Dancing with Retrogrades

Ever wonder why you feel like you're taking two steps forward and one step back? In this episode, Lauren dives into the cosmic rhythm of retrogrades and reveals how these regular scheduled resets can actually supercharge your growth and business success when you know how to dance with them.

In this episode...

🪄 The truth about what's actually happening in the sky during retrograde periods

💫 Why retrogrades are like your computer's operating system updates (and how to use them!)

✨ How to leverage Mercury retrograde for better communication and tech systems

💜 Venus retrograde's impact on your offers, pricing, and client relationships

🔥 Mars retrograde and rebooting your motivation and energy boundaries

🚀 How to ride the waves of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto retrogrades

🧩 The exact rhythmic schedule of these cosmic resets so you can plan accordingly

💎 Why retrograde periods are actually the perfect time to reassess your business

This episode is perfect for entrepreneurs who want to stop fighting against cosmic rhythms and start using them strategically for more aligned growth. Learn how to create spaciousness during retrograde periods, leverage the unique insights they provide, and prepare for the burst of clarity and momentum that follows when planets go direct.

🎙️ Brought to you by Lauren Poppins Raye

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Transcript

0:58

This episode is about the elephant that has been in the room that is now leaving. I've been talking the last month and a half or so about how ever since Pisces season started, I've just been like really low energy, demotivated, disconnected from my sense of purpose, not connected to my creative flow. There's been, external circumstances that have contributed to this, but it's just generally been a season for a minute now of being super powered down. And I can say, oh, this happens every Pisces season, y'all. It doesn't, this was Pisces season meets Mercury retrograde and Venus retrograde at the same time. And I'm now feeling the contrast of coming out of this. As for the recording of this, mercury is now direct, went direct on the seventh and then we're right around the corner from Venus being direct if you're listening to this. They are both direct, but I'm in the final week of things starting to shift on the Mercury side of it. And nearing the tail end of Venus. So I thought this would be a perfect week to talk about retrogrades in general. So this is the retrograde episode. I'm gonna talk about what this cosmic regular scheduled reset is, the retrograde motion, the direct motion, what it is inviting you to do as a regular practice for your hygiene, essentially in certain areas and then I'm also gonna go into the major players and what they specifically mean. So consider this your guide to all things retrograde. We're gonna understand what's actually going on in the sky, what impact that has on us, and how you can leverage this understanding to have an even stronger growth game. Okay, so we're talking rhythms here. These are very predictable rhythms that happen between retrograde and direct motion for every planet in the sky, but certain ones specifically that have a huge impact on our orientation to our inner and outer worlds. Our effectiveness externally and revisiting certain areas within us that then affect how we're able to show up. My favorite metaphor to understand what's going on here is that we are essentially like computers and just like with a computer or your phone, if you never cleaned out your hard drive or say your photo roll or your files your organization systems of the hard drive storage. If you never did this, things would get super bogged down, cleaning out your inbox. Another example, right? If you never updated your operating system, which we all know people like this, maybe you're someone like this. I'm not someone like this. My tech game is as strong as my growth game and I get really excited for new features. And actually this is part of the positioning that I hope to inspire and impart on you in this episode that you engage the retrogrades and the areas that you're being inspired regularly rhythmically to reassess, update, and restart essentially, so that you get the new features so that things stay up to date and run smoother. Like I want you to get excited about this for these areas of your life that get up. That our presenced during retrograde, the way that I get excited when we get a new iOS and I'm like, is there new emojis? I, hope there's new emojis. What's going on? I go and check out the feature list. I'm like, oh, and I get pumped up, right? This is the case too, by the way, for ClickFunnels, the all in one automation system that I am absolutely obsessed with. Every Friday they come out with an update in their change log and y'all, I am biting at the chomp to find out what new features we get to play with and what the updates are, right? This is the opportunity that you have in your life during retro grades that if you choose to take advantage of them and align with the opportunities that they present to you, you then get to experience during the direct motion of like, all right, what new stuff do we have to play with now? So keeping with this metaphor, our minds, our hearts, our spirit, our memories, all of these different layers and levels of us are constantly processing new information, new experiences. But our operating system is based on a past version of us, right? At some point, whatever the last update was. And so what happens is we have these regular opportunities to reassess, like to get current to presence ourself based on the new information that we have, the new experiences that we've had, what has changed and how do we need to change our belief systems, our habits, our intentions, and our awareness accordingly, so that we can show up more up to date based on that new information. And this is also the magic or the burden, depending on how you look at it, of entrepreneurship. If you are going to continue to stay fulfilled, inspired, effective, and successful in your business, you have to keep innovating, reassessing, evolving, adapting, right? And this is the cosmic reflection of how we stay current, to ride those waves, to align with that rhythmic flow so that we are consistently going back and forth between, okay, time to update and restart time to implement and blaze forward retrograde direct. And so as the last month and a half was a case in point for so many of us, often the way that we are externally motivated to take that internal process time, that retrogrades inspire us to lean into is that things happen that make us like halt or pause or power down so that we can take the time and space and offer the attention that our inner world needs to be able to do that reboot. And back to the metaphor with our computers, no, it's not awesome or convenient in terms of our progress to have to take the time to update our apps, update our operating system, clear out our hard drive, go back and purge and reorganize and restart our computer. Like oftentimes it seems to happen at the most inconvenient time. Mercury retrograde, right? When it's not working, sorry, let me go restart everything. Let me go do the thing. And then of course you come back and magically everything's working again, right? So it's a double-edged thing, like it is not, it does not seem convenient in the moment, but it has long-term benefits of making things work better, having newer, better features to work with to enhance your workflow, whatever the case may be. So in this way, retrograde are like a restart or like the cosmic control, alt delete. The one that we've probably heard of a phrase wise more often or the command option, escape. If you are an apple lover like me and Mac user, whatever you call it, it's the time to power down and restart with new upgrades and updates so that things can be more efficient, less sluggish, more up to date. So we've all gone through this process with our phones is the most often one because it actually prompts us to just like the cosmic retrograde also sometimes do through various happenings but basically the way the cycle goes is that during the retrograde, we have the updates downloading in the background, right? So a lot of our bandwidth needs to go toward that. So the actual applications, the workflows that we're used to running don't run quite as well during this time because there's so much processing power happening internally in the background with downloading the new updates. Then we have a shadow period that bridges the retrogrades and direct motion periods where those updates are being installed and we're preparing to restart. So retrograde the download of the update shadow period, the update install. Then we have that reset that turns us into forward direct motion, and then we move into the direct phase where you're able to enjoy the increased efficiency, speed, and any new features that you get to take advantage of. And the reason that this metaphor works so well for this is because in both cases, not a metaphor, we are actually talking about programming, right? We're talking about the metaphor of your computer programming alongside the phenomenon of our mental, unconscious belief system programming. That is our neural wiring. And we are given an opportunity to go inside to reassess based on the experience of the projection of whatever that previous operating system is, to go in and tinker and tweak and get back to the drawing board and reconfigure how we wanna show up during the next direct cycle. And when it comes to our businesses, this is an opportunity and time each retrograde to reveal to you where your business operating system, is running on outdated beliefs. So it's an opportunity to spot energy drains, limiting patterns, again, outdated beliefs, things that are not contributing to your optimal path forward. And oftentimes during the retrograde period. Like you can't even see yet what it's for, like what the new thing is gonna be, right? What the new direction is, what the tweak is gonna be. A lot of times it's just like being in the trenches of the frustration and the misalignment with what's no longer working. So it's allowing yourself to look at and become aware of what's not working so that you can pinpoint and locate and presence and open the places that are that need the tinkering. Like basically it's your way of meeting with consent, this process whereby you are connecting to those different pieces and parts that are no longer working, noticing they're not working. And so intrinsically deciding like, okay. These places need reworking so that you are open and available moving forward into the direct phase to allow change to happen. So basically, this is like the rhythmic update system in your life and business for change to actually take place. This is what keeps us from stagnating. So we embrace the temporary inconvenience of the retrograde downtime that ultimately lead to long-term performance upgrades and improvements. Who wouldn't want that? Right? We love retro grades. Okay. Let's talk about what's actually happening though in the sky, why these planets appear to go backwards. The way that it was explained to me once that always really stuck with me is it's like when you're sitting in a car, stopped at a light, and you have somebody next to you in another car and the driver of your car starts drifting forwards, right? They let their foot off the brake a little bit, they're going forward, and for a split second in the corner of your eye, it looks like the car next to you is going backwards, right? It's a relative motion compared to your movement, you're going forwards. It looks like it's going backwards. So it has to do with the direction that we're going on earth and the speed that we're going relative to these other planets. So for example, mercury, Venus, and Mars, which go faster than the earth does, right? They go around the sun faster than we do. So there are times, as they're moving around the sun closer than we are, it's almost like they're going forwards backwards, forwards backwards because from our vantage point, they're going behind the sun and then in front of the sun, right? It looks like a back and forth relative to us and our motion. If this doesn't make sense, go look up a visual on YouTube. You can see it really clearly why this phenomenon takes place. And the thing with astrology is that the impact that this as above so below system, the way that it has impact on us is that there's symbolism there, right? And it all comes down to that we are the center of our experience and our vantage point. So when a planet appears to go backwards, when it seems to go backwards relative to us, it has this phenomenon and impact known as retrograde. So it's basically an optical illusion that takes place from our earth perspective. And of course we've all experienced the inconvenience that can come with this, particularly during

Lauren Poppins: 14:57

retrograde,

14:58

is the one that we notice and hear of most often and that people comically blame everything on it does happen often three to four times a year for about three weeks each time. So we there it is often that we are in Mercury retrograde. Again, there are these other retrogrades that are just as powerful that I'm going to speak to as well. But in general, it's a time when things just don't run as efficiently, as usual, right? For good reason. Again, it's like we don't wanna be energetic juggernauts where we just continue in one direction forever. We need to take that time to back up, go inside, reassess and reconsider, is this the direction that we really wanna go and tweak and steer accordingly when we come back to the next forward motion. So it's two steps forward, one step back, right? We make some progress, but then we take a step back to reassess so that the next two steps we take forward are in a more aligned direction. So how does this show up? Practically speaking, if things aren't working as efficiently as possible, there might be delays. There might be things just not working, frustrations, right? This is how it shows up in real time. But when you are aware of why this is taking place and you're aware of this rhythmic schedule so that you know when it's taking place, it's a lot easier in the moment to get less frustrated, to have more curiosity, and to create more space around whatever this thing is that is happening so that you know that it's ultimately supporting better alignment, better progress, it's ultimately for the better. But in that moment, it doesn't feel like it, but you have the greater vision of knowing and trusting that it's ultimately for your benefit. The other thing that happens during retrograde is things from your past, people, from your past, old patterns old clients, old reactions old ideas, right? Things resurface and resurrect from the past. And this makes sense, right? Because if we're in a time of reconsidering the information and experiences that we've processed between upgrades, what better way to presence those and integrate them as part of this operating system update then for thi like external things to actually resurface, right? So if an old client comes back up, You might go through a process of remembering and almost like time traveling through your memory of what was up for you Then what version of yourself were you then, and what are you now? There's like this natural, awareness of contrasting timelines that reveals itself when things resurrect from our past. You have that feeling of like, oh, I remember what wasn't working then, and what's working better now, and you are able to see this growth trajectory that you're on so that you can orient yourself. Oh, that's where I was then relative to this thing that I'm working on. This is where I am now and this is actually where I want to aim forward into the future. So knowing this in general, when we're retrograde heavy, and especially at times like the last couple months where there's been, multiple retrograde stacking on top of each other, you can be proactive by scheduling more spaciousness in your schedule, right? A little bit more time before or after. If you're manually scheduling things or literally going into your scheduling app, there's an option when people schedule events where you can choose how much time, how much cushion to incorporate into your calendar before and after. Go and turn those up during retrogrades, especially during Mercury, Venus and Mars Retrogrades, which I'll get into more specifically here soon. Basically schedule a little less client facing and external responsibilities, commitments so that you are freeing up more spaciousness and more time to be able to do more behind the scenes work. Obviously, to create more wiggle room for snafus, but also to intentionally allocate time to tweak things behind the scenes. If you know that you're gonna be running into issues with things not working as well, you also know that you're gonna need a little bit of extra time to resolve things, but also to tweak and improve things based on what you learn, right? Like oftentimes, especially with Mercury retrograde, when we have like a tech issue or tech glitch, yeah, it's annoying in the moment that it's not working well and we might need to step away or restart things to get it to work better but oftentimes as well, there's a nugget in there. There's something where you're like, oh, through this experience of making it through whatever this glitch is, this obstacle that got in my way. I also realized a way that I could be doing this better and more efficiently. So let me actually go tweak my SOPs, tweak my systems so that things are running better based on the information, the kind of silver lining that I got out of whatever the inconvenience was. So basically assume that you are gonna be much more aware than usual of what's not working, what's broken, the cracks that start to show and plan to leverage that to refine things rather than planning to launch too many new things when during retrograde that outward moving efficiency and success is gonna be in lower reserves. Is gonna be turned down. Not the focus, not the way of alignment but because you know that these cycles happen regularly on a schedule that when you're in those places, you are right around the corner from the direct forward motion again, when it often literally feels like someone's been like holding you back. You've had your hands tied behind your back, and suddenly there's like this release and you like almost thrust forward and fall and lean into your forward motion because there's just so much potential energy there that's been released and able to move forward. Almost like a slingshot, right? if you are into the below the surface awareness of your growth game, a time that's super fun and exciting because now you're able to integrate and see clearly how to integrate the lessons that you learn during the retrograde. So again, maybe with little tech stuff, it's like in the moment you're like, Ooh, yeah, actually that would work better. Let me go tweak that. But once you get to the direct motion, there's like bigger themes of what work you were doing internally during the retrograde. That kind of indirectly, less obviously during the retrograde, but then the direct, it's like all of a sudden you get these epiphanies, these ahas, these inspirations based on that internal work that you've done. So there's a clear path forward that feels really exciting from a growth perspective of integrating those lessons, integrating what shifted for you, those downloads, those updates into something that really works better moving forward. These become more obvious. They light up for us and we're able to engage and embrace them. And again, it almost feels like new features, right? Also, sometimes there's things that you just had to fully step away from during the retrograde because they wouldn't actually work again till the direct. So maybe a communication clash has been happening during the retrograde. Often with Mercury, all of a sudden Mercury goes direct. You're able to communicate with that person and make forward momentum in that conversation. Maybe a project that you were just running into problem after problem before you put it away, set it down, you come back to it after we transition back into direct motion and things just magically start working and not working, but working better than they were working before. So if you're paying attention, you train yourself to expect and anticipate a huge burst of inspiration, clarity, productivity, and you plan things accordingly. Now let's go into each of these retrogrades and their unique style or flavor. First, of course, we have the most pop culture popularized Mercury retrograde. This one is mostly in the arena of communication and tech tools so the good news is you know that the snafus that are happening are ultimately in support of you being a better communicator and having more efficient tech workflows, maybe better tech tools that you didn't even know that will enhance your workflow. So better communication, better systems. This is ultimately what the Mercury Retrograde Update Cycle supports you with,

Lauren Poppins: 24:08

so

24:08

this is helpful to know so that you can have a little bit more patience in your communication and conversations so that you can have a little bit more patience with things not working well with your tech tools. And honestly, if you're aware of this going into it, it is so much easier not just to be more patient at these things, but to actually laugh at them. Like you find yourself thinking, dude, you can't make this stuff up. Like, you know, thing after thing after thing. I'll give the example that during this Mercury retrograde, my website went down, right? That was a biggie, but it was part of this series of just like all these little things not working and I was just in a go, go, go mode. And I finally took the time, was forced to take the time right, to get my website back up and running again to identify where I had been neglecting it, which had to do with the DNS records, the hosting. I did a transition, but I didn't do it properly basically. Anyways, I'm not gonna get into the weeds and the details'cause that's a boring thing to recount. But basically there was a place that I had been neglecting that I not only had to slow down, go into and reassess and redo properly, such that now it's running better than ever. I should have taken this time a while ago. Of course I didn't and Mercury retrograde made me, but the other thing that happened is part of me solving this problem, y'all, I was frantic and I tried to fix it myself. I always get a little bit scared when it comes to DNS stuff. Those backend business, those backend website wirings. I'm able to make changes when I'm following clear instructions, but I don't know a hundred percent know what's going on. So when things just break I don't feel very confident to fix it myself. This was one of those times, so I reached out to somebody that is newly in my world, an absolute tech genius that I respect so much and am so inspired by constantly. There's so many little ways that he has impacted my relationship with technology for the better because of his patience when it comes to bugs and glitches and things not working to him. That's just par for the course. Like just someone in my life that when it comes to the ways that Mercury retrograde is trying to mature us around having more patience around these things so that we can be more available to facilitate this upgrade cycle instead of just getting frustrated and shutting down. This is my ultimate teacher right now around that this person and I came to him. He is part of a different part of my world in reality. He has never helped me in my business before, but he was the first person that came to mind and I ended up having such an incredible experience with him helping me move through that problem. I find this too, when it comes to any tech support during Mercury retrograde, we have an issue that comes up. We reach out to somebody and they end up providing essentially like a healing session, right? At times like that, when I, like I was wigging out and he was able to calm me down, help me to realign with that Mercury retrograde invitation to slow down, create more space, get curious. Of course we're gonna fix this, breathe. And whether it was the more intimate exchange that I had with him, someone closer in my orbit, or literally getting on the phone with tech support and having someone walk you through something, it ends up being a positive experience. Usually. I love my tech support people with my platforms. It's the reason I choose the platforms that I do, and in some ways I consider them my colleagues as somebody, as a solopreneur that works from home anyway. Besides that, often I find I end up learning something new and I have this moment where I'm like, oh, thank goodness I had to reach out to you about this problem because you just showed me how to do something, how to make something more efficient in this other area that I didn't even know was possible. This happens all the time. So also just wanna encourage you during Mercury retrograde, if you are not somebody that reaches out to tech support, when you have a problem, Mercury retrograde is the best time to, again, plan for a little bit more spaciousness in your schedule to be able to do this when problems come up, because I guarantee you, there is some serendipitous gem that you are gonna get from that conversation that is gonna make you feel like, thank goodness this other thing went to shit because it illuminated something in this other area that I can't believe I didn't know before. Okay. I'm sure you can hear it in my voice. I am not just regurgitating the antidote to pop astrology that has probably got most of you afraid of Mercury retrograde. I genuinely love this time, and it's not to say that I don't have my share of like hair pulling frustrations, like I wanna throw my computer out the window. I am not a perfect human. I am human, but it really is such an opportunity if you embrace it as such. Also you've heard not to sign contracts during this time. Reason being, it's just easier to miss things. You're, you just have more clarity and faculty around the nuances of communication, which obviously a contract is like this solidified communication, that has a lot more weight and bearing. If possible, let it rest, let it pause, let it coast until you move into direct motion, take another look and then go ahead and sign. You might catch things you would've missed otherwise, that might end up being really important. Okay switching gears into venus Retrograde, the one that we just finished alongside the Mercury retrograde, venus Retrogrades happen every year and a half for about six weeks, so don't happen as often, but is twice as long of a retrograde than Mercury when it does this one is about your values and your relations relationships, both with people and with money. Weaving these things together, oftentimes it in our businesses comes up around reassessing our offers. So this can be reassessing who we're supporting or meant to support with our offers, our ideal audience or ideal clients. This can be the price points, like the actual value that you are slapping on a sticker of and reassessing. Is it too high? Is it too low? Does it feel right? In terms of that? It can also be reassessing the actual offer structure, right? This has been a just huge turnaround for me. As Venus is in currently in this recording, the final leg of this retrograde. During the retrograde, I was just having a lot of thoughts and feelings come up around all of that, like the current offers that I have available and it just not feeling quite right, questioning the price point, reevaluating like who has been coming to me and needing the support and how am I providing the value that they need? And there was just like a misalignment there. I could feel it. And I am not gonna tell you exactly the reveal of what this incredible turnaround has been. But basically, and by the way, I am a mutable, polyamorist money mode. And one of the things that this turnaround has been revealing for me is that part of the way we operate as polyamorist money modes is that often we have to go through a process of creating multiple offerings that feel and seem very separate to us before the time comes eventually, to be able to weave them all together into a more signature offering. So spoiler alert, that is what's happening for me right now, and it's more than just weaving together my current offerings into the most stellar signature offer that I will tell you about soon, but it goes further back than that. Like these are cycles within cycles within cycles, and they feed on each other. There's momentum that happens. There's like a building and a layering, y'all. I am having pieces come through right now that take me back to when I first started being a professional astrologer a couple decades ago. The things that used to feel really inspiring to me, the angle of my very first blog that was called Cosmic Wobble that version of me, that timeline of inspiration and creativity is coming full circle and so many in between. Anyways, I'm just bursting right now. I just spent a weekend just on one after again, like a month and a half of just being absolutely demotivated. And now thanks to, taking that time, like being willing to power down, to stop trying to forge forth with my current. Anything in my business. Like I even took a week off from creating content and I allowed this reset and this reboot to take place, and now I am experiencing the reward of having been willing to do that, which is a whole new branding of something. Oh my goodness, y'all, the graphics, Venus is also about the aesthetic, right? Whole new vision for that coming through. Whole new vision for the value that I'm able to provide my clients and the people that need me, getting even more clear about who they are and what they need. My relationship with that, and also reconsidering how am I gonna be packaging this price wise, all of it. Like, yes, I'm an astrologer. No, I don't like. Go into this okay, I am going to reassess these things, y'all. It just happens. And when you're aware and you're paying attention, you're even more likely and willing to surrender to that process and allow it to take place. And what is happening right now is so the opposite of anything that I directly tried to engineer or force. It was absolutely surrendering to the process that Venus retrograde took me on during this retrograde and aligning with this turnaround that is happening right now that is just absolutely reorienting me to what's possible around my offerings and the value that I provide and the people that I'm intended to serve. To pull out of my example of, I don't think I've ever rode the wave of a Venus retrograde so exquisitely as I am right now, but basically every time this comes around, every year and a half for six weeks, it's an opportunity to go back and reassess your branding if you have somebody else that creates your visual branding for your offers. Maybe do a refresh, do a photo shoot, get some new assets to work with. It's also a time of reassessing how aligned do you feel with the gifts that you have to offer and how you're translating that into value that you're providing through your actual offers. And when it comes to our relationship with the actual money, it's a great opportunity to reassess your pricing. And this could really go either way, right? Maybe your pricing doesn't reflect your worth and you need to raise your prices. This is often the case for people or maybe it wants to go the other way. Maybe your relationship to abundance and your evolving understanding of what's gonna make that possible for you means actually reducing your pricing so that it's more accessible and available to more people so that your bottom line revenue profit stream can actually turn up. These are all things that are up for review and likely vying for your attention during Venus retrograde. The other biggie that I wanna speak to is Mars retrograde. This one happens every two years for two to two and a half months. So even less often, but last even longer than the Mercury or the Venus retrograde. This is a time when we are upgrading our relationship to our motivation, our energy, and where that comes from in us. Basically like the internal source of our motivation and our source energy comes up to be upgraded, rebooting, all that. So during this time we just have less energy, like that whole system is being reworked, we might feel depleted. Things that previously had a lot of momentum might start to stall. And if you are still trying to push when things are trying to settle a little bit and pause, it can bring up a lot of frustration and anger, right? With Mars. The other thing that can happen in terms of things resurfacing from the past for Mars retrograde is things that previously caused anger in you or are up for review, for you to reconsider your boundaries in your business. These things might come back up to resurface and remind us of that growth curve that we're on, and that nudge that happened once upon a time. And during Mars retrograde, the timeline can become ripe for you to actually be able to move through that, to heal and process a past hurt or anger, to inspire and redirect you, to create an even more aligned and solid boundary moving forward so that not only do those things not happen again, but again, you have one of these moments where you're like, oh, thank goodness that happened before. Thank goodness that fallout happened where I stepped away from this person, this client, this, whatever before, because now I have this clarity of this boundary that I didn't even know I needed, and I know is gonna be very supportive to me moving forward. And whether or not you have things like this resurface, it's a great time to be proactive about auditing where your energy comes from, what you've been pointing your energy to. That feels like you're getting an energetic ROI and where you're not, and you just feel drained so that on the other side, when Mars goes direct, you'll have clarity around new boundaries to fortify, maybe some hardened ones to soften or release and to reconsider what your priorities are and to align accordingly. As far as the rest of the planets, I'm just gonna speak to them really briefly. Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. These are all planets that roughly follow a similar rhythm of being retrograde for about half the year and direct for about half the year. With Saturn, it's an opportunity to revisit the systems and the structures in your business and how they support your long-term goals and visions for your far off future that you're working toward. With Jupiter, it's an opportunity to reflect on your growth trajectory. So oftentimes it ends up being a back and forth of doing the inner work to prepare yourself to grow and expand during the direct cycle. So much of being a business owner is that nervous system belief work around what we actually believe is possible for us. So during the Jupiter retrograde, we expand the vision of what's possible so that during the direct motion we can actually tangibly grow into it. With Uranus, we do the inner work during retrograde to look at where our resistance to change is so that during the direct motion we can innovate and make moves to stay relevant and future proof. Our business, a big one for this, for many, has been around their embrace of AI, which obviously is here to stay. So it's a ma, so it's not a matter of if you find a place for it in your business, it's a matter of when and if you stay relevant. Spoiler alert. A huge part of what's shifting for me around this Venus retrograde and my offers and my relationship to them, and the value that I'm able to give is new innovative ways that I am implementing AI because in case you didn't know it about me, I am absolutely obsessed. I'm an Aquarian. I love tech tools, and AI is like a beloved force that is now manifest and incarnated into the collective sphere, as far as I'm concerned. But that's the topic for another time. Moving on to Neptune, moving on to Neptune. When that planet is retrograde, it's a time to reboot our connection to our intuition so that when we move forward into the direct half of the year, we are able to even more, we are able to align more with our spiritual gifts and purpose to act on the guidance of our intuitive channel that we reboot, strengthen, and fortify during the retrograde I. And lastly, Pluto. During that retrograde, we often have some very confronting, intense and deep shadow work to do to ultimately liberate, stored and trapped energy so that we can be even more powerful and impactful during the direct motion. Of course with all of these, you can go deeper and more nuanced by looking at where these are happening in your chart, but you really don't need to have the benefits from it. Just knowing when these rhythms take place, when these turns happen from direct to retrograde with each of these planetary forces and what they are in your life and business. Things will start to shift for you. Again, you don't need to get into the weeds of mentally seeing and knowing what the archetypes are in the arenas that are up for you, but just being willing and open to be shown and led and guided because you know that you're moving into a time of more listening and then a time of more implementation. You will align in a way that you never have before. You will start to notice these waves that happen and you'll be better at riding them. You'll find yourself feeling more like you are dancing with the universe when it comes to your growth and your growth game will get so much stronger. Let me know how this all resonated with you and if you had certain examples for Mercury, Venus and Mars retrograde that popped up one of these, like you can't make this up. I love to hear your anecdotes, so feel free to reach out on Instagram. My dms laurenpoppinsraye shoot me an email, lauren@cosmicbizwitch.com. We are all in this together, and the more that we're able to see and witness each other's reflections and examples, the more we deepen our own understanding of what we are being invited into as part of these retrograde upgrade cycles.