“I’ll just wait for something to happen…” “I can’t do anything about it until I do this, this, and this first…” “I’ve tried that before and nothing changed…” “I could try that, but what if…?”
Listen for inspiration in the days ahead, because what uplifts you is part of the answer you’re looking for. It’s a hint of what could be possible if you cleared out some of the weeds that are tripping you up in the day-to-day.
Look for the blocks and distractions. Look for the things that unnecessarily distract you, or detract from your purpose. Look at where you really want life to feel smoother, and then decide to make it so. “I am paying attention.” Until next time, Liz xo
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In fact, eating a vegetarian diet is all about balancing your plant-based foods with other macronutrients. Want to learn more? Check out this "Portabello Burgers with Kale and Olive Pesto" recipe and consider joining me at the "Vegetarian Protein Cooking Class this Thursday"!
LEFTOVERS: 2 OPTIONS
Recipe Notes HEALTH BENEFITS: This meal includes a hearty mix of protein, carbohydrates, fats and nutrients. The Portobello Mushroom, re an overgrown cremini mushroom high fibre and B vitamins beneficial for breaking down carbohydrates and protein. They are low in calories yet produce conjugated linolenicacid (CLA)—a unique type of fatty acid that regulates estrogen levels. Mushrooms also provide enormous immune system benefits by reducing inflammation and heart disease. Kale has been cited as the new beef, (in vegetarian circles) a very popular leafy green that has Shown major benefits with antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and anti-cancer benefits. It only takes 100 calories of kale to provide over 350 milligrams for the most basic omega-3 fatty acid. Kale is high in vitamins K (builds proteins essential for blood clotting process) Vitamin A ( promotes skin, eye health) and Vitamin C (a multifaceted antioxidant, antibacterial, antihistamine) supports brain health and collagen production). Hemp seeds in the pesto provide quality volume of protein as well as has protein value in greens and mushrooms.
Think about where you are at and where you’d like to go. Like the Three of Wands, Gemini season reminds us that we can only get ourselves so far on our own. Eventually, we need to figure out what it will take to get to a new level, or to grow beyond the current state we’re in. Mercury also enters Gemini on May 21, giving us added clarity and perspective. Mercury is at home in Gemini. This will be the fifth planet in its ruling sign right now. Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune are also at their most powerful in their respective home bases.
5/13/2019 0 Comments From earth to ocean: Working through Venus in Taurus, Mars in Cancer, and the Scorpio Full Moon
This week, Venus and Mars, both personal planets, will introduce a change in the air. On Wednesday, May 15, Venus enters Taurus at 5:46am EST, giving us six planets in earth signs now. The emphasis on all of this earth energy is a pull back to nature and an opportunity to honour the messages and rhythms of the planet we live on. Later in the day Mars enters Cancer at 11:09pm EST. Venus has been in fiery Aries since April 20, where she’s been lighting up our creative forces. Venus in Aries pushes us towards our desires for autonomy, independence, and self-actualization. She reminds us not to get lost in other people’s shadows, and not to wholeheartedly compromise our own dreams for the sake of someone else’s agenda. For some, Venus in Aries can be an uncomfortable transit if they are not attending to their individual needs. It can be a wakeup call to come home to yourself. Now, Venus is ready to come to herself in Taurus, one of the signs she rules. Here she is at her most powerful, but that doesn’t mean she’s driving us very hard. Aries can be relentless in its pursuits, but Taurus teaches us the value of taking our time. Venus in Taurus is an invitation to relax a little. To unwind. To get back into the pleasures of the heart and body, to take time with personal passions and hobbies that free the spirit and nourish the soul. Mars in Cancer slows down the pace of life, too. Mars has been in Gemini since March 31. Mars in Gemini can push us to act on our ideas, but can also cause some to speak too soon, and with sharpened tongues. It can also fill us with frenetic thoughts, worries, and “what ifs?” that push us to act on impulse, or to act on bad information. Mars isn’t known for patience and it hasn’t helped that Mercury, Gemini’s ruler, was trudging through the murky waters of Pisces earlier this spring. Some decisions, conversations, and projects may have come out the other side a little sloppier than we’d hoped as the skies weren’t giving our minds the most open roads. And now, Mars in Cancer means it’s time to switch gears. To ease up on whatever you’ve been pushing yourself to learn, plan, figure out. Mars isn’t comfortable in Cancer. Here, the warrior planet has to learn how to navigate Cancer’s emotional waters.
Scorpio full moons can pack a little more intensity than others as the Moon is in deep waters here. Scorpio teaches us to surrender, release, and embrace whatever transformations are calling to us.
This lunation occurs just hours after Venus and Uranus conjunct. This meetup can enhance the energy of the day, bringing creative breakthroughs, but also personal ones. Watch for revelations around outdated commitments, and watch for where you are stubbornly holding on to routines or patterns that are no longer serving you. This week’s Full Moon has strong capacity to initiate change. “I am open to my inner guidance.” And of course, if you want to work with tarot to connect with this Full Moon, here is a spread to try out: 1. What is it time for me to stop doing? 2. What it is time for me to heal? 3. What belief is no longer serving me? 4. What does my intuition want me to hear? Until next time, Liz xo Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, low or irritable? Not feeling like yourself? You’re not alone. Burnout is the new epidemic. Social media is full of articles describing different kinds of burnout in different ages and stages of life. Article upon article retells the same theme: how the thirty-something can’t send the piece of mail that’s been sitting on his kitchen table for 3 months, how the working mom-of-three can’t bother to cook home meals for herself, how the CEO has been making irrational decisions that puts the company at risk. The solution touted by wellness experts is to do more yoga and meditation, to practice self-care, to ask for help, to take more vacation time. While I advocate these techniques for my patients all the time, unfortunately, they’re just that: techniques. These tactics often fall by the wayside when huge work project deadlines are looming, or when the kids need to get from school to activities, or when an aging parent needs extra care. Our medical and social support systems need to recognize burnout from all facets. There are physical, mental, emotional and economic aspects to burnout. Until things change in our corporate and family lives, until we have flexible work schedules and don’t feel enslaved by our smartphones; until we don’t feel obligated to respond to emails at all hours of the day and night, until we have enough reasonable, affordable child care, or can afford to spend time with our children, and until we feel not only like we have a safety net, but enough support, all we can do is help ourselves manage the damaging effects. Health care providers like myself can offer help to get you through and repair the systems damaged by stress until some room is made in your life for true rest and healing. Here is how stress and burnout affect your hormones and what you can do about it. Stress and burnout rob you of energy There are a few mechanisms by which this phenomenon occurs. First, stress blocks thyroid function at two different levels: at both the level of the brain and the thyroid, which leaves you feeling cold, tired, depressed, and overweight, among other things. Second, chronic stress and burnout means a lowered Cortisol Awakening Response, which is how your stress hormones rise in the morning to help wake you up. If you can’t drag yourself out of bed in the morning, that’s chronic stress and burnout at work! Stress and burnout throw your hormones off balance Horrible pre-menstrual symptoms, from anxiety and depression to bloating, swelling, cramps and cravings, are zero fun. I’ve seen stress disrupt the delicate balance between estrogen and progesterone—a phenomenon called Estrogen Dominance which is responsible for unpleasant symptoms such as mood swings, headaches, and breast tenderness. Stress also makes the transition into menopause a much bumpier ride; hot flashes, mood issues, and dryness tend to be much worse when you’ve been stressed for a long time. If you want to see the effect that stress has on your hormones, take note of your cycle 3 months after an extremely stressful period. Since hormone receptors take about 3 months to respond to hormonal fluctuations, your period can be heavier, lighter, or even absent 3 months after a stressor. Stress and burnout ruin your sleep Most of my patients struggle with their sleep in some way. Some can’t fall asleep, some can’t stay asleep, and the poor unlucky ones have trouble on both sides. Chronic stress disrupts your stress hormone, cortisol, which has its own natural rhythm: it’s meant to rise in the morning to help get you out of bed and fall in the evening to helps you relax into sleep. When you’re burned out, your natural cortisol rhythm is reversed and you’re wide awake at night. If stress has robbed you of progesterone as mentioned above, you’re missing an important anti-anxiety, sleep-promoting metabolite that comes from this sex hormone. So, what’s the solution? Quitting your stressful job or ditching your toxic family members aren’t always feasible solutions but there is help anyway. Natural remedies from herbal medicines can help calm down and rebuild the body’s stress axis and reset hormonal rhythms to bring the whole system back into balance. Naturopathic Doctors work to help the body find it’s own natural rhythm again. I like to talk stress and hormones; I offer a short free chat about what can be done in the face of chronic stress, hormone health, and burnout. Visit https://calendly.com/drwebsternd/hormone-reset-assessment-call to see how you can take steps to combatting the effects of stress. About Hillary
The energy of the Moon is so fresh, it’s like a seed buried in the soil. We can’t see it, and can’t always fathom what it might grow into. Unless, of course, we’re consciously working with the Moon to plant seeds in our lives – or to pay attention to what wants to be planted. Those seeds can come in many forms. Sometimes they arrive as ideas, or dreams. Sometimes they look like frustration or overwhelm. Sometimes they come up in conversations, like when a friend makes a helpful suggestion, or a disagreement with a partner turns out to be a productive talk. Sometimes seeds do come in bigger, more obvious ways, like an offer or invitation. But most of the time they are hidden, like the Moon is when it’s still new. Bringing awareness to the passing of time allows us to notice the turning points in our lives, or the potential for growth, change, and emergence into a new chapter.
Today, Mercury enters Taurus after spending the last few weeks in fiery Aries.
This gives us all another chance to slow our thoughts and rest our minds. Aries can quicken our creativity and sharpen our tongues. It likes to move fast and can get caught up in inspiration and will act on its plans with desperate urgency. Taurus asks for calm, care, and comfort. It teaches us the value of taking breaks and stopping to smell the roses, or whatever else is blossoming around you this spring season. Allow yourself to luxuriate a little. “My work begins in awareness.” Until next time, Liz xo p.s. There are only two days left to sign up for Taking Tarot to the Next Level which starts this week, Wednesday, May 8. If you’ve outgrown beginner tarot courses and want to get beyond the basics, this class is for you: lizworth.com/learn
This Saturn retrograde will be passing back over the same part of the sky that it’s been travelling through since mid-January. Between now and September, it might not hurt to review any improvements you’ve been trying to make to solidify your own foundation and check in on your progress there. The thing to remember with Saturn is that it rewards hard work – and also teaches that the true payoff is what you learn through the process of it all. Where Saturn retrograde can feel like a pain in the butt is if you’re cutting corners. This planet doesn’t like short cuts and has a way of tapping you on the shoulder and asking, “Why haven’t you dealt with this yet?” Saturn also rules time, and when it’s retrograde we may need to look at things that we’ve been neglecting or putting off. We might suddenly feel pressured that we are running out of time to get something done, or find ourselves asking, “If not now, when?”
And if you would like to work with this New Moon in Taurus and others throughout the year, my New Moon Meditations can help. Shop for them here.
And if you’d like to connect with this weekend’s New Moon, here is a tarot spread to help:
Until next time, Liz xo
But it is also a time to stop and smell the roses, as the saying goes. Taurus takes its time and unlike its predecessor Aries, it can appreciate the beauty of a good break. Taurus reminds us that once our seeds are planted, we can put some trust in nature to help with the work. Our own maintenance may involve a certain level of commitment towards our hopes and dreams. Plants can’t survive without proper nutrients, but at the same time too much water or sunlight doesn’t allow them to thrive, either.
On Wednesday, April 24, Pluto retrograde begins. Pluto moves slowly and this retrograde period will take us into early October.
Pluto is such a far-reaching energy that it’s not always one we’re immediately conscious of. Its work is slow medicine and in the sign of Capricorn these coming months may have you looking at your relationship to authority, the status quo, and work as it’s represented within the collective:
There is greater change in the air as we move towards 2020 and beyond. Old paradigms are already shifting but they are due for more. Pluto in Capricorn is slowly weaving necessary questions into the collective consciousness so that we can each embrace the necessary changes at an individual level. Don’t force yourself to fit into moulds that were never made for you in the first place. Until next time, Liz xo
What does this all mean? That if you’ve been wanting to make a statement, or have been waiting for some inspiration or energy to brainstorm a new initiative or project – especially one that might push you out of your comfort zone – these next few weeks can really help. Aries energy doesn’t mind being rebellious. It doesn’t shy away from grabbing hold of a vision and running with it. Its job is to act upon its ideas – it likes to adopt new missions so that it has a direction to follow. If you set any intentions with the Aries New Moon back on April 5, Mercury and Venus’s visits through Aries can also be helpful times to support those plans or goals. Tap into the momentum that this time offers. But, be mindful of the flipside of all this fiery energy. Tempers can flare with personal planets like Mercury and Venus in fire, and impatience can ramp up, too. Remember that that includes the impatience we may have with ourselves, not just what’s expressed from or towards others. Aries wants everything done today and doesn’t always have a great sense of its own limitations, so the expectations that we place upon our own capacity can get maxed out fast if we’re not careful. The Sun’s entry into Taurus on April 20 can help to balance burn out and put some realistic expectations around any important plans. Aries season is bookended by two Libra full moons; the first was on the Spring Equinox on March 20 and the second is this Friday, April 19. The universe is asking us to take an extra-long look at our partnerships, agreements, and social contracts. With the Sun, Mercury, and Venus in independent Aries, and Jupiter retrograde in fiery Sagittarius, the need for individuality and personal development can be strong these days. If you are in relationship – whether it be personal, professional, social or romantic – with anyone who is stifling your ability to explore new ideas or interests, this week’s Full Moon might highlight those sources of discomfort.
Sometimes when we grow in these ways, we experience a domino effect in other areas of our lives. Everything is connected. As Jupiter in Sagittarius has been helping to look at the ways in which we want to experience our lives, it can make us aware of what we’ll need to grow out of first. When people hear the word “retrograde,” they sometimes get nervous. Especially when it’s connected to a planet of luck and abundance like Jupiter: “Will my luck run out? Will I make less money during retrograde? Will everything slow down?” It’s not as black and white as that – looking at astrology as good vs. bad is too limiting. Truthfully, we never really know how anything will impact us until it happens, and even then, our own individual circumstances, preferences, priorities and problem-solving styles will play a role, too. During this year’s retrograde period, Jupiter will backtrack over the same places it visited throughout the winter and early spring. These next four months ask you to think back to what you’ve been working on since January 12, or what new goals or interests have been on your mind since then. Jupiter’s giving you an opportunity to look over your own progress right now. Retrogrades have a way of bringing us second chances, or time to edit and refine our lives. Because Jupiter can be a busy planet – its motto might “more is more” – it can force to see what we need to put down in order to be able to pick up something else. There may be opportunities or ideas you weren’t ready to flesh out when they first came around in the winter. There may be extra work you’ve taken on this year, only to realize it’s not what you want, or what you need right now. There may be big dreams you’ve been putting off – maybe you started 2019 with the intentions to go big this year, but haven’t made a move to make it all happen yet. Let this Jupiter retrograde be a time to take a second look at what’s blocking your freedom or your growth.
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