From getting hacked, suspended, mold toxicity and anxiety - here's how I 'work with' the collective energy for my greatest good - Mercury Retrograde Edition!

Spoiler: I like astrology. It resonates with me and I’ve found it to provide helpful insights into working and interacting with others and navigating changes in my life. It’s not for everyone and that’s okay. You’re welcome to check out a different blog post!

You might have heard me share before that part of my well-being practice is to “work with the collective energies” [I just shared a short reel about this on my IG]. I wanted to share some of my journal reflections from the last mercury retrograde (November 2025) as an example illustrating what that means to work WITH the collective energies. We are currently in a mercury retrograde until March 20 and then a shadow period until April 9th, so my hope is this helps you look for the lessons and use it to your personal growth advantage.

If you’re looking for the Coles’ notes version - basically we adjust our mindset from “this is happening to me” to “this is happening for me”. I’ve been training my mindset to respond with “How can I make this work for my greatest good” whenever there’s a change in plan, rejection, etc. This is overly simplified - there’s is certainly nuance to this especially when it comes to violence, oppression, racism, abuse and harm to self and others.

What I learned over the last mercury retrograde – November 2025:

1.    My business bank account got hacked days before I was heading to Portugal for 3 weeks. This was annoying for sure especially since it is a debit card (that I rarely use!) and if all the pending charges had ended up going through then I would have been in overdraft. And I would have incurred overdraft fees if the bank’s investigation didn’t side in my favour! Navigating getting these charges withdrawn was particularly frustrating because there was a lot of inconsistency within the bank about who is supposed to do what and how to deal with it. And a lot needed to be dealt with in person at the branch where there was always a long wait (and I was about to leave the country!).  But fortunately not much damage was done.  

How I “worked” with this: I had been wanting to switch my business bank account over to a different financial institution that I liked more – this was good confirmation to do so!

2.    My personal Instagram account got suspended supposedly for community infringement. It was totally randomly and only ended up being for a few hours because I successfully appealed it. I hadn’t done anything wrong – I think if anything I was trying to paste a large list to a friend in the chat and that might of triggered something. BUT it reminded me (of what other people have also reminded me many times in the past!) that relying on a platform that I don’t own to be the main way I interact with the majority of my audience is risky!

How I “worked” with this: I am trying to more consistently invite people to subscribe to my newsletter and share the reasoning! If you'd like to subscribe - just sign up at the bottom of this page: https://www.emilygibsonconsulting.com/

3.    In October I realized that I had been having ongoing histamine issues and been experiencing mold toxicity from my home in Aotearoa New Zealand.

If you can believe it – I was SO happy to figure this out because I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of my health challenges for 2 years! Fast forward a couple weeks to November, in learning more about histamine intolerance and mast cell activation syndrome (what I have), I came across a medical intuitive and homeopath who was sharing the connection between repressed anger and histamine issues. BIG LIGHTBULB MOMENT FOR ME.

Over the years, even before moving to Aotearoa, when I saw a new healer (even one of my psychologists), one of the first things they would say to me after looking at my body was “what’s with all this repressed rage?!” Cue my response of confusion and low key numbing - “I don’t have repressed rage. I don’t feel anger.” Well that should have been the cue for me.

How I “worked” with this: Again, instead of leaning into feeling sorry for myself and the potentially lengthy and constricting treatment plan, I leaned into – how can I use this to become my strongest, healthiest and most self-awareness version of myself. And how can I actively express anger in a healthy way.

4.     I was living my best European life, yet the anxiety was creeping in.

For most of this mercury retrograde I was in Portugal with a friend. We are both WFHers and found an amazingly cheap flight to Portugal. It was amazing. I loved it. BUT I also noticed anxiety creeping up especially around heading back home.

How I “worked” with this: Instead of pushing it away, I engaged my Observer mode and sat with my anxiety (Internal Family Systems parts work). Not letting it overwhelm me but asking what it needed, what it was trying to share with me and validating the ‘work’ it does for me. I knew my anxiety was telling me something, so I didn’t spiral I just leaned into my practices to hear what it was telling me.

So when I say that I designed my Nourish monthly membership to help us WORK WITH the collective energies for our greatest good – this is what I mean. It means understanding the astrological and energetic patterns we are in, what shadows they might be helping us navigate, how they are helping us achieve our dreams, etc. This type of ‘work’ helps me stay grounded throughout these challenges. It makes them a little easier. And it helps me see where I can make the most of the situation.  Again –  nuance is needed here. Violence, abuse, oppression, harm, racism is never okay and shouldn’t need to be something we ‘work with’.

If you’re looking to make your life a little easier with guided support to propel to your best life, Nourish is here for you. I send a weekly audio note with channelled tarot guidance and how to work with the collective energy. I send a short well-being practice suggestion so you don’t have to think about what to do to tend to your mind, body, spirit or emotions. AND I offer two astrology ceremonies a month to weave intentional ritual into our practice to again more to our best lives.

I’ve extended my February sale until March 9^th – use promocode ‘february’ at checkout to save on $35 off your first month.    

Here are a few pics from Portugal.