After the brisk square dance of energies in August, I re-evaluated my astrological macro diet and realized that I didn’t help myself to enough servings of Jupiter in Gemini in August.
Maybe we need a MyFitnessPal app equivalent for astrology!
While playing pickleball this morning, on this day of a New Moon in Virgo, it suddenly occurred to me that I was actually having fun.
Pickleball, like tennis and other back and forth games, is the domain of Mercury, the planetary host of Virgo and Gemini. (A fun aside: Roger Federer has Virgo rising and Steffi Graf is a triple Gemini).
I also remembered that the New Moon is happening in a section in Virgo that has an association with Deliverance in the Book of Changes (I Ching). “The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved.” Whew!
Jupiter in Gemini also happens to be in a relationship with this New Moon.
For me pickleball is mindfulness disguised as a sport. Everything I try to do on the court is just as applicable off the court. Pickleball, like any other sport, is a microcosm of all of life.
While preparing to serve the ball I focus on my breathing and have an inner and outer routine I follow that is a form of active meditation.
After the ball is in play, practicing that old maxim of “keep your eye on the ball” is another form of meditation that keeps me in the now perhaps more than any other activity I engage in.
Because I always play doubles, the game also requires taking others into account. Sometimes mindfulness takes a hit as a result and is replaced with shadow work! Ideally playing with others should help us attune ourselves to the energies around us.
If my partner is not coming up to the kitchen line when they are supposed to, which is a common court position error, it leaves us vulnerable to losing the point. It is always best if I adapt and reposition myself to help fill in the gap rather than think about how they are playing “incorrectly.” It goes without saying that my partners have to deal with my court position errors, too.
When I notice that the players opposite me are new to the game, I will slow down the pace on my serve most of the time. But not all of the time, because learning how to return faster services is important, and I also don’t want them to feel like I am dumbing down my game for them.
It’s always best practice to say things like “good shot” or “nice effort” and never give unsolicited feedback to a player about how to correct their shot.
“Bangers” are a common type of player in recreational pickleball. They focus on hitting the ball hard all the time. Admittedly, I sometimes get triggered by them. It works best if I focus on counteracting that energy with finesse, gracefulness, and a soft game. It also motivates me to be attentive to stretching my muscles regularly and work on hand-eye-coordination exercises off the court.
I was going to close with a quote about tennis by Jungian therapist Thomas Moore, but then found this in my stash of quotes and was happy with how well it fit with the theme:
In tennis, I am happiest when I am surprised by focus. When the concentration falls over me like the shadow of a bird overhead. Maddeningly, when I try to narrow my mind to a single outcome—hitting early, following through, footwork, even breathing correctly—I fumble. When I urge myself to just “enjoy” the contact, something clicks. I can see the ball spiraling toward me, and I hit it however I feel like. It is closer to forgetting than remembering, closer to “devout preoccupation” than “planning.”
And isn’t this our own plight, as adults at play? That we are at once trying to “cultivate” a skill, even as we seek that elusive “gladness”? What if we dared to replace the mindfulness paradigm with playfulness?
Racquet magazine, Issue #15
I’m up for such a dare.
Practical, earthy Virgo—rooted in planning, cultivating, and service—blended with a dash of Jupiter in Gemini, might just help us embrace playfulness and devout preoccupation as the ultimate mindfulness.
