8 ways to take care of yourself during eclipse season, so you stay sane

Have you been feeling it? The intense energy that the August 7th lunar eclipse ushered in may feel heavy, overwhelming, weird, or just plain off. Eclipses are like magical portals to intense transformation — think major life changes, and standing face to face with your deepest secrets or spiritual “aha” moments.

Eclipses don’t play around, and with the solar eclipse on August 21st only a couple of weeks away, now is the time to reset, recharge, and regroup. With this in mind, we’ve rounded up eight ways to practice self-care this eclipse season, so you can make it through the season whole and unscathed.

1Schedule time to relax.

If you’re anything like us, then your schedule is jam-packed pretty much all the time. But if there’s anything eclipse season reminds us about, it’s that hands-off relaxation is key to getting through any major transformation. You deserve time to relax, and relaxing doesn’t make you lazy.

Schedule in a few hours every week to do nothing, seeing what you need once you get there. Maybe you’ll want to read, maybe you’ll want to do yoga. Either way, making sure you have time to decompress is key to getting through this eclipse season.

2Cleanse yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self.

Don’t just cleanse yourself, cleanse everything. Whether you’re using palo santo or sage to cleanse your house and body with sacred smoke, or taking a salt bath to ground your energy, take time to honor your space. Clean your apartment, clean your makeup drawer, put mint in your water, and eat plenty of ginger. Clear out stagnant energy and old clothing alike.

Use Florida Water and rose water to clean your mirrors and counters. Sprinkle salt on your carpet and in your home’s corners before vacuuming to help absorb negative energy. Work with crystals — especially clear quartz, laborite, and onyx — to help clear and protect your energetic field. Your body and energy deserve to be cleaned and cared for as much as your physical space.

3Make sure you have a support system in place.

There are many ways to make sure you have the support you need during eclipse season. You can text your BFF and let them know you may need extra TLC, you can sign up for therapy IRL or go with an online service, you can go to a yoga studio, call your parents or family member, or buy a new journal. The key? Making sure you have a system in place in case you need it. We aren’t meant to walk this life alone. Take baby steps to make sure you have the love and care you need and deserve.

4Meditate.

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If you’re late to the meditation game, not to worry. Thanks to the age of YouTube and the internet, you can learn to meditate without a worry. You can use an app like Insight Timer (which features guided meditations, music, and a timer), Headspace (which teaches you how to meditate with short guided meditations), or whatever YouTube video suits your fantasy. Grounding and anxiety-reducing meditations are great for this time, as are chakra-balancing meditations. You don’t have to make a big commitment to meditate either; five minutes a day is a perfect and easy way to start. You can even practice different breathing techniques, if meditating isn’t your thing. The key is to slow down.

5Drink water.

This may seem like a no brainer, but is it actually? Drinking the recommended amount of 9 glasses of water (for women, and 13 for men) can feel like a chore, but it’s important. Personally, I swear by my water bottle with its hard plastic straw, so I can drink all day without messing up my lipstick. Get yourself a pretty water bottle, one you’ll want to drink out of, set reminders on your phone, talk to your roommate so you can remind one another to drink enough water. Do what you have to do to stay hydrated.

Our bodies are mostly water anyway, and the moon affects the tides, so why wouldn’t water affect us? Get drinking! And don’t forget to take baths, go to the pool, or go swimming for extra relaxation and self-care.

6Move that body.

Shake things up and move your body! Go to the gym, walk around the beach with your friends, take a midnight stroll through the cemetery, go to yoga. Just make sure you move. Our bodies hold onto energy, and when we don’t physically shift that through intentional movement, we can feel overwhelmed, anxious, and sluggish. Making sure you’re active, even if it’s just dancing around extra hard to Spice Girls when you’re alone in your room, is more important in times of chaotic energy (hello, eclipse season!).

7Practice self-compassion.

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This is probably the hardest item on this list. Not physically, but mentally? Absolutely. We are our hardest critics, and talking to ourselves in a negative manner isn’t conductive to our growth in any way. So this eclipse season, we urge you to talk to yourself like your favorite pet, or like a baby. Coo over yourself. Next time you catch yourself saying something negative, flip it around. And next time you catch a friend saying something negative about themselves, remind them not to. You can even say “I don’t like it when you talk about my friend that way,” and have them say the same to you.

Listen: You are doing great! Seriously, you got up and made it through the day, and you are killing it. We are so proud of you! And you should be proud of you, too. You survived every horrible day you’ve had this far. You can continue to get through the bad days. The cosmos and world are intense enough right now. Give yourself a break: we love you and think you should love you, too.

8Spend time in nature.

During any cosmic event, connecting to the earth becomes vital. She’s our mama, our source of food and love and support and our connection to the stars above. Take time to be under the moon at night, go to the beach during the day, or simply hang out on your porch. Spending time outside — sans phone or distractions — is an epic way to heal your heart and soothe your mind. Bring a book or journal, grab a few crystals, and get cozy. Talk to the trees and moon, listen to the whisper of the clouds, and relax. You are supported.

No matter how you choose to care for yourself, we hope you find something that works.