in Call Your Coven’s newest forecast, September 2026: A Little Bit of Agency, i encourage folks to use one of my current professor’s methods for reflection and jotting down key takeaways—PAP: something PROFESSIONAL/PRACTICAL, something ACADEMIC, and something PERSONAL—in the upcoming month, to help us to assess the last 8 months, 1 year, 10 years of our lives.

i also talk about the importance of listening to the learned wisdom of those who have been somewhere similar to where you are, and gone through something similar to what you’re weathering, when you need inspiration, advice, solidarity, and even someone to commiserate with. at the very least, this connection can help to remind you that you are not alone in this uncertain place.

now, eclipses are typically not great times to get too active in your magical practices, as they are a bit like cosmic chiropractic. if you tense up or try to control your movements, you might get hurt! instead, they’re for witnessing, observing, releasing, feeling. but this one’s got some unique points of narrative overlap, which i wrote about in august’s notable numerology:

we’re in the in-between, babes.

need more evidence? just consider the current void-of-course moon, which is swimming at her own pace, unaspected by others, until later on tomorrow.

so to celebrate the full moon lunar eclipse in pisces, and honor the stories ending and beginning, i thought i would share some recent reflections of mine on psychospirituality, as well as model the PAP Method (not trademarked, not even an official thing!) for you to use in the month ahead.

my hope is that these takeaways can offer you something to put to use, something to expand your understanding, and something to relate to or connect with, today, under the energy of this potent eclipse, and as many days as it all proves useful.

did you know that people practice Mindfulness psychotherapy? that’s right—the Buddhist wisdom that most spiritual and witchy folks know and love is an actual theoretical orientation held by therapists.

what makes it a desirable modality? beyond a burgeoning amount of scientific research supporting the efficacy of Mindfulness and other contemplative therapies, sometimes the simplest practices are also the most radical! the art of non-doing doesn't require any tools, it doesn't cost any money, and it doesn't even ask the practitioner to follow a step-by-step approach.

yet, what mindfulness offers is vast and profound. as Jon Kabat-Zinn says in "Mindfulness for Life" (2013), the practice of "paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, as if your life depended on it" brings us into relationship with the full catastrophe of life, as well as gives us a chance to reclaim our agency.

while our past colors our present, and our future helps to direct it, the present moment is all we every truly have. and as i'm drawn to Existentialist psychotherapy, i appreciate Roger Walsh's (2021) note that "our unwillingness to acknowledge our own power and capacity for choice... rob[s] ourselves of the recognition of our own potency and power and responsibility."

on a collective note, i've been considering the use of Mindfulness and presence this week as it pertains to our relationships—romantic, platonic, collaborative. if Mindfulness means a dropping of everything that isn't alive in each passing present moment, then away goes the versions of us that first met, and even the versions of us that woke up this morning. it also means letting go of any future fantasies of who we could be.

this brings both pain and opportunity: to grieve, to witness, to forgive, to clarify feelings and desires, and to simply breathe and be in our bodies. within all long-term relationships, there still must be room to choose, and perhaps that radical honesty of acknowledging the people we are right here, right now, and creating ways for those people to connect, could offer us a taste of the liberation that Mindfulness invites us to experience.

while it won’t be my main or only modality, Mindfulness therapy will absolutely be a part of my future practice. it’s accessible, anti-capitalist, evidence-based, effective, and supplies amazing tools for any person's toolkit.

okay, but is there such a thing as trauma-informed mindfulness? yes—there’s another evidence-based practice that's been on the fringe for years, but is gaining traction in research and clinical spaces: Tapping, and/or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). 

"[T]apping on acupuncture points—with Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) being the field’s most widely studied and used format—are contributing to an integration of psychological and somatic approaches in the treatment of conditions including PTSD, anxiety, and depression" (Feinstein, 2025).

this graphic shows the proposed model of how tapping works, but for those who like to read medical jargon: "Neurobiological research reveals that tapping generates electrochemical signals which modulate limbic as well as executive brain regions. These interventions also produce measurable shifts in biomarkers—including reduced cortisol, enhanced immune function, and changes in gene expression—that correspond with clinical improvements."

you may have heard of The Tapping Solution, founded by the Ortner siblings, whose website offers a great deal of information about the practice, as well as the scientific research and results supporting its efficacy, and articles like "Tapping for Trauma: A Comprehensive Guide to EFT Techniques for Healing Trauma and PTSD."

i've never purchased one of their products, nor downloaded their app, but i have used their free resources, and think tapping could be a gentle bridge for other folks working through trauma, who need grounding and stabilizing practices before being able to truly tackle mindfulness.  

curious to hear what others think of tapping/EFT, and if anyone else has tried it?

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there’s a reason this one’s left for last. sometimes this one can be the hardest one.

i have a lot on my mind right now when it comes to mindfulness, emotional regulation, and trauma recovery during eclipse season. even though the moon is in pisces, it’s a blood moon eclipse, and i’ve been hanging out with my anger. the leaks in my energetic field. the places where my boundaries aren’t exactly shored up. and as it’s lighting up my 4h of home and family life, it’s also revealing where i’ve become too watery in my wants. how i’ve made myself smaller to make space for others.

pisces is also making me think about my spiritual practices and how they’ve changed over the years. back in 2024, when this eclipse cycle started, i was already navigating chronic pain and medical mystery, and although i’d had a few months of what i thought was decent health and some recovery, i was adjusting to a “new normal.”

unfortunately, with so many questions still plaguing me, i started to wonder if maybe it was a toxins problem? when i talked with a witchy friend about this, she shared that due to health issues of her own, she’d had to take all kinds of scented and chemical agents out of her practice. i started wondering if i should do the same, and since then, i’ve pretty much eradicated the external from my practice.

but i like my florida water! i love my candles and incense and tarjved wood sticks!

so yesterday, and with a great deal of medical answers in my back pocket, i dropped into the present moment and picked back up the florida water! i put it in my hands and clapped three times. i cleansed the energetic space around my very full, very tired brain. i basked in the familiar scent and how much joy and connection it provides. i lit the candles and the incense and the sticks, and i put together this newsletter.

it’s not much, but it’s a start. to honoring my past selves. to grieving all that’s happened and what it took from me (for a while). to integrating new and old practices into my present moment. to breathing a sigh of relief. to seeing where i can expand back into taking up more space. and much, much more.

in this moment of mindfulness, i am grateful for the full catastrophe of my life. i’m proud of what i’ve persevered through. i’m excited by what’s still to come! i’m meeting endings and beginnings with open palms.

so be it, so it is.

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