Overall Themes
Peace from conflict. This is the energetic weather this week, following a very potent week of facing tension.
This is a very personal energy for me. I grew up in a high-conflict family, a home that rarely felt safe or peaceful to me. In a natural, but unhealthy reaction, I threw myself towards the opposite. I strove to build a life that was all “peace”. I defined peace then as simply the absence of tension and conflict. This is not real peace, I have come to discover. Instead, it’s a loss of oxygen. It’s a stifling out of raw humanity. It’s a blank life. My essence died in a way. At the very least, I lost myself. Until 2017. That year I stepped back from life and cocooned harrrrrrd. I did a lot of internal work and began to gently peel back the layers of myself that had been plastered on for safety and survival. It was the catalyst to my next 7 years. Merfleur Wellness was actually the main baby birthed out of this time. That and a renewed sense of self.
Conflict and peace are both emotional states: tension and bliss in the body. Feeling emotion is necessary for physical health. If we’ve learned nothing else from the millennial generation, it’s that our emotional states as children and adults form our physical expression. Trauma is built through emotional experiences that lock into our body and keep circling till we learn how to diffuse them. We MUST FEEL. Avoiding conflict/tension/scary emotions is only going to lead to dis-ease. Enough said, right?
I learned all of this in theory back in 2017, and it made sense, but the true integration… moving from mental to physical… has been, well, layered and slow. I can look back now and see how I started with the more exterior levels of my life, then transitioned into the interior, tender and more vulnerable parts of my life in 2023. The last two years have been the most intense I’ve ever known, as I began to dip my toe into the pool of facing and holding tension around those I most dearly loved. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been utterly brutal. Simultaneously, it almost felt unstoppable. To stop the natural progression felt like full self-rejection and denial. A snowball effect since the 2017 return to myself.
Now, I see that conflict is not wrong or even bad. In fact, I would say it’s necessary to find true peace in relationships and in life. Without facing the hard and seeing the other side, we get stuck in tension or blocked in a muted state of repression that leads to lack of growth and loss of love.
Since embracing this reality, I’ve started to pause. When I feel that achey grip grow in my chest and rise up to constrict my throat and tighten my jaw… instead of panicking and trying to fix or avoid or diffuse, I hold. I feel it. I breathe. I walk. I swing. I lay on the floor. I cry. I monologue. Whatever I need to do to stay in that energy until I can carry on without shutting it down. Living alongside a living tension is so so raw, you guys. I’m sure you felt that in some way last week, personally or on a global scale. But, listen up, this ability - to live alongside living tension - is what it takes to be able to face and move through conflict with conscious intention so that you don’t lose yourself like I did. So basically, I’ve been retraining my body, mind, and spirit in the art of tension holding, so that I can step into conflict when it’s needed and hold myself steady all the way to the finish line of true peace. It’s been a journey.
True peace comes on the other side of conflict, most of the time. Conflict isn’t always dramatic or painful, but most disagreements, regardless of their intensity level, need to be acknowledged, honored, discussed, and reconciled in a way that respects all parties. Diplomacy at its best. Most of us fall somewhere on the spectrum between unhealthy compromise (people-pleasing to be relieved of tension quicker) and fight-till-death energy (unyielding in order to feel seen and feel alive). How we react could vary depending on the person, topic or value involved. Whatever your default approach to conflict in pursuit of peace is at this present moment, you are being invited to consider how you wish to navigate conflict in the future. It could be tempting to apply this energy towards current world events and what you see in others, but I want to encourage you to bring this home to your heart, in relation to the people you live next to or that live inside your mind on the daily.
Like me, did you jump to the opposite end of the spectrum to feel safe or seen or heard? Take some time this week to soak in this energy and reflect on your defaults and whether you want to continue in this same way. Certain relationships or thoughts or dreams may show up to give you a chance to walk this out.
Here’s a Little Self-Reflection Prompt:
What was your original family’s approach to conflict like? How have you continued or changed your approach in response?
Where are you avoiding to stay safe or exaggerating to be seen?
Where are you muting yourself? Where are you unyielding?
Where are you acting out of deeper hurts?
Is this who you want to be going forward?
What does true peace look like in your relationships? In your body?
What do you need to learn, accept or change to start growing your ability to face conflict for the result of true peace?
Give yourself a hug. No, seriously, do it. Tuck your head and wrap your arms around yourself. You need it this week. This is one way we can walk through tension with self-care and courage. Love to you.
Moon Schedule
September 15th - Moon Moves Into Cancer
Ooooo we are TENDER. Cancer rules the parts of the body that can hold emotion. That tension? Yeah cancer organs are feeeeeling it. Your stomach, your rib cage, your lungs, breasts…basically your whole chest. Nurture your self with light and easy-to-digest foods, lots of warm liquids, like your favorite comfort tea.
September 17th - Moon Moves Into Leo
Hello sunshine. Leo loves and lives by the heart. Support cardiovascular strength with b vitamin rich foods and healthy movement to activate circulation. Papaya is lovely this time of years as a proteolytic enzyme when eaten on an empty stomach. Proteolytic enzymes can keep blood flowing cleanly in the body. Every morning on a Leo Moon day, wake up and place your hand over your heart and say out loud: “I love you, (name)”. Do it. It’s powerful for your subconscious and your heart health.
September 19th - Moon Moves Into Virgo
Virgo gets us INTO the body for comfort and discomfort. Whatever comes forward over these days is giving you very clear insight into the state of your health. Respect what’s being asked for and make shifts or deepen your approach, if you feel amazing!
September 21st - New Moon & Solar Eclipse in Virgo
This is a notable moment. A bookend to the energy started with the full moon in Pisces on Sept 7th. Pisces and Virgo are the north and south node energies of 2025 (also my natural nodes, so a very big year for me!), so it reflects the energy of the whole year, summarized into 2 weeks. What you felt the last 14 days reflects all of 2025 - what you’ve been through and what you’ve yet to move through in the remaining months of this year. It’s also a new start, as is every new moon. A time to refresh, reset, and begin again. Eat lightly. Let your body do its thing. If you naturally find you need less or more sleep, honor that. Don’t fight it or feel guilty about it. Virgo IS the energy of the body, so all you need to do is respect it’s wishes, whatever they may be. Stay in tune with your body and its whispers 5 days before and after September 21st (or you know… for always ;).
Your astrological map is a powerful tool to understand sources of chronic symptoms, health blocks, your body’s vulnerabilities and strengths, and the best preventative measures to stay strong, youthful, vibrant, and dis-ease free. I can introduce you to your map in my single session or use your astrology to dive very deep as a part of your Concierge Reset. Come see me!