Earth: Grounding in self-worth with Taurus

Hello sweet friend,

The New Moon was in Taurus yesterday and, though I hadn’t intended to wait so long to send this, in many ways it feels like the perfect timing.

At the end of April, I had breast reduction surgery, something I’d thought long and hard about before making the decision to do so. Since then I’ve been resting and recovering while coming face to face with a deep and painful belief that I’m not worthy of the rest, care, or support that I’ve needed.

Three and a half weeks ago, I lay in bed unable to move in the ways that I had been able to just days before, and my mind took to racing through an endless stream of thoughts seeded in the soil of the painful belief that I hadn’t done enough, given enough, or proven enough to be able to receive such an abundance of unconditional love and support from the family and friends, who had generously offered and shown up to care for me and my children during my recovery.

It’s a particularly painful feeling to be completely physically vulnerable, reliant on care and support while confronting this belief that’s been etched so deeply in your core that it’s hard to see that it’s not actually true. And that, in fact, it’s a lie designed to keep you small and separate and alone, by rejecting all support, care, and love because you believe you aren’t worthy of it, never have been, and never will be.

As I write this, over three weeks into recovery, and after moving through many layers of vulnerable physical and emotional pain, I’m feeling more grounded in my truth.

I’ve journeyed to my depths yet again, and as I begin to surface, I hold more trust, understanding, and compassion for myself, albeit with much residual exhaustion as a result of all the layers of this journey.

I’m sure I’ll share more on all of this in the future, but for now, I’m so happy to finally explore the earth element from the lens of Taurus with you.

Unsurprisingly, though the synchronicities never cease to amaze me, many of the themes that we’ll find in the Taurus flavor of this element relate very much to what I’ve been confronting within my own personal journey in the last several weeks.

As always, thank you for being here, and let’s begin!

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Taurus earth is the energy of “I have, I secure.” It grounds us in the present moment, in our senses, in what is really here, now. This energy asks us to slow down and connect with the “wisdom of simplicity” as Steven Forrest calls it in The Book of Earth: Making It Real.

The earth element in general is what connects us to the business of being a human on earth. Where the other elements connect us more to the ethereal and intangible world; our thoughts, desires, dreams, emotions, etc., the earth element supports us in bringing that intangible energy into the physical realm. It is the channel through which we ground our dreams and take them from the expanse of our minds and into creation and fruition, ultimately allowing us to share them with the world at large.

Earth is the practical side of things, the material, the tangible, sharable. It’s the energy that guides the writer’s story from the mind, onto the page, into a published book, and finally, the hands of its readers. It carries the painter to the canvas day after day culminating in a body of work, perhaps ready for a gallery filled with collectors. It’s the steady companion of the athlete as they go from their first day of training, through the thousands of days of training to follow, and finally all the way to receiving an Olympic gold medal.

This is also the energy that wakes the busy mother before sunrise, taking one hour to herself to nurture her seemingly impossible dreams until one day she’s watching them grow alongside her children.

But before we begin the earthly journey of pursuing, building, or creating anything, it is deeply important that we are clear and grounded within ourselves, our inherent worth and value, and rooted in intention.

If we start out on our journey without knowing, believing, and trusting in the security of our inner worth and value, it becomes all too easy to start an endless and impossible quest to find and secure our worth outside ourselves.

This imbalanced or shadow side of the Taurus earth energy appears when we look for our worth, value, and ultimately our happiness outside ourselves, not realizing that it must begin within.

When imbalanced, this energy manifests as the one who gets lost on an endless search for a romantic partner only to find that no one is ever good enough because they don’t believe themselves to be good enough. Or the one who is afraid that there isn’t enough, of anything, and in their search for security in the material world they find that no matter how many sweaters, mugs, journals, crystals, bowls of pasta, slices of cake (insert anything and everything, I have tried them all) there is never enough to fill the fearful space within that longs for healing and acknowledgment. It can also be the one who focuses all their energy on building wealth only to end up a billionaire, alone, holding so tightly to enough money to end world hunger, but so disconnected from the world that they forget that the greatest power for manifesting abundance and true happiness is generosity.

The magic in the Taurus earth energy flows when we begin within. When we slow down and nurture our own self-worth.

We must start by healing the parts of us that have forgotten that we are all born inherently and entirely worthy from the moment of our very first breath.

When we cultivate and strengthen our own inner sense of self-worth, we are able to open our hearts to receive, drink from, and bask in all the splendors, beauty, and abundance, of the lush, rich, and sensual experiences that bring so much pleasure to our existence on Earth.

So, how do we slow down and connect with this “wisdom of simplicity”? How do we cultivate and strengthen our inner sense of self-worth and value?

In many ways the practices are simple, and it is in their simplicity that we often find our biggest challenges. It takes time and steady, diligent dedication to integrate this wisdom.

We must start by slowing down and creating space in our lives for rest, space to cultivate a deep inner connection with ourselves, even when the world around us tries to tell us that we are not worthy of this rest and that it is not safe to slow down.

As we create space for slowing down, for rest, and for presence, we will need to practice listening to the wisdom of our bodies and the things we know deep in the marrow of our bones.

In its most simple and primal expression, the Taurus earth energy reminds us to eat when we are hungry, sleep when we are tired, and find time to enjoy the miracle of life in a precious human body, living on a sphere of soil and water, suspended in thin air.

When we embody this energy it becomes possible to tap into the profound sense of security, abundance, and pleasure, of which every single sentient being is worthy of experiencing.

May we practice slowing down and meeting ourselves in the present moment.

May we become deeply rooted in our innate worth and value.

May we approach the world, our dreams, and our desires from this grounded foundation of self-worth.

A precious earthly being, encountered on a forest walk, embodying the slow and steady presence of the Taurus earth element.

Below you’ll find:

1. Journal prompts for reflecting

2. Affirmations for integrating

3. Practices for engaging

4. A grounding Earth playlist

5. And a guided meditation