Oh great, Mercury Retrograde is about to make us all feel super sluggish

It’s time to blame it on the retrograde again. Mercury, the little planet of communication and technology, is going retrograde on March 5th—where it will stay until March 28th. Typically during Mercury Retrograde, we encounter a slew of miscommunications, travel delays, and other mishaps related to how we interact with others and our surroundings. Everything from travel plans to text messages may go awry during this period.

This month, Mercury is going retrograde in dreamy Pisces from start to finish. This means that for the next three weeks, we can expect to live in a hazy fog. Getting things done will feel like swimming in a pool of molasses. We’ll be more indecisive and aimless, and as a result, our contact with others will be cloudy. Being direct and asking for what we want will prove difficult—mostly because we don’t really trust what we want or what we even want to say. Oh boy.

With or without a retrograde, Pisces loves to live in a fantasyland every day of the week. But during this transit, we might be easily mislead or manipulated; essentially, it’s easy for us to see, say, and hear what we want to believe. Which is is why it’s key to be as grounded and clear as possible. Maybe this means taking a step back from an emotionally charged situation until the dust settles. Or maybe it’s allowing ourselves a day or two to think things through before making a decision. Thinking clearly might be trying right now, but it’s not impossible. Meditation and journaling will help.

This fogginess might make us feel a little listless. Pursuing our passions and dreams won’t feel as easy as we hope. It’s important not to let this energy get you down or knock you out of the game completely. Keep in mind that this is a passing phase, and every step and action, no matter how slow or small, does help. Ease up on yourself. Don’t give up on what you’re focusing on now, but also understand that your focus isn’t as sharp as it usually is. Finding compassion for yourself during this time is the best gift you can give to yourself and to others. Because Pisces is all about compassion and loving kindness.

Speaking of compassion, we might find ourselves being a little too empathetic and understanding at this time. While we could all use generosity and a gentle spirit during Mercury Retrograde, Pisces has a tendency to be a people-pleaser and puts her needs last. This doesn’t serve us. So don’t be afraid to enforce the boundaries you need to feel safe and secure.

If this hazy energy is causing you to feel drained during this period, take that as a cue to rest. There’s no shame in resting. In fact, recharging is what retrogrades are all about. While no one likes the hiccups that retrogrades—especially these frequent Mercury Retrogrades—bring, they do serve as an important reminder to take it easy. Retrogrades help us become more aware of the need to slow down our inner and outer processing and view our lives from a different perspective. While rest is often viewed as indulgent, when we take the time to recuperate and let go of the reins a bit, our ability to handle our relationships, jobs, and communications improve. Often post-retrograde we’ll feel clearer and more energetic than before.

And clarity is definitely something we’ll miss during this transit. Missing pieces of information and logic will run rampant, but maybe that’s okay. Pisces, after all, navigates her life using her intuition and spirituality. During this time, it’ll help to listen to your gut and tend to your spiritual needs. How might you be able to live a life of consciousness? Maybe it’s developing a new spiritual practice or returning to one. Maybe you’ll discover that your intuition has something new to share with you that you weren’t able to hear before. In fact, communicating via your intuition and vibes might work best during this time since text messaging is going to be frustrating AF.

Ultimately, Mercury Retrograde in Pisces helps us to purge ideas of who we thought we were and what we wanted, because Pisces is all about self-discovery. It’s time to dig below the surface to eliminate old ways of being so we can consciously decide which energy we want to use to move forward. It might feel confusing during the next few weeks and we might need some reflective moments to chill and figure stuff out, but if we remain grounded in our truth, then the truth will set us free.

After Mercury Retrograde ends, of course.