograde has been handing me all the goodies over the last couple of weeks. I got the flu and was bed-ridden for a week. I am currently having car trouble, something to do with the oil in the car. I’ve also had issues with technology not working well. In fact, I wrote a beautiful blog post over the weekend about change and transition, and I accidentally deleted it! (But, if you are signed up for my newsletter, I re-wrote something similar and sent it out!).

I am sure you have had your share of hardships with this difficult astrological transition. But, I want to offer you some words of encouragement during this time. I have been reflecting on how I’ve been dealing with this round of Mercury Retrograde, and I was really glad to notice that, in my opinion, I have been handling it pretty well. When I took some time to think about what techniques have worked best for me, I found that I had 3 top tips. So, I want to share them with you, in the hopes that perhaps they can help you ride out this time with some more grace, confidence, alignment, and empowerment.

1. Mindfulness

A technique that I have been using to get through this time is to remember that I am a blip on the timeline of the world. While my life is important to me, all of the seemingly “huge” issues I am currently facing will not matter in the not-too-distant future. I can release any expectations I have about how things “should” be and just focus on how things are. One way to do this is to practice mindfulness. When something happens, instead of getting lost in thinking about ‘what if’s”, I find it helpful to stop, take a deep breath, and engage all 5 senses. I notice 5 things I can: see, smell, taste, touch, and hear in the moment. This helps by bringing the awareness into the direct experience you are having in the present moment, and leaving the overthinking behind. By enacting this skill, you are allowing your higher level brain waves to take a break, and letting the sensations of your body take your attention.

2. See the lesson

Another technique that helps me deal with Mercury Retrograde is to ask myself “What can I learn here?” Many times, when we are experiencing a hardship or difficulty, there is a lesson. We continue to receive lessons in order to put what we have already learned into practice. So, the next time you have a hard thing happen in your life, I invite you to pause, and ask yourself “What is this teaching me?” or “What is the lesson here?” and journal about it. There are lessons to be learned in every thing that happens. Use even the little things to try to learn more about your behavior and your reactions. When you do this, it can help prepare you for the next time a similar thing happens. You can start to understand your triggers and respond to the situation more skillfully than before.

3. Affirmations

While I was bedridden during the flu, I read A LOT of books. One of my all-time favorites is Louse Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life and I took the time while sick to flip through it again. In it, she describes a really powerful affirmation that can help. I have adopted it during Mercury Retrograde, and I think it is helping me feel a lot better about things happening in my life. During this section of the book, Louise talks about how we beat ourselves up in our mind constantly throughout the day. We don’t hesitate to reprimand ourselves, talk down to ourselves, and belittle ourselves. We spend so much time ruminating on all the problems in our lives. One thing she says in the book is, if we have enough time and energy to ruminate on the problem, then we have enough time to put that aside and do something nice for ourselves. Louise suggests that we interrupt the process of self-punishment with this simple affirmation: “I approve of myself.” When I have been having unkind thoughts about myself, or when I keep thinking about a problem over and over to seemingly no end, I have caught myself and replaced the thoughts by saying “I approve of myself. No matter what, I approve of myself.” I swear, this simple thought shift has made ALL the difference! I feel such compassion for myself in those moments. I remind myself that I am only human, and I am doing my best. And, I remind myself that I am worthy of care, gentleness and patience. A self-compassion practice has been shown to increase feelings of purpose and overall life satisfaction- all total plusses in my book!

Those are my top tips for dealing with this Mercury Retrograde. I hope you find them helpful now, or anytime of year that you are dealing with unpleasant situations. Don’t forget to reach out for help if you need it. It is ok to not be ok, and it is ok to ask for guidance during these times. I am here for you.

What are your tips for dealing with Mercury Retrograde? Comment with them below!

Love,

Elise

It is time to put down your weariness and struggle. It is time to look within to see what is residing there, already within you. The true you is patiently waiting in there. She sends you signals constantly. Some of you might be really skilled at listening, while others need more reminders. The reminders and messages will still come. They will get more and more obvious as you don’t get the message, until finally you can’t help but hear it.

For the last few months, I have been receiving the message that it is time to align. It is time to put down the little crumbs that hardly keep me alive so that I can receive the abundant feast waiting for me. While it is so scary to release, it is necessary in order to be free to receive with open arms.

I invite you to hear that message and listen to its call to action. Below, I offer a meditation you can use to allow the space for this inspiration to open.

Get comfortable. Set the mood if you need: light a candle, brew some tea, get cozy. Grab a journal and something to write with for after. You are invited to close your eyes (after you’ve read through this, and if that feels comfortable to you). Allow your breath to turn into a steady rhythm. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 5, hold for a count of 3, and breathe out through your mouth for a count of 7. Make the out-breath audible if that resonates. Repeat this breathing technique for 5 cycles.

in 5 – hold 3 -out 7
in 5 – hold 3 -out 7
in 5 – hold 3 -out 7
in 5 – hold 3 -out 7
in 5 – hold 3 -out 7

Then, return your breathing to its natural rhythm. No need to try. Mentally go through a body scan, acknowledging each part of your body. Explore a little and feel how each part of your body feels. Acknowledge the feeling. Thank it for showing up for you today. Thank it for teaching you something. When it feels safe, you can allow that feeling to melt away into the floor. Repeat this process for each body part.

Next, return to your breath. Make sure it is even, and you are breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Relax. Remove your tongue from the roof of your mouth. Allow your shoulders to relax. Allow your spine to straighten. You are safe.

Imagine a cord or a root shooting from your root chakra into the earth. The root can be any color, width and texture. Study this root gently, and let it grow from you, through the earth, and into the core of the earth. Imagine that you are drawing energy from the earth. Imagine the warm, healing energy flowing up from the earth into your root chakra, filling you from toes, up your legs, up your spine, all the way out of the top of your head. This energy is now shooting up hundreds and thousands of feet above you. You are completely connected to the healing energy of the earth, and the all-knowing energy of the divine. You are loved.

Next, envision a bright dazzling light coming from within you. It can start in your heart, your solar plexus, whichever chakra or energy center of your body feels activated at the thought of a bright light. Imagine, with your attention, that it grows brighter and bigger. It continues to expand, until it is shooting out of your fingertips, your toes, and your head. You are completely enveloped in this bright light. This is your essence, your soul, your life force. You are a beautiful addition to this world.

See if you can find where that bright light began. See if you can get a sense of what brings this light out from within the deepest part of you. Ask it what it wants to do in this life. Ask it what it enjoys, what it wants to experience more of. Then pause. Really listen to her answer. This light is you. You are worthy of happiness, fulfillment and joy. You are already enough. You are deserving of all that this part of you wants to experience. Allow yourself to receive her message. Allow yourself to feel warm, safe and loved. Allow yourself to be cared for, and shown what is truly important to you at a deep soul level.

After you have had a chance to have this conversation, come back to the room. Allow yourself some time to come back. When you are ready, move your fingers and toes. Roll your head and neck in a couple of slow circles in both directions. Take a couple of deep, healing breaths. Stretch. Then, when you’re ready, open your eyes.

Grab a journal and a pen, and write down what you experienced. Get as detailed as you can. See if you can block some time this week to do whatever came up in your meditation.

If you complete this meditation, I would love to hear about it! Send me an email at elise@elisekindya.com and let me know what you thought.

I love you! Enjoy your weekend.

<3,
Elise

Hey there!

If you are reading this, I know you need to hear this message. Thank you for being here.

I want to chat with you a little about visualization and WHY it is so important.

There are some elements to this post that are experiential, meaning you may want to actually partake in what I am writing. For these parts, you will need:

-an open mind

-a journal

-a writing utensil

-peace and quiet, if you need it

As a child, I loved to daydream. I would sit in the backseat of the car, or on the beach, or in my classroom, and I would get lost in a world inside my head. I think this is partially why visualization as a meditation and manifestation practice is so attractive to and fun for me!

I will explain briefly what my definition of visualization is. The way I have used visualization over the past several months is to lead clients through a journey from alignment, to connection, and ending with empowerment. I will explain what I mean by each of these terms.

Visualization is the act of picturing yourself living your ideal circumstances. You can either be witnessing it from outside of your body, like watching a movie, or you could see it from your two eyes as if it were happening to you. Visualization is a meditation practice that takes roughly 20-30 minutes. I enjoy incorporating a journaling session after my visualization guidance, to really get clear on what happened and what I can do NOW to take steps toward that ideal.

Visualization takes alignment. You must align your inner, deepest self with that which you would like to visualize and eventually manifest. To do this, it is necessary to get really clear about what you want out of your life. Who do you see yourself being? What do you see yourself doing? When you look within your heart, instead of into your mind, you will be closer to the answer. Another really cool way to get into alignment is to think back to when you were a kid. Did you used to daydream at all? If you had any fantasies about what you wanted to be when you grew up, that may bring you closer still to alignment. Ask yourself what you envisioned yourself doing as an adult. What about that role or those circumstances were attractive to you? Try to list out any attributes of what you imagined as a kid. Compare the attributes to your life now. See what matches, and what doesn’t.

Once I lead clients through alignment, I move on to connection. It is important for all beings to know that we are connected. Each and every one of us. Whether we are in the US, Asia, Africa or Antarctica, our existence impacts all other life. When you can get an understanding of this, visualization becomes really expansive. For some, this is kind of depressing or overwhelming. I understand that! However, that does not make it less true. When we are ready to meet ourselves deeply, we can meet other people deeply. We have to start within, to move out. If you want to make an impact in the world, it’s important to start with yourself first. You are worthy of this. You are loved, you are held, you are cared for.

Finally, we move onto empowerment. This takes the bulk of my guided visualization. Moving from alignment, to connection, we learn about what really turns us on and makes us excited about life. We get t explore what we really want to do, here, now, with this life of ours. Connection shows us that we are worthy of achieving whatever it is that we want, and that ALL other people are worthy. Our mental and physical health means mental and physical health for all. A high tide raises all ships. When we get to empowerment, we take all the power we accumulated and apply it to ourselves. In empowerment, we come face to face, or fully embody, our highest self, who has achieved a goal we want to achieve at some point in the future. We have a full conversation with this version of ourselves. We get to ask them questions. We get to feel the feelings they feel. In every ounce of our being. We make room for all that comes along with this power. Sometimes, it is exhilarating. Sometimes, it is terrifying. Sometimes, it is disappointing. All of these feelings are ok. All of them are valid.

The secret to visualization is: doing it often. Sending your vision and your dreams and your goals as much positive energy as you can muster. Practice visualizing your future self every day. Sit and try to embody this version of yourself. Try to imagine the circumstances you want to manifest. When you do this, you will receive divine downloads as to what to do next. You MUST get up and go do that thing, to keep getting aligned messages. Your action is 100% required for your life to work.

So get to it! Start visualizing and let me know how it’s going.

You can also join me at a future visualization session.

September 8, 6:30-7:30 pm

September 11, 8-9 pm