During the weeks surrounding Eclipse season, such as the one we are currently in, emotions and energy can be ragged, uneven, which can leave us feeling frazzled, disembodied, ungrounded.  There’s dynamism in the air but unsettledness, too -including reactivity and disturbances in our relationships (Libra Lunar Eclipse). As my friend, April, succinctly said in her essay two weeks ago, “This Full Moon Lunar Eclipse comes with a clear message: your relationship style has outlived its usefulness.” Boy, did it. Echoes reverberate as we determine how to proceed with those we love, without blame, judgment and with love & compassion for our self and others.

For sensitives like myself, fielding these discordant energies has been like trying to stay stable during an electrical storm in middle of an open field while wearing a lightening rod -with a bull’s eye on your forehead. If you think I exaggerate, please talk to me about moderation while Mars is transiting your Uranus in Libra Ascendant, for weeks thanks to Mars retrograde, during Eclipse season. Many yoga warrior poses have been performed throughout. As of last month, meditation, visualization, tapping sessions now begin and end my day. Puppy walks may appear to be pee breaks to the untrained eye, but they are like mental floss to me, and are quickly becoming a valuable part of my daily emotional hygiene routine.

It’s no wonder then that grounding has become my main focus and solace. Being in the body, returning to my senses, has been extremely centering. I’ve found myself relying on simple, uncomplicated company and nourishing meals, meandering hikes, snuggling with animals. I’ve become more compassionate toward my physical body’s want for creature comfort. This morning, when my back complained about getting to work right away, I took an Epsom Salt baths while watching The Paradise on Netflix (a Downton Abbey-like pleasure), instead. When I finally sat down to work, the rain had stopped so the dog wanted walking. C’est la vie. Most astrologers handle the days surrounding Eclipses by being flexible with our habits and routines, leaving lots of open space in life and not overcrowding our schedules.

Earth sign Solar Eclipses often present challenges to our material and physical existence. Taurus is a particularly security-focused and survival-oriented sign, that is how as they say it, Trouble walks in the back door. Our need for security can hold us in stagnant situations that keep us from growing. Our survival fears can prevent us from taking the risks we need to take to get into a better situation. Challenges to financial stability, happiness and peace present questions during a Taurus Eclipse, with security and worth at their core. Does staying in a financially stable but unsatisfying job or marriage really guarantee that potential of a more secure future that may or may not happen? Are the survival fears I hold around money keeping me from making more? Am I settling for less than I deserve by playing it safe?

If your insecurities are piqued, try syncing up with your inner Nature. Because when it comes down to it, your basic sanity is the only thing that will bring you lasting security. Sanity is simple, though it takes practice. It is being in your body-temple and honoring its daily requests for good food, exercise and relaxation. It is living from your center, knowing when you leave it, and how to get back to it when you do. It is going to your calm place inside, knowing what inspires this calm and how to continue to cultivate it inside you. If Eclipse season is like an industrial strength rubberband launching massive epiphanies into your psyche, the Taurus Solar Eclipse wants to snap you back into your senses, your center, your body. Though we tend to think they will, no relationship, job or plush bank account is going to give this basic sanity to you. But a good soak in the tub, a nourishing lunch, and a walk in the park – that just might.