Taurus season: Staying close to the earth

It’s easy to get carried away after a high. You know what I mean… those great mountaintop moments, those inspiring experiences… they tend to make us feel like we are soaring. Or at least rising. And we often want to stay way up there in the clouds or just fly away. It just feels so damn good. And we forget why it’s important to remember to keep our feet steady on the earth. Until, that is, the day when we come crashing back to earth. And, then, we find ourselves in a vicious cycle of the highest of highs + the lowest of lows.

This week, after my blissful 6 day spring holiday, I returned to work obviously looking well-rested. Something was physically glowing about me it seems because on Tuesday morning, within the first hour, 5 separate people commented on my appearance.

Damn, Liz, you look good. What did you do? Have you changed your eyebrows? Did you color your hair? I love your jeans. Your whole outfit looks good.

This coming from some of my babies + from co-workers + even my boss. Needless to say, it made me feel fuckin good. I felt my confidence rising. And I was feeling pretty good. Inside + out. I was soaring so damn high.

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Amazingly, the same thing happened again at the end of the week. Multiple comments. A big boost to my ego. And a general feeling of authentic bad-assery. Just look at that cocky, sassy photo to the right below. That is soooo not me. And, yet, in that moment, it totally was.

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But, why? As the week ended and I had some time to reflect on it all. I realized that I had been feeling the effects of my rising. And that it was amazing and way overdue. At the same time, I ddin’t want it all to go to my head. I didn’t want to just caught up in it being so high that I either took it for granted or lost my sense of reality. I just wanted to acknowledge this feeling of rising + accept it + enjoy it for what it is… in this moment.

I mentioned in my last post that my intention for this moon phase (I follow the phases of the moon as a way to stay in touch with my intuition + to continue to evolve with the seasons/moon) is the word rising. And oh how it has been a powerful, inspiring cycle. I’m still in this current intention as the next new moon, when I set a new intention, is not until the 5th of May at the end of next week. So rising is still very much my focus.

But, after the full moon, which occurred last weekend along with Easter + a very welcomed week of breathtaking spring weather, I felt my rising reach its peak. I know that with this moon cycle, with the month of April, with the coming of spring, I was, indeed, experiencing a very internal renewal of my life. And it all peaked, or culminated, this past weekend.

What I came to understand was, that instead of it simply being an internal thing, my focus on rising has led me to evolve into a whole new way of embodiment.

And that is exactly what was going on this week. As I embarked on this new phase in my life, a new cycle begin in me. A rising to a new way of living that I did not just feel, but that literally began seeping out of my soul and into my everyday being.

I deeply believe. No, I know, that that is what others saw in me. Me, literally living my truth. Me, being fully me. From a grounded, rooted place; yet, rising + embodying all that I am at this point in my life.

Rising is dangerous business though. What if we expect to rise continuously and feel defeated when we don’t seem to plateau? What happens when that mountaintop experience fades + everyday life returns? What if rising makes us think that we’re better than others now? What if we expect to just keep rising day after day? Will be disappointed or will we tire out because it seems as if it’s a never-ending process?

These are just some of the pitfalls of rising. Luckily, rising is not linear. It’s not just going up and up and up. It’s cyclical. It’s a spiral. Yes, it is rising to a higher level. But, it is also deepening. It is not complicating, but simplifying.

The month of May + Taurus season roll around just in time to save me, to save us, from flying off into the bliss of spring. This time of the year comes right after the intense beauty + bursting forth of April so we can slow it down + gather our bearings. In other words, the rising subsides so we can ground down again. It’s a perfectly timed balancing ritual of nature.

April was delicate, innocent, new, fresh, and young. May, however, is steady, firm, planted. So, after the rising, we are given time to settle. To catch our breath. To plant our feet. To stand strong + steady. To breathe long + deep. To begin to slowly grow by literally embodying that which has been born in us this spring. We can’t keep up the pace that April’s energy brought to us. We can’t keep rising without taking a breath every now + then to reflect, reassess, and realign. And we can’t know how to continue to grow + embody our soul without taking time to breathe + get grounded again. We simply must, in my opinion, slow it down + take a pause.

If you don’t know what’s been born in you, if you feel no rebirth in your own soul, that’s ok, dear one. Look around + see how the earth is growing + blooming herself. Observe how the trees are growing + maturing. No longer buds + bright green baby leaves; but full, thick, real, dark green leaves that are maturing every day. Watch baby birds learning to fly + four-legged animals grow + change. Feel all of life moving + embodying all that they are meant to be. That’s the truth of the universe right there. All of nature is simply meant to grow into what it already is.

As for you + me, the same it true. The only thing we are meant to embody + grow into is our soul. It’s no hidden secret that we have to uncover. There is nothing to figure out. It is simply to be with the soul that we meet when we slow down a bit, ground our feet in the earth, and breathe deeply. It is simply to become who we already are.

So, as we begin to transition into this season of grounded growth, I want to offer you a little ritual to ground you so you can grow from where you are.

// Take off your shoes + stand on the ground. This is most powerful done outside, if you can.

// Feel your bare skin on the soft grass, hard desert, the sandy beach, the cool rock.

// Put your right hand over your heart. Leave your left arm hanging by your side.

// Breathe deeply. Long + slow. Three times.

// Imagine roots leaving from the soles of your feet and burrowing deep into the ground. Further down. Further down. Further still.

// You are one with the earth.

// Stand. Firm. Steady. Grounded.

// Remember your hand on your heart.

// This is you. Right here. Right now.

// Pull your roots back up into your feet.

// Remove your right hand from your heart and let it hand by your side.

// Stand tall. Straight. Strong.

// Now take in 1 long, deep, cleansing breath.

// Release. And go forth. Grounded in who you are, just as you are. Trust that you are growing, even in this moment, even if you don’t know how or towards what.

Staying grounded + close to the earth. Caring for our selves. Being who we are. That is our mission in May. We’ve risen, we are beginning a new cycle, and we are following the rhythm of nature. So, now it is time for us to bloom + grow. To embody our soul in our everyday life.. And we begin by standing firm + standing tall. In the golden light of the ever-lengthening days. Trusting that our grounded souls will guide us one day at a time.

xoxo. liz.