Mercury Retrograde Is On the Way

How could I not believe in astrology when there's Mercury Retrograde to contend with in life?

Mercury goes retrograde Friday and all I've been doing for the past two days is responding to requests to reschedule. At least these people have the courtesy to call, as opposed to the person who just didn't show up yesterday morning and must have lost her cell phone along with her transportation.

When I was a family law paralegal (sort of a past life experience from my current higher perspective, ahem) there would be times when the craziness of the job would get even crazier. Fax machines would break down, judges' calendars would get confused, the copier would spew toner -- that sort of thing.

I was complaining about it to one of the other paralegals one day and she said, "Oh, that's just Mercury Retrograde." "What's that," I asked. And she explained that a few times each year Mercury, the planet "in charge" of machines and communications, seems to be going backwards in the sky. When this happens, machines tend to break down and communications go awry.

My skepticism must have shown on my face because she just shrugged her shoulders. "That's okay. You don't have to believe me. Next time you notice another wave of this sort of craziness, let me know."

So that's what I did. And guess what? It was another Mercury Retrograde. That was the moment of my conversion to a believer in astrology. Not a fanatic, by any means, but an interested party for sure.

I've since learned that the days just before and just after a Mercury Retrograde carry the energy of the retrograde itself. Good to know, wouldn't you say?

Each of the planets does this retrograde thing. It's apparently similar to when you're driving down the freeway and you see two cars pacing each other. As one car pulls ahead the other looks like it's going backwards. Depending upon the planet, sometimes it goes retrograde several times a year (like Mercury) and other times it's every few years (like Venus).

I hate it when ...

people simply don't show up for their first appointment. I had an 11:45 client scheduled this morning. I got all the paperwork ready: opened a file for her, prepared the agreement for her signature and ... waited. And waited. And waited. At noon I tried calling her and ended up leaving a message. At 12:15 I left and went to Marshall's. There were two clients wanting an 11:45 appointment this week who had to wait because I didn't have that time available. I understand that on a cosmic level, all is moving toward the good; however, I was not a happy camper this morning.

It's very hard for me to avoid going into judgment about people who don't call to let me know they've changed their mind, or forgot, or ran out of gas, or whatever the problem is. In the back of my mind there's always the concern that something serious happened and they are physically incapable of being courteous.

But let's face it, even the guy who had a motorcycle accident and ended up breaking his arm on the way to his first appointment with me called to let me know what was going on.

Miracles Happen Every Day

A healer I know started experience excruciating pain in his chest. His wife insisted he go have it checked out (he, of course, was reluctant to do so, preferring to wait until the pain went away on its own).

He was diagnosed with an aortic dissection, a potentially fatal condition -- often as a result of misdiagnosis. It turns out that the doctor who examined my friend actually looks for aortic dissections in patients presenting with heart problems. Why? Because his own father was one of those people who died as a result of a misdiagnosis of the problem.

The doctor arranged for my friend to be helicoptered to Stanford University Hospital for emergency heart surgery to repair the aorta. He's mending nicely.

What are we doing to our kids?

A fourth-grade teacher I've been working with told me today that she is required to conduct drills in her classroom in case of "intruder violence." These poor little ones have to be taught to lie down on the floor in case someone opens fire in the classroom.

Added to the intruder drills there are earthquake drills. And then, of course, the children are supposed to just go back to being open to learning the day's lessons.

No wonder we've got so many autistic kids being born. It makes sense that children need to turn down their ability to experience emotion in the kind of environment we're setting up.

4th Day -- The Beauty and the Beast

Okay, I am officially really proud of myself. I have been to the Bikram Yoga studio four days in a row -- three of them at 6 am.

There's one woman who's been there each day at 6. She's young, wickedly strong and so, so graceful. I position myself at the back of the room behind her because just watching her inspires me. This morning I found out that where I've been standing is the hottest part of the room. I've decided it's worth a few more degrees to be able to check in with that woman every now and again and delude myself into thinking that maybe, someday, if I'm really, really dilligent, I can perhaps be half as strong and graceful in my movements.

This morning a very handsome, buff guy sauntered in. I'm talking movie star gorgeous. It was his first time (I remember when :-)). Except unlike me, he strode in with macho confidence, white teeth shining in his tan face. Well, Macho Man lasted about 45 minutes before announcing loudly that he couldn't take it anymore. "You win!" he told the instructor (who looks like one of those kids who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach). I couldn't help but think that how this guy reacted to us walking in and walking out spoke volumes about who he is as a man. Seriously. I wanted to give him my card :-)

Did I mention how proud I am of myself?

No Charm the Second Time

Well, I got up okay ... but once I got to the 6 am Bikram Yoga class this morning I was stunned to find myself unable to do a whole heck of a lot besides rides out waves of dizziness and, at one point, nausea.

I think I didn't drink enough water yesterday.

One of the other newer students (she's been going there for 4 weeks) suggested taking a few days off between classes in order to allow the body to re-balance. My inclination is, of course, to plow through.

I really want to be the person who goes to yoga at 6 am and is tranquil, fit and balanced the rest of the day :-)

Hot Stuff!

I went to a Bikram Yoga class today. Wow, what an experience! 90 minutes of constant movement in a hot, hot room. I actually made it through the class without fainting, which I consider a huge accomplishment.

It's true that the heat improves flexibility. I was able to do stretches this morning that I have been unable to achieve throughout the two years of my previous yoga-style practice.

My biggest turn-off is that the class times are totally inconvenient for me. The best class time is the 6 am. Well, I am NOT a morning person and as much as I'd like to be the woman who goes to yoga at 6 am, I'm not feeling very confident about actually being that woman.

In any case, I have the opportunity to attend as many classes as I want over the next two weeks. I have set my intention to attend the 6 am class tomorrow. I want to see how hard it will be for me to do so.

I'll let you know!