Libra: Open to the wisdom of your heart, restore peace to a troubled mind, learn to live harmoniously and in a state of equilibrium. Reconcile pairs of opposites in your life so that healing may occur. Make judgements, take action, create a more peaceful, harmonious world for all. ​

We live in a world where, due to the virus, all the cards have been thrown up in the air, and we are waiting to see how they land. How do we find, peace, harmony, and maintain equilibrium in such uncertain and troubled times? Working with the zodiac sign Libra can help us to open to the wisdom of the heart, and to create some order in our disordered, chaotic lives. 

Libra is a cardinal, air sign, ruled by Venus. Its symbol is the weighing scales. The Sanskrit name for the sign was Tula, the Balance. Libra's key words are harmoniously and unitedly. Libra, like yoga, helps us balance pairs of opposites, such as Sun and Moon, light and dark, masculine and feminine, passive and active, pushing and yielding, and order and chaos. This reconciliation of pairs of opposites creates balance and healing.
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During this current pandemic we urgently need to balance the intellectual energy of our head with the compassionate wisdom of our heart. It is essential at this time to use our intellect to engage with science, and empower ourselves to stay safe through a base of sound, scientific knowledge. At the same time, we must balance this, by also engaging with the wisdom of the heart, which will guide us safely through the storm, revealing to us the path that will lead us from confusion to clarity. 

In the Yoga by the Stars book, the affirmation we use in the Libra practice is My heart balances all. It can be coordinated with the breath:
Inhale: My heart balances all
Exhale: My heart balances all

Libra is the fulcrum balancing the material and spiritual world, reminding us that what is considered “lower” supports that which is above and that the two worlds are united by love. This is beautifully encapsulated in the equilibrium of the figure-eight glyph, the symbol of infinity, which is associated with Libra. This is mirrored in the body’s chakra system, where the heart centre balances the lower and higher chakras in a loving and compassionate way

Below are some meditation questions, from the Libra chapter of the Yoga by the Stars book. They will help you to connect with the wisdom of your heart and find balance in your life:
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• If I listened to my heart, how would I go about creating balance in my life?
• How does it feel when my life is in balance?
  • When my life is out of balance, what’s different?
• What is the best way to stay balanced when faced with stressful situations, people, or environments?
• If I were to imagine a world where peace and justice were available to everyone, what would it be like?
  • Are there any small steps I could take to bring this harmonious world a step closer?
• Which yoga techniques do I find help me stay grounded, centred, and balanced?

​In the Yoga by the Stars book, you will find a Libra-inspired yoga practice, that balances and realigns the body and mind, both physically and energetically. It is calming and quietly energising and has a centring effect. It soothes a restless mind, restoring balance and equanimity. The heart-centre chakra is gently opened, helping us develop a sense of love and compassion for ourselves and others. 

Purity is a theme associated with the zodiac sign Virgo, and purity (sauca) is one of the observances, or the personal disciplines, that make up the second of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga. Do you find that purity is a concept that works for you and helps to keep you healthy in body, mind, and spirit? Or has it become another thing to beat yourself up about?
Of course, yoga has a purifying, cleansing effect on a mental, physical, and emotional level. The yoga asanas, coordinated with the breathing, improve circulation and flush out toxins in our system. Deep relaxation allows the body to repair and renew itself. However, the concept of purity can be a double-edged sword. One trap that we can fall into is to become obsessed with self-purification. Some yoga teachers exacerbate this tendency in their students by pushing the idea that we are all impure and need to follow extreme exercise routines and diets, including purging, to detoxify ourselves. Purity shouldn’t become a stick to beat yourself with. 
Below are some meditation questions, from my forthcoming book, Yoga by the Stars, that will help you to explore both the negative and positive aspects of working with the Virgo theme of purity:

• There is a lot of money to be made from making people (especially women) feel “impure” and bad about themselves.
  • What negative messages of this sort have I internalised, and how do they play out in my life and the way I behave?
  • What do I find are the best ways to psychically protect myself from absorbing such negative projections?
  • How can I help others do the same, so that they feel good about themselves too?
• Yoga teaches us to focus on how we feel on the inside, rather than obsessing about our outer appearance.
  • Which yoga techniques have I found help me to access a sense of being okay as I am?
  • Which other spiritual practices have helped me feel good about myself and comfortable in my own skin?

In the Virgo practice, in the Yoga by the Stars book, we set the intention to cultivate the qualities of sattva, in order to shed light on our radiant authentic self. We bring to the practice an awareness that when purity is conceived as an impossible-to-reach-ideal imposed upon us from the outside, it can have a negative, detrimental influence. However, when it is arises from within, bathed in the pure light of self-awareness, it can be a health-enhancing, positive force. When in a state of contemplation, we come to rest in our true nature, this is true purity. 

​Purity is not a destination; it’s a way of being. The beauty of yoga is that we experience ourselves from the inside out, rather than responding to the gaze of others, and how they view us from the outside. Perhaps for the first time, we are comfortable in our own skin. This inner confidence helps us bat away projections from others who tell us that we are impure or not good enough. Yoga’s inner journey helps us uncover what is true and pure within: our radiant authentic self. 
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See also: Virgo Pure Light Visualisation
Virgo: Let the Earth Support You

Virgo is a mutable, earthy sign ruled by Mercury. The symbol for Virgo is a young woman with an ear of corn in her hand and a child in her lap. She symbolises fertility and purity. During the current pandemic, purity, or rather avoiding contamination is a preoccupation for all of us . We are fearful of touching surfaces for fear that the virus is lurking there. We are anxious that the virus might be lingering in the air we breathe. Of course it makes sense to take precautions to stay safe when facing  a potentially deadly virus. However, all this airy, worry energy can leave us feeling disconnected from nature, ungrounded, cut off from our inner wisdom, and so less able to navigate the crisis. In this post we'll consider how to harness Virgo's earth energy, to help us to stay grounded and centred. 

The Virgo symbol of a young woman, a babe in arms, and corn in her hand, gives us a few clues about how to stay grounded. Grounding activities include; spending time with children, pets, gardening, baking (especially kneading bread), and walks in nature. Whereas worry energy takes us up into our head and away from the present moment; grounding activities bring us back into our body, our feet firmly planted on the earth, and back to the present moment. When you are grounded you are reunited with a sense of hope, optimism, and a clarity of purpose. 

Below are two meditations that you can use when you need to ground yourself. The first, the Mantra Lam Meditation, is from the Yoga by the Stars book. The great thing about chanting is that it releases tension and helps to restore a healthy breathing pattern; this in turn is calming and soothes worry energy. The second meditation, Standing Like a Tree, is from my first book, Yoga Through the Year. 

Mantra Lam Meditation
Come to a sitting position and rest your hands on your belly. Notice the gentle rise and fall of the belly with each in and out-breath. Then with each out-breath, silently repeat the mantra Lam (pronounced lum). This is the bija (seed) mantra associated with the base chakra (muladhara), and it is very grounding. After a few silent repetitions, begin to sound the Lam mantra on each exhale. With each repetition of the mantra bring your awareness down to the belly and the lower half of the body. After a few repetitions, let go of chanting.
Spend a few more minutes here, quietly observing your breath and noticing the contact between your body and the earth. When you are ready, carry on with your day.

Standing Like a Tree
This exercise can be used at any time of year as a stand-alone exercise or as part of your yoga practice. It can be used as a way of centring and grounding yourself at the start of a yoga practice. In daily life it is particularly helpful for those times when you feel thrown off balance by a situation and need to regain your equilibrium and ground yourself.
Stand tall like a tree. Your feet are parallel and about hip width apart. Your knees are soft, your face relaxed, shoulders down away from the ears. Your tailbone feels heavy as though it is weighted, and the crown of your head feels light and floats skyward. Picture in your mind’s eye a tree that you love or feel a connection to.
Bring your awareness to your feet. Be aware of where your feet are in contact with the earth beneath you. Allow your toes to spread and your heels to drop down into the earth. Imagine that there are roots growing from the soles of your feet, going deep down into the earth below you, spreading in a wide circle, and giving you stability.
With each inhale imagine that you are drawing healing energy and nourishment up though your roots into the soles of your feet, up through the legs, torso, and to the lungs.
With each exhale imagine that the out-breath is travelling down both legs, through your feet, and back down into your roots. Imagine with each exhale that you are letting go of anything that you do not wish to hold on to, letting go of tension, worries, anxiety, persistent thoughts, discomfort, or pain. Imagine that any negativity that you let go of is then cleansed and purified by the soil.
Inhale: Healing energy
Exhale: Letting go
Repeat over several breaths until you feel centred and grounded.

See also: Virgo Pure Light Visualisation

The ancient yogis believed that within each of us there is a Divine spark. It is like a candle flame at the heart centre, that burns steadily unmoved by the winds of change. It is always there, constant, light and bright, guiding our way. Although sometimes, like a dusty lamp, the light can become obscured and dimmed. Our yoga practice helps us to clean up the lamp and to uncover this light within, bringing light into the darkness.

The Virgo-inspired yoga practice, in the Yoga by the Stars book, uses visualisation and affirmation to help us to reconnect with this guiding light within. Inspired by the zodiac sign Virgo, this practice has a devotional feel. It is deeply relaxing and grounding, and it will help you to access a deep source of strength and wisdom. It enables you to cultivate a sense of being comfortable in your own skin and to get in touch with the purity of your authentic self. 

The affirmation we use in the practice is The light within guides my way. It can be shortened and coordinated with the breath:
Inhale: The light within
Exhale: Guides my way

During the practice we also coordinate the affirmation with movements in the asanas, and with the breath. Or you can repeat the affirmation, The light within guides my way, at the start of each round of a sequence, such as Salute to the Sun (Surya Namaskar). 
Below is a simple meditation that we use to begin and conclude the Virgo practice. You can use it yourself at home to start or finish your own yoga practice. Also, during the practice, between poses, in a pose such as Mountain Pose (Tadasana), you might wish to place your hands at your heart and picture a candle flame burning steadily there. 

Virgo Pure Light Visualisation
Find yourself a comfortable seated position. Draw an imaginary circle of light around yourself. If it feels right, silently say, I surround myself with love and light, and I am safe. Bring your hands to your heart and visualise a candle flame burning steadily at the heart space. Then silently repeat your affirmation 3 times: The light within guides my way.
Ask to be given an image that symbolises purity for you. If an image does not immediately come to mind, trust that at some point one will arise. If an image does arise, hold it in your heart as you do your yoga practice.
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The above practice is from the Virgo chapter of the Yoga by the Stars book, to be published by Llewellyn in December 2020.

The Leo-inspired practice, from my forthcoming book Yoga by the Stars, is the perfect antidote to all the covid-related fear and anxiety that is swirling around at the moment. Due to the virus we're all having to be hyper-vigilant as we try to avoid catching or giving others the virus. This makes life very stressful and many of us are finding it harder than usual to relax. We can also feel dis-empowered and overwhelmed when faced with what can feel like an insurmountable problem. I was certainly feeling like that when I stepped onto my yoga mat early on this morning. However, I found the Leo practice did it's magic and I felt stronger, calmer and more courageous by the end of it. 
The Ram-Yam-Lam sequence is part of the Leo-inspired yoga practice, and I just loved doing it this morning! The chanting helps you to release tension and find your lion's roar! The mantra RAM is associated with the solar plexus chakra and helps you to access your personal power. The mantra YAM connects you to your compassionate heart centre. And the mantra LAM is associated with your base chakra and so is grounding. 

Ram-Yam-Lam Sequence
Stand tall, feet parallel and about hip-width apart, with hands resting on the solar plexus. Inhale and take the arms out to the sides. On the exhale, chant Ram (pronounced rum), as you bring your hands back to the solar plexus. Inhale taking the arms overhead. Exhale, lowering the arms and crossing the hands to the heart, as you chant Yam (pronounced yum). Inhale taking the arms overhead. Exhale, coming into a Standing Forward bend (Uttanasana), chanting Lam (pronounced lum). Inhale, come back up to standing, taking both arms up above the head. Exhale lower the hands back to the solar plexus. Repeat the sequence 3 more times.
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See also the Leo Page of this website, and the Strength Powered by Love post 

Yoga helps you stand tall and find the courage in your heart to follow your true path in life. Sometimes yoga is quiet and reflective, and at other times it prompts you to roar like a lion and to defend what you believe in. The reflective side of your yoga practice puts you in touch with what is true for you, whereas the active side of your practice requires you to give voice to that truth—and this is your lion’s roar. 

We look to the zodiac sign Leo for the gift of fierce confidence. Regardless of your own Sun sign, working with Leo's energy will help you to connect with your powerful Sun self and to radiate your light out into the world. As we emerge from the pandemic and try to establish a "new normal" we really need people who are empowered to speak up and speak out, to ensure that we make the new normal better than before. 

Although we don't know what the long term effects of the covid virus will be, we do know that it will have a massive impact on the way we live our lives. Understandably there is a lot of fear and anxiety about the future, and we can offset some of that by envisioning what we want the future to look like. One positive step we can take, as we begin to emerge from the virus, is to consider how we can go about rebuilding a better world? If you are in touch with your "lion's roar" then you stand a better chance of making your voice heard in this debate!
Here in the UK one of the criticisms of the government's covid policy is that women have been absent from the table, and consequently important issues impacting on our daily lives have been overlooked. So right now it is vitally important that women's voices, worldwide, are heard loud and clear in the debate about what the new post-covid world should look like. As Ursula K Le Guin said in her Bryn Mawr Commencement Address, "When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains."

So how are you going to go about getting in touch with your lion's roar? How are you going to make sure your voice is heard and helps to shape this new and better world? Perhaps being in quarantine you've lost some of your confidence and can't quite imagine yourself roaring like a lion. That's understandable, however, you can harness Leo's energy to help you to regain confidence and to empower you to give voice to your opinions and preferences. And remember, you don’t have to go it alone. At the heart of a lion pride is a closed sisterhood of female adults; they work cooperatively together, both in hunting and looking after their young. When we work collectively with others, we are stronger and can achieve more than when we work alone. So get together with other like minds and roar together in orchestrated chorus! 
The gentle discipline that you cultivate through your yoga practice will stand you in good stead in life. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the judgement that something else is more important. ​What you say and what you do will shape the new world that is emerging. You can help to rebuild better. So let me hear you roar!

In the Leo-inspired yoga practice in the Yoga by the Stars book, we aim to build fierce, unshakeable confidence, in tandem with a compassionate, loving, heart. The book will be published in December 2020 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. 
​See also: the Leo Page on this website, the Leo Ram-Yam-Lam Sequence, and the Strength Powered by Love post

The Leo-inspired yoga practice, from my book Yoga by the Stars, is the go-to yoga practice whenever you need to be nurtured and empowered. It is centring, energising, uplifting, and creates stability, releasing tension and blocked energy. It's a grounding, sunny, strengthening practice that increases confidence and courage. So, the perfect practice for those of us tentatively coming out of lock-down and bracing ourselves to face the world again! I used it as my early morning yoga practice today, and by the end of it I felt less of the quivering, small, nervous animal coming out of hibernation, and more in touch with the brave lion within!  

In the Leo-inspired yoga practice, we aim to build fierce, unshakeable confidence in tandem with a compassionate, loving heart. We draw our inspiration in this practice from the strength and courage of a lion as well as the lioness’s ability to cooperate lovingly with other lionesses in her pride. Our intention to build a strength that is tempered by love is encapsulated in our affirmation for the practice, which is: My strength is powered by love. 
The affirmation My strength is powered by love,felt perfect for me this morning. I really enjoyed coordinating a shortened version with the breath. Inhale: strength. Exhale: love. This works really well if you coordinate it with movement, for example inhale and affirm "strength" as you raise your arms, exhale and affirm "love" as you lower them. You can try it out with dynamic, moving versions of the postures, such as Child’s Pose (Balasana) into Upward-Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana). 

Of course, no Leo-inspired yoga practice would be complete without the playfully fierce Lion Pose (Simhasana). In the Leo practice we use it dynamically as part of the warm-up for the practice.

The Leo-inspired practice, begins and ends with a seated Sun Visualisation. This is wonderfully centring and guaranteed to calm the emerging from lock-down jitters and the still in lock-down blues! 
Seated Sun Visualisation 
​Find yourself a comfortable, erect seated position. Picture in your mind’s eye the Sun symbol, which is a dot within a circle. Then imagine that you are drawing a circle of light around yourself. Picture yourself as the Sun at the centre of this circle. Now picture a sun, at your solar plexus, radiating light and warmth around your body. Silently repeat this affirmation three times: My strength is powered by love.

The above Leo-inspired yoga practice ideas are from the Yoga by the Stars book, which will be published early December 2020, and is available for pre-order on Amazon. 

The zodiac sign Cancer, the crab, is a watery sign, ruled by the Moon. Following on from my last few blog posts, themed around the zodiac sign Cancer, in this post we'll look at how you can introduce a Moon theme into your yoga practice. 

In astrology the key words associated with the Moon are response and fluctuation. In older texts the Sun represented spirit, the Moon represented soul, and the ascendant represented body. The Moon represents the pull of matter (subconscious), and the Sun the pull of spirit (superconscious). The Moon’s connection with health has always made her prominent in astrological medicine. 

The Moon is the Earth’s natural satellite that shines by reflecting the Sun’s light. The Moon speaks to us of time passing, and its waxing and waning connects us to the ebb and flow of life. The phases of the Moon teach us about the cycles of life, death, rebirth, and renewal. Out of the darkness, the New Moon arises in the night sky and speaks to us of hope reborn. The Full Moon is pregnant with possibilities. The Dark Moon reminds us to pause, rest, and recuperate.

The Earth and the Moon are in a symbiotic relationship. The gravitational pull of the Moon, and to a lesser degree the Sun, creates the ocean tides. Many people believe that the Moon’s gravitational force also affects humans, as our bodies are made up of approximately 60 percent water.

Some of us notice that the phases of the Moon elicit a response in us. Of course, our response to the phases of the Moon is a very personal thing. Some love the flurry of energy, activity, and creativity during the waxing phase of the Moon up to when it reaches its fullness. Others prefer the more serene, contemplative, reflective energy of the waning phase of the Moon. If you regularly observe the response that the moon’s cycle elicits in you, it will help you find a rhythm of activity and rest that is uniquely healthful and energising for you.

There are many ways you can introduce a Moon theme into your yoga practice. You can include circular sequences that mirror the phases of the Moon, such as Chandra Namaskar (Salute to the Moon). Or you could try including flowing, fluid, watery movements into your yoga session.

All pranayama practices are a way of bringing both Sun (ha) and Moon (tha) into your practice. We are also connecting with the ebb and flow, waxing and waning, rhythm of the Moon, when we consciously attend to balancing sthira (effort) and sukha (ease) in our yoga practice. Off the mat, meditative, circular walks also have a satisfyingly Moon-like quality to them.

You could try visualising the Moon during a yoga practice or ask the Moon to guide your intuitive practice. However, whenever you introduce a Moon focus into your yoga, it’s important to remember to stay grounded. Working with a Moon theme and forgetting to ground yourself can be disorientating, so always keep an awareness of your connection with the earth beneath you and a sense of roots connecting you to the earth, giving you support and stability.

You'll find lots more moon-inspired yoga ideas in my forthcoming book, Yoga by the Stars.

The zodiac sign Cancer is known as the mother sign, with a strong desire to nurture and nourish others. In my last post, Tough Times Require Tender Care, we explored how the zodiac sign Cancer can be a wonderful source of self-care, nurturing, and nourishment for us. In this post we'll continue developing that theme, looking at how we can become our own best friend. This skill is invaluable as we look for ways of navigating our way through the unprecedented uncertainty of the current pandemic. 

How do you talk to yourself when you mess up or life takes a wrong turn? Often at these difficult times our inner critic takes over, and many of us speak to ourselves in a manner that we would never dream of speaking to a friend. Even though many of the events that occur in life are beyond our control, we can still consciously decide to cultivate a loving and compassionate attitude toward ourselves and others. 

If you are interested in finding out more about developing the skill of self-compassion, you could check out Christopher Germer's The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, or Paul Gilbert's The Compassionate Mind. 

In the Zodiac sign Cancer chapter of the Yoga by the Stars book, I include a Become Your Own Best Friend Meditation, which teaches you how to connect with your own inner loving, nurturing self, and how to show the same compassion to yourself that you would show to a friend in need. By cultivating good self-care in this way, you build up self-confidence and the resilience to cope with life's ups and downs. Although I am not including that meditation in this blog post, however, I am including an audio link to Mark Williams The Befriending Meditation. As Mark says, "When life really begins to get you down…. When you feel angry, lost or alone… When you feel close to despair… When you feel that you are your own worst enemy… The Befriending Meditation is here for you." The meditation below comes from the Finding Peace in a Frantic World website, where you will find many other mindfulness resources and free meditations. 

We are all living through tough times, with this pandemic, and more than ever at this turbulent time we need to show ourselves and each other tender care. Regardless of your own Sun sign, the sign that can nurture and nourish you through these challenging times is the zodiac sign Cancer.  

Cancer, the crab, is a watery sign, ruled by the Moon. It is known as the mother sign, with a strong desire to care for, to nourish, and to protect others. At times of crisis self-care is so important, and now is a great time to practice the skill of parenting yourself. Learning how to “mother” ourselves well is an essential part of our spiritual practice. Of course, we must also remember that nurturing, nourishing, and caring skills are not exclusive to one gender. 
Along with the theme of mother-love, the zodiac sign Cancer is also concerned with creating a peaceful place of sanctuary, where we may retreat to and take time to heal away from the fray of life. The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh says that when life seems like a turbulent ocean, we have to remember we have an island of peace inside. Life has ups and downs, coming and going, gain and loss. Dwelling in the island of self, you are safe. The poem below, The Island of Self, illustrates this beautifully.

​The path of yoga is a path that will lead you home to yourself. When the world feels hostile and unwelcoming, yoga is a place of sanctuary. When you feel unwanted, unloved, or un-cared for, it provides a place of refuge. Step onto your yoga mat and you are stepping into sacred space. Here you are loved; you can let the public mask slip and simply be yourself.

You are held in the circle of yoga. The circle is strong enough to hold whatever burdens you are carrying. Yoga teaches us to relax into the support that life can offer. We are held, nurtured, and nourished. The water on the surface of your life might be turbulent, but underneath the pool is deep, calm, and still. 

​You will find more ideas for nurturing yoga practices on my Yoga Through the Year blog: 
Mother Yourself with the Mantra Ma
Soothing Summer Yoga Practice