Mercury retrograde: Here’s how to take care of yourself and your relationships

Mercury Retrograde has made its presence known —and it's only been a week! Messages haven’t been sent, words are misinterpreted, and misunderstandings are at an all-time high.

Mercury, is the planet of communication. When it appears to move backward from Earth, that's what astrologers call Mercury Retrograde. 

Because it is the planet closest to the sun — hence it orbits faster than any other planet — Mercury Retrograde also happens several times a year. Which means, several times a year, we experience a season of communication breakdowns, transportation woes, and all that jazz.

But according to Monica Lopez Gamboa—also known to many as Monch the Mystic—a professional Filipino astrologer and certified yoga teacher who also works in drama therapy, it doesn't have to be such a season of stress.

In fact, she puts forward the idea of shifting our focus every time Mercury goes retrograde. Instead of sending out messages, why don't we listen to others more intently? What if our focus is on understanding, instead?

Monica said that although it is important to communicate more clearly and double check what we say, “During Mercury Retrograde we can learn to listen more, and to listen deeper.”

She added we should be mindful to listen to what is present and what is left unsaid in our relationships, whether it may be platonic or romantic.

“If someone is saying this, you know, [think about] what are you hearing from them and what are they really saying.”

Monica emphasized that instead of blaming or releasing emotions unto others, she invites us to communicate like: "What I'm hearing from you is this, is this correct?”

Creating a safe space to communicate and to be understood is crucial at a time like when the planet of communication (that's Mercury) goes in retrograde.

“A lot of the time, people feel unheard or maybe they just need to be listened to. Maybe they don't want advice and they just need a space to be listened to. So I think that is key that people don't really say in Mercury Retrograde,” she said.

Listening to others and making them feel seen is important, but Monica also shared that we can be better at maintaining relationships by being in tune with ourselves — our own bodies and the messages they tell us, instead of fully relying on the mind.

“The mind sometimes tricks us. The mind is [out] there, but our body can also tell us a lot,” she said.

We can listen to our bodies by asking ourselves the questions: “Where are you feeling it? Are you getting a feeling? Is your intuition telling you [to] stay away, run?”

According to Monica, "the body remembers." Trauma in fact is also stored in the body.

To help heal this, Monica suggests forms of movement to help release emotions, such as exercising or embodying them by being part of a play. “You need to be moving, you need to find avenues for your body to feel safe.”

Understanding your body is also an important factor in relationships — or taking care of yourself before taking care of others. “That’s essentially how we should be living, right? And it's the whole 'put my own mask first before putting someone else's' kind of visual.”

Like in dating apps such as Bumble where users can easily say what they want, “but you don't really know until you meet the person and you're in their body until there's that connection.”

Monica added, “That's what astrology does, it connects you and brings you together. But what will sustain you is that presence, it's that in-person presence. If your body's telling you to run, you should just have to trust it.”

Of course, relying on the mind, body, and heart and trying to balance that is something we need to constantly work on.

The timing is right for self-care because the full moon in Pisces is happening tonight, right in the middle of Mercury Retrograde season.

“You should do nothing. The full moon is a time for like, culmination and celebration, but Pisces is all about rest and it's all about just taking care of yourself,” Monica said.

“So right now, like what are the practices that allow you to feel nurtured and allow you to feel creative even—if it's journaling, if it's singing, if it's painting, so kind of tapping into that,” she added.

Since Pisces is also an emotional sign and symbolizes letting go as the final sign in the zodiac, it’s a period to know “what do you have to let go of to start again, and just start fresh.”

Monica said, “I would do a ritual. If you can imagine like a burning ritual of what things do I want to let go of, maybe even burn it or bury it to let go of it.”

This particular Mercury Retrograde began on August 23 and will end on September 14. 

Until then, let's make sure to double check our messages and remember what Monica said: Listen more intently and understand better. — LA, GMA Integrated News