Do you need to lighten up? Me too!

There is something deeply ingrained in our society, our culture, our roots (the puritans so many of us can trace our lineage back to), about what work should look like.

Nose to the grindstone. Doing your duty. Taking one for the team. Work hard to succeed.

I have worked diligently my entire adult life. I’ve raised my own standards and those of the people I’ve worked for. Now that I run my own business, I am my own boss--the CEO of my own company--and my expectations are high.  

I expect to achieve great things. I expect to help those who can benefit from what I offer. I expect to DO... all the tasks I set out to, all the things I say I will.

All of this DOING I have been so good at, overshadowed my own happiness for a stretch (and ultimately my own potential for success).

Turns out, our gifts are only accessible to us when we enjoy the journey.

When did I forget to have fun, to play? When did I learn to take life so seriously? When did I forget to CELEBRATE this life, every day?

Some days I am still very much in the throws of this journey towards accepting when my powers of BEING need strengthening and when is the time to get sh*t done.

With the total Solar Eclipse that passed through totality here on Monday, I have become privy to some powerful lessons around these cycles.

More on that in a moment, but first let me pause to say, WOW.

Now I know why there are people who chase a total eclipse, now I know why there was a mass migration into the path of totality across the entire United States.

It is other-worldly to feel the temperature sink as the sun’s rays begin to be obscured by the moon (though you can only “see” it with your own eyes through your nifty eclipse glasses). It felt like an oncoming storm, though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

The totality itself was amazingly beautiful, the one time in your life when you can stare unabashedly at the sun. The moon in front of that giant ball of fire, with a halo, a glow surrounding it so beautiful, so energizing, so inspiring, we heard the calls of wonder from groups of people we had forgotten were around us.

My camera hardly does it justice, but it's fun to have photographic evidence all the same!

I have always believed in the art of astrology. Feeling the depth of truth to it runs in my family. But it was the first time in my life when I felt a clear energy shift from an astronomical event.

The weeks leading up to the eclipse felt unsettled, restless, uncertain. Clear endings were happening all around me. I could feel the pull to close those old doors, to allow myself to let go. And yet I resisted, didn’t fully want to let go (even when I was unclear on what was departing, or it seemed like it was time).

Experiencing the solar eclipse in totality created a decisive energetic shift, in myself, in the people around me. It was energizing with a huge dose of surrender.

Everything in the world felt right, in alignment, from the perfect alignment of the earth and the moon and the sun--a statistical impossibility. It gifted me that greater consciousness, the ability to remove myself from the struggles and note what a tiny atom I am in this great big universe. 

All of a sudden it felt easy to let go of old ways of being, like there was no other path.

Today, of course, I am back to the struggle, the rise of my own limiting beliefs that I am so ready to let go of. But that is the nature of deeply ingrained patterns. They do not go away overnight, only when you are ready will they disperse.

Much wisdom came through the virtual women’s circle I was a part of early in the week. If you didn’t check it out, but it sparked your interest, I highly recommend you do so. You can still access the teachings from these 7 ladies who have so much to offer (don’t mind if I toot my own horn :)).

If you are ready to shift or let go of something that no longer serves you, now is the time! The energies for letting go, for shifting your reality are still particularly strong this week and next.

Every New Moon is a powerful time to surrender to your intuition--that powerful wisdom within each of us--to deeply care for and nurture yourself. This particular New Moon and total Eclipse of the Sun is a particularly powerful portal for releasing what no longer serves, for allowing yourself to let go and jump into the unknown.

This portal of time is available to us through September 5, at which point, it will be time to jump into the action, the doing.

Right now is the time for strengthening your inner reserves, for building confidence and courage. The Full Moon on September 6 will bring us the strength and energy to overcome and as the moon wanes again it will be time for reflection, reevaluation, guiding yourself back home. And so the cycle continues.

I feel this need for reflection, for fluidity and dreaming so intensely right now, I couldn’t spring into action if I wanted to, nor would it be advisable. So often, we jump to the doing part before we fully feel into our dreams and desires. That leads us to get partway through a project, and when the going gets tough, we realize we didn’t actually want this anyway.

Wouldn’t you rather give the time a dream deserves on the front end--to listen deeply to what your intuition tells you--and then follow the inspired actions that arise, like breadcrumbs towards your desired reality?

I am still sinking fully into the TRUST piece. Knowing that when I allow myself this time now to vision, to dream, to get clear on what I want--what that looks like and feels like--that I will have the energy and motivation to take the inspired actions necessary to make my dream a reality.

This is a process of testing the waters around what beliefs I’ve held about work, about accomplishing great things, about the care I now lavish on myself.

I recognize in my rational mind that there is a better path than the one where I push through resistance. That path is rocky and rough going… and not very inspiring.

As I take the time this week to sink deep, to dig, to uncover, to allow myself to purge and let go, it feels oh so right... and hard. Some deeply ingrained beliefs are rising to the surface, around working hard to succeed. Immense guilt comes from taking this time for myself (when I could be “working”).

Testing those waters and getting the kind of clarity that lights me up, makes me smile with pleasure, breathe deeply with contentment, makes me realize how my own beliefs have held me back. I realize that my life’s work will be joyful. It will be ENjoyable. I will find deep satisfaction in my work AND I will achieve my goals. I will make other people’s lives better as I raise my own bar.

I already do and feel these things.

And yet, that shift does not come automatically. The cultural cues, the “What did you get done/do today?” questions are a reflection of my own ingrained beliefs... the guilt that comes when I don’t complete all that I set out to do each day. Those are the thoughts that arise and, when I sink into them, they hold me back from living my highest potential.

What is it that your deep intuition is calling you to shift right now? What deeply ingrained beliefs are you ready to let go of? What can you surrender to in your life? Where can you lighten up? How can you better support and care for yourself?

In the same realm... Are you feeling called to let go of any physical items you own? Heed the call! Releasing in the material realm is a powerful way to also release what no longer serves you in the inner realm. The two are deeply interconnected.

Want to sink into this clarity with support? Drop me a line (tenaya@tpkfengshui.com) and we’ll schedule a time to talk, a time for you to dream big and look ahead to what you want to bring forth into your life.

Your desires show you the path to your own happiness. Will you listen?

Here's to following your own intuition,

:) Tenaya