We all want passion.

It makes life worth living. It’s the joie de vie that takes life from dull and mediocre, to exciting and fresh. It can keep us going, moving, and actually make us want to expand ourselves in a natural way.

Yet most of us are often stuck in neutral, coasting through life, feeling the struggle of life’s challenges, rather than the juicy, good stuff on the other side of the struggle. For many, passion is little more than wishful thinking, a subtle desire, a yearning, or perhaps something that is fleeting.

We all have access to greater and greater passion. It’s a muscle that needs to be used, practiced, flexed, explored, played with—not something that magically appears, rather it’s an intrinsic part of our nature that has to be cultivated and nurtured.

Right now, the planets are ripe with passion, helping us each to explore this part of ourselves in more intimate ways. Nature gives us these time periods to dip our toes in, or jump full body, into the rivers of passion.

Venus has been chasing Mars for months—and this combination is ideal for inducing passion. Mars is our inner fire, our warrior spirit. He is decisive, clear and action oriented. He doesn’t think (that’s Mercury’s job) but instead chooses to go forth without question. Venus on the other hand is connected to our inner waters (jala) and by default our creative life force, our shakti. Venus connects us, helps us relate, to be in relationship. Venus is a co-creative planet and it helps us to feel nourished, to receive nourishment from life, from others, and ultimately from ourselves. Venus is the planet of love for this reason.

The combination of Mars and Venus induces a fire and water combination, yet these two are neutral to each other (they tolerate each other in other words). As Mars moves into Pisces on February 11th, joining Ketu here, our passions increase, as well as our desires. These themes intensify as Venus moves to Pisces on the 15th of February, its sign of exaltation. An exalted planet can fully expand and express itself (for better or worse) and so we will see our inner waters swell and increase as well.

This can be a time of maximum creativity, maximum love flowing, and more open channels for all things Venus (such as money, love, the feminine, relationships, creativity, art, beauty, worldly pleasures). With exalted Venus conjunct Mars and Ketu, we get a warrior like re-structuring of our love, our creative flow, our relationships. The combination of Mars and Venus creates a feeling of passion within us. This is a result of fire and water merging, creating steam within us. This steam can be a powerful force—energizing, clearing and purifying.

What steam is being created in your life right now?

As you look at your jyotish chart, locate Pisces, the number 12. This is where the conjunction of Mars, Ketu and exalted Venus is happening for you until March 12th. You’ll want to notice what house Pisces is in (based on your rising sign) as this placement will heighten the theme of passion in this area of your life.

Pisces by default connects us to our feet (12th house matters) and therefor working with the feet as a primary body part resource can be helpful right now to assimilate the nourishment arriving, the intensity of the passions we are experiencing, and also to ground us in the now. Working with the feet allows us to “step forward” in our lives and “stand our ground” and also to “leap and land.”

Simultaneously, Venus connects us to our pelvis. Working with the dynamics, the relationship between feet and pelvis can help us maximize our creative connection, our feeling level of life, while rooting us in this nourishing awareness.

Here are three simple steps to help you create more passion in your life and to capitalize on the increased passion available to us at this time.

1) Connect with your feelings. What makes you feel joyful, enthusiastic, inspired? What induces a feeling of love in you? What makes you feel nourished and satisfied? Get descriptive.

2) What activities inspire the above feelings? Maybe it’s cooking a wonderful meal or reading a book with a cup of tea. Maybe walking in the woods with your dog. Write down the activities that induce these feelings of joy, love and nourishment within you.

3) Circle the top three activities that bring you the most joy, love and nourishment. These are your “go-to” activities to create greater passion in your life. These activities will push your passion buttons, open the channels within you and awaken a deeper connection with your life force. Make sure that you are using these activities once a week, or even daily, to connect to the passion coursing through you. Remember, passion is like a muscle that must be flexed, used, and developed. It takes practice.

I invite you to notice where the sensation of passion is stirred within your body. Where do you feel the passion enlivening you? What body part is connected to this passionate feeling moving through you? This body part can be a powerful ally of support and an important resource for you so pay attention to what messages it has to share with you.

Enjoy the passion moving through you!

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Relephant: 

How to Come Back to Yourself. 

Radical Self-Care 101.

Author: Saraswati J.

Editor: Renée Picard

Image: purplesherbet at Flickr