Nurturing Downtime
heal, flow with your inner Hermit, your fourth house
As the new year begins, the energy feels potent—offering both challenges and opportunities for healing and reflection.
For instance, on MLK Jr. Day, I felt so drained I thought I might be coming down with something—but it was the low-vibe collective energy of inauguration day.
Days like these remind me how essential it is to stay on top of our emotional and energetic well-being. Clearing emotions, managing energy, and engaging in healing practices prepare us to navigate life’s challenges with resilience.
After all, when we feel connected and clear we are able to respond so much better to what is needed in any given moment -be that practicing positive self-talk, avoiding energy-draining conversations, staying intentionally focused on what matters most, or simply trusting low-vibe days will pass.
A Healing Technique
Lately, the disruptive and uncertain energy of the world has surfaced in my nighttime dreams, reflecting the many things I cannot control.
When I have one too many bad dreams, sometimes they do carry messages. For instance, when I took apart one recent dream, I realized I was rehearsing, and in great detail (!), how I’d actually respond to a tsunami. It was helpful.
In other dreams, that I can directly connect to past energies and experiences, it becomes clear that my former selves need my healing love and attention.
One favorite healing tool of mine is a form of EFT called Matrix Re-imprinting. Matrix Re-imprinting (a form of EFT similar to shamanic journeying) involves connecting with a past version of yourself, to offer the support or reassurance they couldn’t receive at the time.
This practice allows you to release trauma patterns, lighten your energy field, and reclaim parts of yourself still tied to old wounds. It’s an incredibly empowering technique, and you typically feel results instantly.
For example, you might revisit a memory of feeling alone and powerless. By offering your younger self reassurance and compassion, you can release old pain and reclaim your energy. Or, you feel disappointed by a partner but can’t grasp the ‘why’. Connecting with a past self, you ‘see’ this is the way your parent felt in their partnership, and that it’s their path, not yours.
Your unhealed trauma and wounding affects your current day perceptions, beliefs, energies (just look at our new leaders for examples of this).
I know I cannot control either the environmental or political climate, but I can choose to be centered in myself. This is my constant touchstone.
Reflection exercise: If you find yourself carrying old pain or unresolved feelings, consider connecting with your past self. Ask them: What do you need? How can I help you heal? Even small moments of acknowledgment can shift the energy and bring clarity to the present.
One Healing Story
For years, I was in chronic pain. I felt powerless and abandoned by Spirit/Source. I also didn’t understand ‘why’ this was happening to me. Unable to participate in life in ‘normal’ ways, it was easy for me to feel shame, too (like something was wrong with or broken inside).
This prolonged trauma stayed with me, so that even in my radically different reality today, my subconscious continues to process it.
Recently, while working with a tense knot of physical pain, I connected with a younger version of myself who deeply understood that her healing would take time. This felt disheartening to her, and when I recognized this: I could see that I had been feeling disempowered about things ‘taking too long’ in a present-day scenario. By connecting ‘her’ with the Divine Timing behind her journey, I felt a profound sense of peace and empowerment, for both of us. And: I no longer felt any distress around current day timing frustrations!
This reminded me that our progress often unfolds in ways we can’t fully see.
*What if the delays in your life are part of a deeper plan for your growth?*
Even after doing this Matrix process for well over a decade now, I still find it fascinating and magical that I can actually heal through “time travel”! Anyone can, really. All it takes is a Soul who deeply wants to feel better.
(if you want to learn more about this technique, here are links to two of my favorite people, former personal teachers of mine: Matrix and Matrix.)
Flowing With Hermit Timing
Each January, as faster-moving planets like Sun and Mercury move through my fourth house, I feel a natural pull to embrace my inner hermit.
As an astrologer, I see the natural cycles within us—seasons of flourishing and fallow. Life brings underworld periods—times of silence, stillness, or lack of inspiration. These quieter periods invite us to dig deep, confront shadows, and prepare for the inspiration and activity that inevitably follows.
As I’ve learned to flow with this cyclical timing, and treat myself with kindness when ‘nothing’s happening’, I also know quieter periods have a dark invitation: to dig around in the metaphorical dirt, examine any lingering shadows, and ask new questions. When I create space for this, eventually inspiration and energy return, because I entered into this hermit process.
To get back in sync with your inner hermit you might try:
reclaiming your home as peaceful sanctuary
dialoguing with troubling resurfacing memories
engaging healing techniques
exploring the messages of your nighttime dreams
honoring your desire to be more inward, and sleep more than normal
taking a solo retreat in Nature
The Fourth House Pull Inward
In astrology, the fourth house invites us into a sacred space for healing, reflection, and reconnection with our true selves. Here, healing inner journeys energize, and being in darkness and solitude is a natural integrative process required for coming back to ourselves even brighter than before.
The fourth house restores you through remembering; here you can access treasure buried in all those former self-parts that need your attention (and who often don’t get it, as you are quite busy in the ‘world’!).
While my own healing processes arrive intuitively (versus looking at astrology), I often notice the themes of my fourth house appearing.
The fourth house represents our innermost self, where we heal and nurture our foundational needs, each archetype offering a specific pathway to healing and growth. If this resonates, my book is an excellent resource for astrological beginners and experienced alike. But here’s a quick summary of the need for a quality of love and healing represented by your fourth house.
Fourth House Archetypes and Healing Needs
Aries/Mars: Needs to feel safe, assertive, and honored for who they are.
Healing focus: Address fears around expressing anger or being truthful, as conditioned responses may lead to over- or under-expression.
Taurus/Venus: Needs to feel valued, cherished, and worthy of love.
Healing focus: Heal wounds around trust and illusions of perfect relationships versus authentic connection.
Gemini/Mercury: Needs intellectual stimulation and freedom to express ideas.
Healing focus: Release perfectionism or fears of judgment tied to sharing your voice or opinions.
Cancer/Moon: Needs emotional safety to share feelings and heal through connection.
Healing focus: Address fears of being “too sensitive” or vulnerable, which may limit emotional expression.
Leo/Sun: Needs space to shine, play, and express creativity freely.
Healing focus: Heal wounds tied to feeling overshadowed or invalidated by others’ dominance.
Virgo/Mercury: Needs order, understanding, and space to improve and grow.
Healing focus: Release self-critical tendencies or feelings of inadequacy from others’ impossible standards.
Libra/Venus: Needs balance, harmony, and equality in relationships.
Healing focus: Address feelings of unworthiness or fears of rejection in partnerships.
Scorpio/Pluto: Needs to face deep truths and embrace transformation.
Healing focus: Heal fears tied to death, darkness, and taboo subjects, and reclaim personal power.
Sagittarius/Jupiter: Needs freedom to explore, grow, and make mistakes.
Healing focus: Address fears of judgment for taking risks or following unconventional paths.
Capricorn/Saturn: Needs stability, structure, and a clear sense of purpose.
Healing focus: Release feelings of limitation or burden tied to duty or lack of support.
Aquarius/Uranus: Needs the freedom to follow their true, unique path.
Healing focus: Heal fears of rejection or self-betrayal tied to fitting in at the expense of authenticity.
Pisces/Neptune: Needs spiritual connection and quiet time to dream and reflect.
Healing focus: Address wounds tied to escapism or chaos, and embrace self-acceptance and wholeness.
Healing isn’t linear—it’s a journey of honoring quiet seasons and trusting that transformation is always unfolding. By embracing these cycles, we reclaim parts of ourselves, deepen our self-awareness, and emerge renewed.
*What aspects of your own inner world are calling for attention right now?*
Whether through reflection, astrology, or techniques like Matrix Re-imprinting, your willingness to engage these self-parts can lead to greater resilience, liberated energy and transformation. Happy New Year!!!
A few things I’m enjoying reading, lately:
Tara Mohr’s In These Times
Neko Case’s The Harder I Fight The More I Love You: A Memoir
Your Human Design: Discover Your Unique Life Path and How to Navigate It with Purpose by Shayna Cornelius and Dana Stiles
I liked very much your book.
Your words in this piece hit home from start to finish. ❤️