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Stepping Into New Beginnings – Cacao, Astrology, Journalling, and Reflections


Rosie and her daughter smiling

Last night my lovely daughter and I sat down for a heartfelt and unplanned cacao ceremony 💕 – just the two of us taking a little time to turn our awareness inwards, to soften and tune into the energies of the universe. There is much change in store for both of us in the year ahead and we similarly value meditation, mindfulness and the importance of self-development practices.


Eleanor led us on a short guided cacao meditation, I put together some astrology-inspired journaling prompts and we reflected with some oracle cards too ✨ It was not only nourishing but so very helpful too - and I wanted to share the astrology and reflective questions with you, in case you feel like journaling or reflecting along with us.


It's fair to say I’ve been feeling the pressure of all this cosmic energy myself 🌌, and I know so many of you have been too. There’s a lot happening at once – endings, beginnings, and deeply reflective energy – it really can feel like a lot.


Taking the time to slow down, ground 🌱 and connect with our own wisdom is so very valuable right now.


Feel free to scroll down directly to the reflection prompts 📓 to connect with this energy – or have a look below to find out more of what all this means first

🌌 Key Astrology Dates – UK


Here’s a simplified look at the cosmic rhythm this month:


• Saturn enters Aries – 13 February ♈

• Saturn meets Neptune in Aries – 20 February  ✨

• Solar Eclipse in Aquarius – 17 February  ☀️ 🌑 (visible as annular eclipse only in Antarctica)

• Lunar New Year – Fire Horse – 17 February  🐎🔥

• Mercury retrograde in Pisces – 26 February to 20 March 🔄 (shadow began 11 February)

• Lunar Eclipse in Virgo – 3 March 2026 🌕


🌌 The Energy We’re Moving Through


The big energies of this month are pretty intense at times and multilayered too:


• Saturn entering Aries ♈️ – After a long Pisces chapter, Saturn enters a new 30 year cycle - calling us to move slowly towards creating real-world structure. We got a feel for this direction last year (mid July to end November) so it won’t feel completely new.


• Saturn–Neptune meet in Aries ✨ – initiating yet another new cycle. Asking us to bring our dreams for ourselves slowly into grounded reality, bringing intuition into measured action, and step into our ‘yes’. Though Saturn is all about manifesting, Neptune in the mix mean our yes involves a releasing or dissolving of something else too.


• Solar eclipse in Aquarius ♒️ 28’ on 17 Feb – We are now in the eclipse portal and this solar eclipse initiates fated new beginnings, calling us into authenticity, and asking us to step into our unique expression. This Aquarius eclipse is a North Node eclipse meaning that this increases the draw towards the future and a new way of being. Modern ruler Uranus is adding energy to the eclipse and perhaps an element of the unexpected too. Where Uranus is activated, it's always helpful to keep our nervous systems ⚡️balanced and remember during eclipses we don’t yet know everything we need to know, so step forward but with faith and knowledge we may need to make changes on the path later on too.


• Fire Horse energy 17 Feb our New Lunar Year - similarly asking us to move forward with, be bold and courageous, shedding the old Snake energy completely 🐍 → 🐎 🔥.


• Mercury will be stationing retrograde in Pisces ♓️ on 26 Feb (and is already in shadow now) – we are walking ground now that we will walk again, so there will be more to understand, learn and realise in time. Notice what’s happening now for clues for what you might later be reflecting on, reassessing, and reviewing. Since Mercury is already in Pisces open to your right brain energy more if you can - feelings, body, dreams, and intuition to help light the way and guide you back again for more realisations before moving forward once more 🔁.


• Pisces transits – though Saturn and Neptune have moved out of Pisces, we are not yet leaving this energy behind. Pisces invites us to connect with our higher self, to trust, and to practice compassion. It encourages surrendering to the flow, allowing for moments of daydreaming or gentle confusion, while staying mindful not to slip into escapism. In this energy, we are called to lead with our hearts, not our heads 🌊🌟. Just remember, this Pisces season will also be a retrograde and review period too.


• Total Lunar Eclipse on 3 March - This full moon asks us to gently let go of what no longer feels aligned. Offering us a chance to notice where our routines, habits, or commitments may need a little clearing, to release consciously, and to make space for what truly nourishes our wellbeing.


• Overall astrological guidance - These many layered and sometimes conflicting energies give an overall feeling that it is now time to step into the new, that which we might have dreamed about but don’t know how to make happen. Trust is needed and higher self guidance is likely to be strong. But we don’t have to do it all at once, in fact, we definitely shouldn’t because this is an energy where the turtle wins the race, not the hare. Slow, steady and reflective. Open to guidance and trust. Willing to review and redo as needed. Beautiful change is coming our way, urging us to step out of fear and open our hearts into the new 🌱.



📓 Astro Guided Reflective Questions + Journaling Prompts


These prompts are designed to help connect with the energy, notice shifts and create a space for gentle, loving self-development:


1️⃣ What were you beginning to feel into last year that you are now ready to step fully into?


2️⃣ What are you ready to say yes to – and what might you need to release as part of that yes?


3️⃣ What do you need to help yourself step into your yes?


4️⃣ If you looked back at your life from the perspective of your future self in 5 years’ time, what message would you give yourself now?


5️⃣ If you could let go of overthinking, worrying, and over-planning – and simply trust yourself and the support of the universe 🌌 – what might happen?


6️⃣ What are you proud of in yourself right now, and what might you be proud of in six months’ time?


Take your time ⏳. Let your answers come naturally, without forcing.



🫖 Connecting With Cacao or Rose Tea


If you want to try a ritual yourself:


• You needn’t have ceremonial cacao (though you can easily buy this online). Perhaps rose tea 🌹 or herbal tea which offer slow, intentional, heart-opening.


• Find a comfortable seat and soften your body. Begin to notice your breath and let your energy to settle and your mind calm.


• Bring the cup to your heart and hold it here - giving thanks to those who helped bring this nourishing drink to you, to those who drink in ritual all around the world giving thanks too, to those who love you and care for you and to Mother Earth for holding you. Gratitude opens the heart.


• Raise the cup to your lips and drink slowly, savouring the taste and the warmth as it travels down through your body.


• Take your attention to your heart space ❤️ and notice what’s arising.


• Then grab your journal or notebook 📓 and let either let your thoughts flow or follow the astrology-themed reflective prompts above.


No overthinking needed – let whatever arises be welcomed as it is.



🍫 More Info / Contraindications for Cacao


Ceremonial cacao is a lovely way to open your heart ❤️ and connect to your inner guidance. It has already been blessed and it’s a lovely practice to pour more love into it as you make it too. Tears can be it’s medicine.


Possible contradictions:

Avoid ceremonial cacao if you have heart conditions, high blood pressure, are pregnant (in larger amounts), are sensitive to stimulants, or taking certain medications (SSRIs/MAOIs).


Rose tea 🌹 is a gentle alternative if you prefer.



🌱 Supporting Yourself Right Now


Periods of such intensity can feel challenging. Support yourself through:


• Gentle breath awareness 🌬️

• Restorative movement or rest 🛌

• Grounding practices 🌿

• Journaling without expectation 📓

• Allowing emotions to move naturally 💧


It’s about stepping into your yes with clarity and kindness ❤️.



🤍 Invitation


If you’d like guidance navigating these energies, you’re warmly invited to explore Mind Body Soul Wellbeing website and membership:


• Astrology updates and reflections ✨

• Yoga and nervous system practices 🧘‍♀️

• Nervous system reset programme 🌟


Much love,

Rosie x





 
 
 

Five Effective Strategies to Reset Your Stress Response and Feel Calm

For those of us who always feel like we're one step away from stress, anxiety, or overwhelm - and those already there - there is so much more you can do about it to help yourself than many realise 🙏🏼


It's often seen as 'normal' for us to feel constantly stressed, rushed, and harassed, while struggling mentally has almost become a standard way of living. And though it's probably fair to say many of us aren't living lives that support our health and wellbeing as best as we might 🌿 there is so much more that we can do remedy the stress we're experiencing. And it's actually pretty simple too! 👌


So, what can we do? Firstly, a let's have a simplified bit of understanding of why this is happening - but if you're feeling impatient please feel free to scroll down about five paragraphs ⬇️ to look at the strategies you can use to reset stress!


It's helpful to know that the stress response is actually a very normal and healthy part 🌸 of our body's mechanisms to respond to threats and that what has happened over time is simply that these normal mechanisms are just being triggered way too often.


Back in the day (a long way back that is!) our stress response kicked in to help us when threats arose such as coming across a tiger or bear 🐻 those hormones and all of the energy flooding our would be needed to activate the fight-flight-freeze response and keep us safe. However, nowadays, the stress response our lifestyles have evolved hugely but the stress response hasn't. So, we can get a full on fight-flight-freeze reaction from opening emails 📧 having to make a call 📞 we know will be tricky, running late for work, etc. Luckily though, it is possible to calm ourselves.


There are different elements to our nervous system and in an ideal world, we would be living in a neutral baseline state called homeostasis where we aren't in stress, and we aren't in deep rest, we are in balance ☺️. Sadly though, many live in the sympathetic stress arousal state, so when something our minds perceive as 'danger' happens, we are already in a stress state and it just increases this feeling inside of us, winding us up even more and flooding our bodies with more stress hormones and energy.


In an ideal world, we want to be at a neutral state for much of our daily activity, then when stress comes in we can act to discharge it. Historically, this would usually have been running, fighting (or freezing). During fight or flight 🏃 the body naturally uses the energy and it's discharged, bringing us back to baseline and the calming side of the nervous system kicks in to bring us to rest and repletion.


Sometimes we can't fight or flight because it's not an option and this is where our current way of living struggles the most 😞. We can't the 'fight' or 'flee' emails, late trains and traffic jams, amongst other things, that seem to be constants in our lives. And therefore, our body doesn't discharge the hormones and release the energy that has built up to help us.


In the wild when an animal can't fight or flight, you'll see they go into freeze mechanism - playing dead - but after this the animal will naturally discharge all of the stress and trauma through shaking. That way, the body is reset to baseline 🍃.


As humans, however, we have become quite disconnected to the wisdom of nature and most of us may never have heard of this idea of discharging stress, let alone various ways we might reset. And we have also been 'socialised' out of the innate wisdom we had as babies 👶 and toddlers where something happens and we cry, stomp or thrash it out of our bodies - and then often fall promptly asleep.


✨ Here's the important bit - what we can do to help! ✨


🌱 BREATHE - it really is that simple!


Take a couple of minutes after a stressful situation to simply sit and breathe. Begin with a full exhale. Then breathe in, with the intention to get the breath into your belly, not just your chest (this might take a few breaths to manage).


As you exhale, let your shoulders and jaw relax. Then, simply continue breathing in and out, slowing your breath down. After a minute, you should find that you can let your exhale lengthen out and this will kick in the calming side of your nervous system. If you like, put a little pause between the inhale and exhale once the breath feels nice and relaxing. You are now doing diaphragmatic belly breathing - a super helpful way to let go of stress.


🌱 SHAKE IT OUT - do it like the animals do


If you can, stand up and shake that stress out of your system. Focus on hands and wrists, move to elbows, then shoulders. One or both arms at a time. Then, take it to your feet and ankles, knees, then hips (obviously one leg at a time!). Then try shaking out the core of your body and finally your whole body. A little tip - if you've got neck tension, your neck won't thank you for shaking it out, keep to the shoulders instead.


🌱 SOOTHING SELF MASSAGE


A couple of minutes spent softly massaging your ears and space behind and in front of them and maybe sweeping your hands over your face too, will do wonders to reset stress.


🌱 SWEEPING ARMS


Sweep you hands up and down your arms (bare arms are better). You can vary the speed and the pressure to see how it feels. It's also a bit like giving yourself a hug.


🌱 BUTTERFLY TECHNIQUE


Cross over your hands at the thumbs (like butterfly wings) then place them on your upper chest so your fingers will be just below your collar bones - rhythmically tap one side and then the other for a couple of minutes whilst breathing slowly.


✨ MORE HELP?? ✨


If you'd like to get a more in depth understanding of how you can help yourself to health and wellbeing, here are some of my offerings, both online and in person:


🌟 THE HEALING HOUR


An Oxted-based class on Wednesday evenings at 7pm, specifically designed to calm the nervous system and bring you back to calm - £15.50.


🌟 NERVOUS SYSTEM REWIRING COURSES


A pre-recorded and available on my website. 6 core videos and supporting videos in between. Touch base emails with me to help if needed - £39.


🌟 YOGA CLASSES


Everyone is welcome and all my groups are friendly and not intimidating at all. These are spaces where you won't be judged and you can just come to breathe and move without pressure at all - local to Oxted - £12.50 - £10 for over 65's.


🌟 THE SWAN METHOD


Brings together my work as a counsellor, coach, yoga teacher and nervous system specialist to offer a truly holistic and unique therapy - online and in person - £80.


🌟 WELLBEING COACHING


Looking at all areas of your life, helping you identify where change is needed, create meaningful goals and supporting your progress along the way - onlien and in person - £95.


You can find out much more about all of my offerings: www.mindbodysoulwellbeing.co.uk


Or contact me for more information:



 
 
 

Permission to Self-Care this Christmas

Rosie Marsh


3 min read


As this is being shared on Christmas Eve, many of us are already in the thick of the festive season. The build-up, the day itself, and that strange void between Christmas and New Year when no-one knows what day it is. Routines are likely out of the window and emotions sit close to the surface.


Christmas can be a time of love and joy – but it can also feel overwhelming, emotionally layered, and far too busy. Expectations pile up, family dynamics resurface, and the usual anchors that keep us steady can wobble.


For many people, this time of year also brings grief — whether from losing someone, navigating separation or relationship changes. All of these are real, human responses to a season that carries so much emotional weight and high expectations.


Through years of working in the wellbeing industry, I've come to understand that caring for ourselves at this time of year isn’t another thing to add to the list. It’s essential and we need to consciously give ourselves permission — permission to slow down, to soften, and to respond to what we actually need, rather than what we think we should be doing.


Below is a wellbeing check-in — an invitation to care for your mind, body, and soul through the whole festive period in a way that feels realistic, compassionate, and supportive.


Red berries hanging on bare branches against a blurred snowy background, creating a serene winter scene.


A Moment of Support

If you’re already feeling stretched, emotional, or overwhelmed, one of the kindest things you can do is begin with support, not effort.


It needn't take long to down-regulate our nervous systems, so I'm linking you to my free three-minute calming video on my website, designed for moments when you don't have long but you know you need to pause, breathe, and settle. There’s no sign-up and no pressure — just a short guided practice you can return to anytime.



Later in the season, when the overwhelm begins to ease, you can also look out for my free Detox Yoga video — a practice designed to release built-up tension, support your system after the busyness of Christmas, and offer a little detoxing for the festive over-indulgence. Look out for the email post in a few days time.



Noticing When Things Feel Like a Lot

Stress doesn’t always announce itself loudly, particularly at the beginning, when it tends to show up quietly through the body, breath and mood.


Look out for:

  • Feeling overwhelmed by plans, expectations, or mental to-do lists

  • Restless sleep or over-tiredness

  • Increased sensitivity and irritability

  • A foggy mind, low energy, or a sense of being “maxed out”


These are signals from your nervous system asking for a little more self-care. When we notice them early, we can respond with kindness rather than pushing through until we’re depleted.



Boundaries as an Act of Self-Care

The festive season has a way of blurring boundaries, especially with family expectations.


Protecting our energy is easier than you might think:

  • Saying not this time to things that feel draining

  • Taking breaks from social media and comparison

  • Being honest with yourself and others about what you can manage


You really don't have to attend everything and you definitely don't have to carry everything on your own. Choosing fewer, more meaningful moments is a great way of respecting your wellbeing, without withdrawing.



Small Anchors of Calm

Calm doesn’t require long practices or perfect routines. It’s built through small, steady moments.


Below are some simple examples of how you can bring calm:

  • Conscious breathing — a few slow breaths, feeling your feet on the floor and letting go of tension as you exhale

  • A quiet moment — a few minutes to yourself (even just hiding out in the bathroom to breathe) can make such a difference to overwhelm

  • Starting the day kindly — instead of rushing into the day, take a moment to breathe and offer calm to your nervous system by sweeping the hands up and over the forehead, the top of the head, down the back of the head to the neck and shoulders. Finish by placing your hands over your heart and taking 3 calming breaths.


These moments are so important in helping to regulate the nervous system and remind the body it’s safe enough to soften, even when life feels emotionally charged.



Letting Go of Perfect

A lot of festive stress comes from how we think Christmas should look. Christmas isn't about perfection and it's not about presents — it's unlikely that someone will remember the gift you spent hours choosing over the time you spent together from one year to the next. Presence, not presents!


This is especially true if grief, separation, or family change makes the season feel harder than it used to. So please remember:


It’s okay if this year is quieter.

It’s okay if traditions change.

It’s okay if rest becomes a priority.


Self-care doesn’t have to be big or perfect. It really is as simple as a moment's space, a pause, a breath, a gentle stretch out, a walk outside, or allowing yourself to take the time you need with the support you deserve.


Be kind to yourself this Christmas 🤍


 
 
 
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