Ladies Climbing

Thanks to today's solar eclipse, I found myself wide awake at 3:30am. There was no use in fighting it, so I went downstairs, made some lemon ginger tea and started my morning routine of tarot + writing. As I let my mind wander, I remembered that the gym opens early on Tuesdays... and that a girl I wanted to climb with goes in the mornings.---Last week, I signed up for a lady's climbing clinic at the gym. My goals were to get some info about climbing better/stronger as a (petite) woman and to scout out a belay partner or two.The class was awesome. I learned a ton of new information and it recalibrated other knowledge I've had swimming around in my head. It's been two years of rock climbing on & off, and it's only recently that I've focused on climbing harder routes and bouldering. Getting one-on-one attention from a female climber, who is so strong she looks like a spider on the wall, and working with other women who are learning to climb harder routes, boosted my confidence and skills immediately.This year I have a goal to climb a legit 5.10a. Technically, I climbed (3) in the gym over the past few weeks, so I shifted the goal to consistently climbing 5.10as. I have no doubts this class will help me move forward.---So I head over to the gym this morning, and yay, the woman from the class is lead climbing with a friend. I say hi and continue with my morning work out, boldering some easy routes, being very intentional with my footwork. I am just getting ready to try some routes on the auto-belay when this gal walks over and asks if I'd like to top-rope.Oh, heck yes.So we trade belaying and climbing for a half-hour and she shows me some beta (though she's much taller) and we exchange numbers. And that is the story of how having insomnia lead me to try climbing with a new female partner.---The bigger story is that today's solar eclipse is all about letting go of the old to make way for the new. It's an astrological page-flip, and it just happens to be in my Sun sign of Pisces.

Tuesday's solar eclipse in Pisces offers us a chance to mindfully inscribe our intentions onto this next chapter. Not only is a solar-eclipse new moon one of the most potent occasions for ritual intention-setting, but astrological moments in which Pisces is a dominant energy are especially responsive to magical tactics and/or spiritual-mindedness. ~Astrobarry

So, it seemed fitting that today, on this new surge of energy, on wanting to be more powerful in my body, of seeking out new climbing partners, of setting new intentions, that I am awake early enough to have a grand old time at the gym before work. Oh, and it's International Women's Day. How awesome is that? Here's to more intentions, new energy, trying harder things, and making new friends in the next 4 weeks.Climb on.