The Solar Eclipse in Leo, Taking Up Space and Finding the Courage to Be Seen
This recent solar eclipse in Leo got me thinking a lot about courage, taking up space, leadership and having the courage to follow your purpose and allow yourself to be seen.
On the day of the eclipse, I actually got locked out of my house after leaving my key inside, and with my phone dying on me I suddenly panicked.
It made me think about how important it is to have people around us that we can actually lean on, particularly as women, and how much we need emotionally supportive communities where we can reach out when things feel difficult.
Then, two days later, I decided to do something I have wanted to do for a long time, which is to create an IFS therapy group for women in Newcastle where women can come together, support each other and experience the kind of emotional attunement and connection that I think so many of us are missing.
It felt very connected to the energy of Leo for me.
Meaning Of The Solar Eclipse
Leo is about courage, leadership, confidence, creativity and being willing to take up space. It is about having the courage to follow your purpose and to allow yourself to be seen, even when other people might not understand you or might feel uncomfortable with the space you are taking up.
I think this is something women can struggle with so much.
We are often taught to make ourselves smaller, to not be too confident, to not be too successful, to not be too loud, to not have too many boundaries and to not make other people uncomfortable.
And sometimes when you start standing in your power, you realise that other people’s jealousy, insecurity or discomfort can become something that you start carrying as if it is your responsibility.
But it isn’t.
You don’t have to feel guilty because someone else is uncomfortable with your success. You don’t have to make yourself smaller because someone else is insecure. You don’t have to apologise for having boundaries.
And you don’t have to continue giving men access to you simply because you feel guilty about saying no, particularly when someone isn’t offering you the emotional safety, respect, consistency or reciprocity that you need.
There is something incredibly courageous about being able to say, actually, this doesn’t work for me anymore, and trusting yourself enough to walk away.
I think we need more women who are willing to do this, and we also need more women who are willing to support each other when we do.
Because too often women compete with each other, and we can say that we support women until another woman starts doing better than us, becomes more confident, becomes more visible or starts taking up space in a way that makes us uncomfortable.
I don’t think this does anything to help women.
It keeps us divided, and I think that division can perpetuate some of the very systems that have historically kept women smaller and more disconnected from each other.
When women are excluded it can leave us feeling isolated and alone, and when we don’t have a strong social network around us, we can become more vulnerable to unhealthy relationships because we don’t have other people to lean on, talk things through with or help us see what is happening from the outside.
This is why I think we need a revolution in how women support women. We need to strengthen our communities so women have other women to lean on, and so that we have relationships where there is emotional attunement, encouragement, connection and genuine support.
I think our society is missing socially safe spaces for women to listen to each other and hold space for each other, where women can share their burdens and not feel that they have to be the strong one all the time.
The Cost Of Being An Empathic Woman
Because being an empathic woman can actually be difficult.
When you are someone who naturally gives a lot of empathy, listens to other people, notices their emotions, encourages them and holds space for them, it can feel incredibly lonely when you need that same empathy and attunement and don’t receive it back.
You can become so used to being the person who understands everyone else that you don’t always realise how much you need somewhere to be understood too.
And this is why I feel so strongly that women need spaces where they can come together and experience this kind of support from each other.
I think there is something incredibly healing about women being able to sit together, listen to each other, encourage each other and experience the feeling of being held in community rather than having to carry everything alone.
Leaning on Courage
As a Leo myself, I feel like I am leaning into this channel of strength and courage and allowing it to encourage me to step into a new timeline where I create the kind of community I want to see.
A community where women can feel safe.
A community where women can go to an event without worrying about harassment.
A community where women can lean on each other.
A community where we can celebrate each other’s success rather than feeling threatened by it.
And a community where we can begin to heal the sisterhood wound.
IFS Therapy Group In Newcastle, UK
This is why, two days after finding myself locked out of my house and feeling the vulnerability of not having someone nearby to lean on, I decided to create something I had wanted to create for a long time: an IFS therapy group for women in Newcastle.
If you are struggling to detach from a relationship and want support from supportive women who can listen and hold space, this group is for you.
In the first week, we will be exploring the parts of us that struggle to let go of relationships and detach.
The part that holds onto hope and potential.
The analytical part that keeps analysing everything.
The part that is scared to be alone.
The part that wants to let go.
Rather than judging these parts or trying to get rid of them, we can meet them with curiosity, openness and compassion and begin to understand what they are trying to do for us.
Together, we will meet these parts through meditation and create space for Self energy, while also experiencing what it feels like to have other women listen to and hold compassionate space for the different parts of us.
I have been working with the IFS model for five years and I am fully trained in IFS therapy, and I am passionate about helping people get to the root of the issue, cultivate self-worth and develop greater relational discernment.
I have already had 29 women show interest in the group, and I am really looking forward to welcoming the women who feel called to be part of it.
Where women can come together and feel supported, listened to and understood.
Where we can learn from each other and remind each other of our own strength.
Where we can receive the empathy and attunement that we so often give to everyone else.
And where we can begin to create the kind of sisterhood that so many of us have needed.
If you would like more information about the IFS therapy group for women in Newcastle, fill in the form below and I will get back to you with the information.
If you don’t hear back from the form, please send me a WhatsApp message (on the bottom right corner of the screen) with the words “sisterhood space” with your name, number and email address so I can send more information about signing up and invite you into the Whatsapp group.
Vicky