How To Thrive During Mercury Retrograde

There’s no need to fear, even though Mercury Retrograde is certainly here.

Many of us can relate to the nerve wracking, anxiety inducing feeling when our Instagram feeds light up with posts pointing out an impending retrograde. But fear not, the cosmos are never working against us, but always in our favor —  sometimes just in a “less direct” manner.

With the first Mercury Retrograde of 2020 upon us, here’s how to thrive while the well-known ruler of communication, technology, and travel, takes on his “backward” transit.

5 Reasons to Love Retrograde 

It is high time we learned to give Mercury Retrograde a little love.

1. First of all, it's inevitable, just like so many other things we often fear that are actually quite good for us like: change, growth, stepping out of our comfort zone.
   
   
2. Mercury Rx is the opportunity to heal what is holding us back.
   
   Mercury truly wants you to experience abundance in every aspect of your life! But we have to clean out the proverbial closet of old thought patterns to make space for all that is awaiting us when Mercury goes direct. There is no room for lack mindsets, compromised confidence, or codependency when you are truly a rockstar. But change is hard, and it can be difficult to let things go. That’s why Mercury asks us to slow down, feel through the old and move through it at our own pace. Which brings us to...
   
   
3. Time to Pump The Breaks (a little bit)
   
   Moving forward at lightning speed, constantly, inevitably leads to burn out. We have to take time to sit back every once in a while and look at our momentum, look at our methods and take a little “life inventory” on what’s working, what could be done better, and what needs to be dropped all together.
   
   
4. Time to Integrate
   
   You have been doing the work, focusing on yourself and your growth. But lessons aren’t just learned in a moment, we have to leave time for integration, both in our headspace, and our energetic space.
   
   What do we do in school? We study, we review information until it becomes habit, until we act accordingly without second thought. Integrating the information over time. If we are constantly moving forward without taking the time to integrate, we can lose a lot of important details and lessons along the way that could serve us so much better in the future!
   
   
5. Time to Course Correct
   
   Mercury Rx is notorious for things going awry. But the Universe never conspires against us, not even Mercury. If things aren’t going to plan, take a moment to breathe and consider what the hiccups may actually be trying to tell you. Is it time to slow down in order to avoid burnout? Maybe it’s as simple as just double checking travel plans, work assignments or your calendar. Maybe it’s as simple as just taking a break and taking time to connect to your breath again.
   
   Or maybe there is a greater message. Sometimes we have to hit that wall to realize we were going in the wrong direction all along, and it’s time to course correct. Mercury Rx is all about taking the time to see the bigger picture and look at things from perspectives you may not have previously considered. You may find solutions to the hiccups that turn things around for the better on a much grander scale.
   
   Wherever you fall on the spectrum of rest and course correction, Mercury Rx is the time to take a break, focus on self care, take extra baths, make time for that yin yoga and really show yourself a little extra love. And breathe, how is it we always forget to breathe?

The Thrival Guide: How to thrive instead of just survive this Mercury RX

• Pause before we speak, act, or really do anything
  
  
• Take the time to work on effective communication skills
  
  
• Enjoy the opportunity to slow down in our VERY fast paced world; you know, the one that prioritizes inhuman ability to “grind” and not sleep or do other things that are in fact very healthy and very important to our human existence
  
  
• Take a break from technology; there’s a high chance it’s probably not going to work well anyways, so why not take a break?
  
  
• Find or “create” closure: what are you holding on to that needs to be let go of once and for all? Wrap up the old so you can move on with the new!
  
  
• Forgive.... yourself, and others. Mercury Rx is the ultimate time for forgiveness vibes!
  
  
• Connect back to your inner world, your inner guidance system and intuition, dare to take a new perspective on old ways of doing things
  
  
• Cover your tracks “technically” speaking -- make sure important documents are backed up! Double check your calendar and travel arrangements. You know the drill!

Last but not least — prepare for the WAVE of fresh, new energy when Mercury goes direct.

About the author

Allee Graziano @alleewild

Allee Graziano moved out west from her home in Massachusetts two years ago and has been dedicated to exploring the American West ever since. She has used her career as an outdoor lifestyle photographer to inspire others to get outdoors, educate on sustainability values and create beautiful content for brands passionate about preserving and celebrating Mama Earth.