MERCURY RETROGRADE CALENDAR 

(April 9 - May 3)

let's face it. we're litty and sh*t, but life gets real. ESPECIALLY when mercury is in retrograde.

WHAT DOES MERCURY BEING IN RETROGRADE HAVE TO DO WITH ME? 

Mercury sits closest to the Sun, making its orbit shorter than Earth’s.  Three or four times per year, Mercury speeds past Earth, creating what is known as a Mercury retrograde period.  To give you an example of how this works, think about being on the highway in a car and another car is passing you.  While you can tell it's going faster, if it slowed down and you passed it, it would appear that that car was actually going backward.

"This phenomenon is one of the few that affects everyone in a fairly uniform way, and its effects are always obvious," Susan Miller wrote on Astrology Zone. "Once you begin to pay attention to how events in your life change during these phases, you will soon see how important it is to take note of them."

THINGS THAT HAPPEN DURING THE DREADED RETROGRADE

•  misunderstandings
•  mistakes
•  disruptions related to listening, speaking, learning, reading, editing, researching, negotiating, selling, buying, travel, shipping, and anything related to computers and phones.
• sh*t to be all around screwed up and 'backwards'

" When this planet retrogrades, these areas tend to get scrambled or spin out of control," Miller wrote.

5 WAYS TO FIND YOUR BALANCE DURING MERCURY RETROGRADE

1. breathe.

As soon as you catch yourself spazzin' - stop, find something to focus / rest your eyes on and take a deep breath (in through your nose and out through your mouth).  It's important to breathe slow, and do what's called, 'follow the breath'.  This means that you focus on the entire breath and follow it - as it enters your body, flows through your lungs and exists your mouth.  If you do this about 4x, you should be G. 

2. do a grounding yoga pose.

It's important to get grounded when you are starting to feel out of control.  Grounding can be especially helpful if you have anxiety (like myself) and get spacey, go crazy with rumination or tend to spiral.  The quickest way to do this is a grounding yoga pose and a little prayer.

 Here is a link to a few that will work.  

Another good way to get grounded fairly quickly is to just GO OUTSIDE.  Don't be afraid to kick off your shoes and dig your toes in the sand; get connected. It's spiritual, bruh. 

3. make a mixtape based on how you feel RIGHT NOW. 

When the night is closing in and you've run out of words, go to your iTunes and let the music speak your pain for you.  Not only is this a great distraction technique (aka DBT, read about it) but it will help you release some of that pent up negativity inside.  On some real sh*t, we don't need you out here being petty white. 

Here's one I made a couple of weeks ago. 

4. squats bih. squats. 

Many studies show that exercise can work quickly to reduce stress, anxiety and depression;  which effects more than 40 million adults in the United States.  what better way to get out of your feelings than workin' on that ass?  

5. phone a friend

You can spit that 'lone ranger' talk all you want, but when push comes to shove, you HAVE to have someone that you can call to cry with OR ride with...depending on the scenario.  Instead of reacting to whatever crazy sh*t is going on around you, try RESPONDING to the situation instead.  Take a step back, remove yourself, call a sista gal and find your peace.