A Practical Guide To Pause, Reflect, And Realign During Mercury Retrograde

Tired of blaming the stars for every glitch, delay, or awkward text? We’re rethinking Mercury retrograde as a sacred pause—a 20‑day window to move slower, see clearer, and make choices that actually fit. Rather than catastrophizing, we explore how to turn misfires into gentle course corrections with simple habits, grounded reflection, and a calm, steady pace.

We start by demystifying what Mercury retrograde symbolizes for communication, travel, contracts, and tech—and why tone gets lost, flights slip, and forms misfire. Then we flip the script: this isn’t a cosmic curse; it’s a practical permission slip to double-check details, build time buffers, back up files, and pause before hitting send. You’ll hear real-world examples, including a costly payment mistake, plus a set of checklists to protect your energy when systems wobble. With Mercury in Sagittarius amplifying bluntness, we focus on mindful speech and deeper listening so intent matches impact and relationships get room to heal.

From there, we go inward. We share journal prompts to test old beliefs, short meditations to clear mental noise, and energy-clearing practices to reset your nervous system. You’ll learn to swap urgency for awareness and ask the pivotal question: am I being guided or just reacting? Retrograde favors revision over launch, so we outline how to review projects, refine commitments, and plan decisive moves once Mercury goes direct—arriving with fewer blind spots and more integrity.

If you’re ready to turn a turbulent headline into a useful life skill, this conversation offers tools you can use today: thoughtful communication, smarter logistics, and honest self-checks that make space for clarity. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a calmer plan, and leave a review to let us know which practice helped you the most.

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Transcript

Welcome And Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, Kindred Spirits. I am Donna Godet and welcome to Healing a Kindred Spirits Podcast. I want to welcome you into a space of listening, awareness, and transformation. Today I wanted to drop a mini episode on something many people are talking about right now. I've been asking me about, and I see it online. We are turning our attention to a celestial moment that's happening right now, which is Mercury Retrograde, which began November 9th, 2025, and runs through November 29th, 2025. Mercury retrograde happens a couple of times a year, and this one happens to be happening uh for 20 days. So whether you've walked through these wet retrograde cycles many times or are tuning in with fresh curiosity, I invite you to lean in, breathe, notice, and find how this phase might be inviting deeper alignment in your life. Hopefully, when that you're done with this podcast, with this episode, you'll have some guidance and some insight into what you can do to help get through it, as well as some things to be on the lookout for. So, first of all, for those that don't know, what is Mercury retrograde? You may have heard about it, but maybe you really don't know about it. Um, first of all, I am not an astrology expert, but I do believe that the planets can influence our bodies, minds, spirits, our decisions, because the planet Mercury is the messenger of the heavens, and it's traditionally associated with communication, travel, ideas, contracts, technology, how the mind is wired. So in November of this year, Mercury will appear to move backwards in our sky, which we know is an optical illusion from our vantage point on Earth. But astrologers call this a retrograde. So here are some of the highlights of it. The official retrograde runs from November 9th to November 29th. And it could start a few days earlier or even go over the few days after it ends because of the way the energy of the planets are. So, in other words, symbolically, we're entering a season where thinking, speaking, decisions, travel, and even tech may feel slower, more reflective, where old patterns surface, where we're asked to pause rather than rush or respond. So, what are the challenging sides and why do people dread it? I know for the longest time before I truly understood what Mercury retrograde was, I dreaded it because every time it was Mercury retrograde, it was like, oh, not again. And many people feel that way. But I also learned through time that there's also a flip side to that, so to speak. So many have many of us have heard the cautionary tales of the missent emails or the unsent emails that you thought you did, travel delays, miscommunication, tech glitches, second thoughts and commitments. But here's what's commonly seen. With Mercury retrograde, communication can become fuzzy. What we meant to express doesn't land as intended. Misunderstandings rise. You ever send that text and someone said, Why were you yelling at me? But that wasn't your intention. There's going to be a lot more of that during Mercury retrograde. Well, people will misconstrue what you say. People will take what you say in a different way. You may hear something in a different way that someone intended or not intended. So be on the lookout for that. Be more mindful before you react. Um, travel or logistics may require extra care, but you want to check details, allow extra time to be ready for detours. And what the way everything is right now with the FAA and travel, please really be careful, be mindful, be allow yourself that time to really check everything and give yourself time to get to point A to point B. And also decisions made in haste may need revisiting. I am not an impulsive person, but sometimes some people are, and sometimes we've all made impulsive decisions. But old projects may need may resurface. Commitments made on autopilot might not align with your truth. So things may come back. I'm not saying they come back to haunt you, but maybe may come back to say, hmm, this isn't quite right. We need to we need to look at this again. So if you've ever felt drained and dragging through a demand and commute, been frustrated by mistimed email, uh an email blast, or realize you signed an agreement that didn't feel right hours later, you've glimpsed Mercury retrograde in action. But, and here's the heart of it it's it's not all bad. And sometimes it can be an invitation to really stop and reassess things that's going on in your life right now. Look at it as you know, you have that that good list and that bad list, the pros and the cons. Look at it that look at Mercury retrograde in that way. So, since you and I are about empowerment, authenticity, and spiritual growth, let's lean into what this retrograde can offer. What about reflection and realignment? We know Mercury retrograde, Mercury slows down where we are granted the chance to pause to ask: is this what I truly believe? Is this where I want to go? Given the signs involved, this retrograde invites questioning of our story, our assumptions, our directions. Take that opportunity to really dive a little bit deeper into what you have going on. And then we have deep listening. We're invited into deeper emotional, aka intuitive listening, what's unspoken, what's under the surface, what wants to emerge. This can support healing of relationships, connections to inner truth. Don't be surprised if all of a sudden you just blurt out something that maybe you held on to for so long, and maybe it was just the divine timing of the universe for that to come out. Be aware of that. And then we have revision and repair. Old projects, ideas, even relationships that felt stuck may now show up not to punish, but to be reviewed, reworked, and maybe even cleansed. That means you can gently revisit, refine, let go, or even heal from them. And Mercury retrograde can also provide inner clarity and soul level growth. What do I mean by that? Because the retrograde goes through belief zones and emotional depths, you might discover there's a renewed clarity about your path, your values, maybe things you thought about changing in your life. There they feel very pronounced right now. They really feel that this is something you need to do. And there's also a potential for spiritual upgrades, for aligning with your deeper truth. And I'm all for that. And even Mercury retrograde can even give you greater freedom down the road. When we do this inner work, we pause, we reflect, we adjust. Then when Mercury goes direct, which would be around the 29th, we're poised to move forward with more integrity and maybe a few or less blind spots. So, what are some practical ways to protect your energy and make the most of it? Because people who are very sensitive to energy may feel things a little bit more deeply, a little bit more intense. And I want to give credence to that because we're all we're all wired differently. Everybody experiences things in a different way. Some experience things a little deeper than others, and some can just like walk it off and say, not a big deal. So here are some suggestions practical, spiritual, intuitive. And again, take what you want and leave the rest. It's merely a guide, a suggestion. It's not a handbook. Um, but think about double double checking things and slowing down. So before sending that email or signing that contract, booking that trip, pause, verify the details. A big one is if we anybody who makes uh goes online to make a payment for your credit card, your mortgage, double check the amount you put in. I made this mistake two years ago during a Mercury retrograde. I went to pay my credit card bill, I went to do the minimum payment, put in that amount, I hit send, but I had to, before I hit send, I had to go back and fix the date. Well, when I went back to the other screen, it defaulted to pay the entire balance. I did not find this out until I checked my bank account. And lo and behold, it there was a very large withdrawal that I was not anticipating. And that really put me in a financial bind. So again, check things during Mercury retrograde because you never know the glitches that can happen, either through a mistake that you make or a mistake that's done uh on another end. So really double check everything. Um, and also make backups of important tech, of documents, data, and ask is this aligned with my larger truth or is it just am I going through the motions? Check in with yourself if this is something of you, if you're choosing to do something, make sure it's something that aligns with what you want to do. And think about travel for a moment. Uh, we're getting to the holiday season. Uh allow buffer time. Though look at the check dates, the times, the locations. Always assume small glitches will appear or they'll happen or detours. Be prepared for that, especially if you're traveling with people who are older, with children, with people that might have mobility issues. Really count on you're better up to prepare for them, prepare for those delays and not have to use it than have to use it and not be prepared. So always be prepared. Another thing is communication and speaking your truth wisely. Because Mercury is in Sagittarius, it can amplify bluntness or oversaying or practice, you want to practice pausing before speaking, or even if you're posting online. Um, some people are quick with the keyboard, the keyboard warriors, they will say something and like, oh crap, I shouldn't have said that. Let me take that back. But before you could delete it, maybe 1800 people saw that. So you want to be careful and you want to reflect: is this what I want to say? Is it aligned with who I am, with who I want to be? And likewise, the other side of that. Listen to what others are really saying, especially what lies beneath the words. There may be unspoken truth or maybe even subtle clues or cues to what's going on. And when old conversations or misconnections surface, let them come with curiosity and don't shame. Ask, what's showing up now that I didn't see before? Let me repeat that again. What's showing up now that I didn't see before? Maybe you're more aware because of the way the planetary actions are happening right now. So, what are some things that you can do in a work or spiritual reflective practices that you could do during Mercury retrograde? I always go to this one, journal. Journal, journal, journal. So one of the journaling prompts that I come up with is what belief am I holding that I might be ready to test or release? Or another one is where in my life am I moving forward without checking in with my heart? Many times we go through the motions of things and we don't feel invested in it. We feel like we're just doing it because we either have to or we made a commitment to it. But sometimes when we reassess what we're doing, we find that we don't align with that anymore. And maybe this is an opportunity to either do things a different way or to maybe let them go. Uh, another one is meditation and visualization. So you can imagine yourself stepping into a safe, clear space, breathing in your truth and exhaling old pattern thoughts. You can invite clarity to your inacompass. And again, taking a sacred pause, whether you're in nature, in stillness, in ritual, um, make space each day for quieter inner listening. And as your intuitive voice in and listens, perhaps, what is wanting to be seen, known, or healed may come to you. And a good one to do in and I have to be reminded of this as well. Energy clearing. We talked about this in a couple of episodes before. Use whatever sanctuary practices you love, like smudging, a sound bowl, gentle movement, excuse me, to reset your energetic field, especially if something feels off. Encourage the idea of realigning rather than fearing the retrograde. Many of us feel that we have to be perfect at everything and we overthink things. And I have a little magnet on my refrigerator that says, hold on, let me overthink this. And it's true, we tend to overthink everything because we want to be perfect at everything. But retrograde, Mercury retrograde invites us to flow rather than force. If a plan changes, instead of resistant, ask, what's here now for me to learn? What is this lesson, or I like to call a blessing, B-L-E-S-S-O-N, which is a form of a blessing and a lesson. Mercury retrograde always makes us feel we must get everything right. Mistakes or delays may be a cover for deeper alignment. And flexibility becomes a superpower. Be gentle with yourself when things don't go perfectly. See it as a part of a cycle, not an indictment. Don't don't put so much pressure on yourself. So, how can we be informed, take informed action rather than big big leaps? Because Mercury retrograde often suggests review rather than launch. This is a time for revision. If you feel clear, you can move, but ideally, after careful reflection, or at least with the awareness that you may revisit it. And for big decisions, ask if you're being guided or just reacting. That's a big one. Are you being guided or are you just reacting? Sometimes we want something so badly that we do not see the warning signs or hear the warning bells. We just want it so badly, we just negate everything that we hear, everything that we feel. Just stop and ask yourself, am I being guided or am I just reacting? And maybe plan for when Mercury is direct, if the time and supports it, maybe then it would be time to do it. So, kindred spirits, as we approach this Mercury retrograde, which did start yesterday, remember this is not a cosmic curse. It's a sacred pause. It's a recalibration, an invitation to align more deeply with your truth. And if you've been neglecting a nagging in your body, a hesitation in your heart, a thought you keep pushing away, this season, this Mercury retrograde, this alignment may bring it into view. And you can meet it with gentleness, clarity, and intention. So I invite you to journal today. What's showing up for you in this moment? What speaks softly beneath your surface? And remember, kindness to yourself and others is your greatest tool. And as an addition, you will also find an original guided meditation that I recorded with the name of this episode. Right after this, right after this episode, you'll see that guided meditation. And it may be able to help you with any stress or anxiety you are feeling through this Mercury retrograde. And even at if you listen to this after the retrograde, it's still going to help you. Please take advantage of the journal prompts at the end of the guided meditation episode description. And I will also put them on our Facebook page. And if you want this journal guide with prompts in helping you to realign, feel free to email me at healing our kindred spirits at gmail.com and I will gladly send you a printable copy. And if you enjoy our podcast, and I sincerely hope you do, please like, share, download, or follow us on any podcast streaming platform as well as our YouTube channel. We are audio only. No intention to do video, just audio. And if you have an amazing story to tell or experience to share and would like to be a guest on our podcast, please reach out to me. Please email me. Again, healing our kindred spirits at gmail.com. And as always, I'm holding space for you. If you feel drawn to share your reflections or how this cycle is speaking to your story, I'd love to hear from you. Please visit our Facebook page and share those experiences. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here. And always remember, you are never too much, and you are always, always enough.