​There was a time when sleep came as easy as breathing does, but now even after popping magnesium pills, taking melatonin, drinking chamomile tea, putting on a red light therapy mask and trying several other sleep inducing methods, sleep still evades most of us. According to American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 93% Gen Z-ers have admitted to staying up past their bedtimes, intentionally or otherwise. This sleep crisis is thanks to digital overload and endless doomscrolling that gets in the way of our body’s natural sleep cycle, known as the circadian rhythm.. To battle this, ‘soft-wellness’ creators on Instagram and TikTok started showering in the dark, originally intended to create a coccoon-like experience by turning your bathroom into a less sensorially active space. The central idea is to eliminate excessive stimulants and create a calming space, with the exception of a few candles to ensure that you don’t slip and break your neck.. Scientifically speaking, there is no direct relation between dark showering and sleep. It may simply be the effect of the darkness that naturally spikes melatonin aka ‘the sleep hormone’ and reduces cortisol, the stress hormone. “Bright light sends a signal to the brain to halt melatonin production and stay alert. This is why being under harsh lighting in the evening can delay your body’s natural wind-down process,” explains Dr Sumedha Verma, a clinical psychologist and founder of Deep Sleep Health. “Showering in dim light or darkness can soothe your senses after light exposure, which may support your body’s natural melatonin rise. Melatonin is released more easily in dim or dark conditions, which supports sleepiness, relaxation and overnight restoration. Cortisol, on the other hand, starts reaching its lowest levels, supporting sleep.” The temperature of the water also plays a pivotal role here according to Dr Verma. “Our core temperature naturally drops as we approach sleep. A warm shower briefly raises your skin temperature and when you step out, that heat dissipates, facilitating your core temperature to fall, which can actually support sleep onset.”. While this makes sense, we cannot help but wonder how over-the-top dark showering can be. On their humorous podcast, Plan B Show, the husband-wife duo Brock and Kiki giggle over how showering in the dark is a great way to get murdered. “You could slip and fall and break your coccyx or neck,” they muse while discussing the downsides of this trend. Dr Radhika Bapat, a clinical psychotherapist and a critic of the trend agrees, “We do not currently have gold-standard clinical evidence showing that dark showering directly produces meaningful health benefits. What we do know for a fact is that people have falls in bathrooms, especially older people. A wet, slippery environment with reduced visibility may feel therapeutic right up until it becomes orthopaedic,” she adds.. “Focusing on resting and relaxing your mind and body is more effectiv  

​You’ve heard of Mercury retrograde: the time when Mercury slows down, creating havoc for us earthlings when it comes to communication, travel and technology. However, there’s also a phase that occurs a few weeks before and after the planetary moonwalk called “retroshade”—and trust me, it can be worse than the actual retrograde.. Many years ago, I coined the term retroshade after noticing the pre- and post-retrograde periods were more complex. Mercury, the planet that connects us through many facets—including the mind, language and the exchange of information—begins to act sluggish at this moment, highlighting matters that need our attention by dropping hints and unexpected truth bombs. We have an inkling of what is going on before the planet’s backspin begins (because it’s visiting the degrees it’ll hit two more times), and spend the retrograde dealing with the story that began then.. The post-retrograde period revisits the degrees that Mercury trampled over before and during the retrograde. Now, we are making final decisions about how we want to move forward after the big reveal from the retrograde. With more information coming to light—since Mercury revisits the pre-shadow and retrograde zone for a third and final time—it might be impossible to forgive and move on, hard for us to bite our tongues and difficult to say “goodbye” to those who’ve done us wrong. Even if we do, the circumstances are most likely to repeat themselves because the retroshade phase makes problems perpetuate. Although no resolution might feel better than an unsatisfying solution, the endless recurrence can be frustrating.. This time around, the post-retroshade period in Pisces lasts from March 20 to April 9. Be smart and watch your words. The pre-retroshade transpired from February 11 to 26, with the retrograde spinning backward from February 26 to March 20. Emotions will be intense, so be kind and compassionate to others and yourselves.. Read below to find out how Mercury retroshade in Pisces will affect your zodiac sign:. Aries. Living in your own bubble is a safe place to be if you want to hide away, but you’ll eventually have to come out and play. You can avoid drama with others by being careful and mindful of whom you surround yourself with. Energy is contagious, and you must protect yours from those who do not have your best interests at heart.. Taurus. This is a wonderful time to assess your true friends. Over the past few weeks, you’ve discovered who you can rely on, which is why you need to value those who have stood by you through thick and thin. Not only will appreciating these people deepen your connection, but it also gives you a chance to build a strong foundation for the months ahead.. Gemini. Even though the promotion you’ve been hoping for isn’t coming to fruition anytime soon, you can still make advantageous professional moves during the retroshade period that will help you make a strong argument for your case. Hyping  

​You got to do both. The answer is that simple. Taurus, it is a myth that you need to make a choice, or to pick one aspect of your life over the other. Your love and professional life can thrive however, you need to be able to understand the balance and the demands it requires of you. In the past there may have been several options to choose from but now, you know that there has been something you have been working on. For example you may feel like your personal and professional life need you equally. You may feel like you have to make a choice between going for it and rationing it out. Whatever the dilemma, enter your gameplan with conviction and hope that it will work but minus the blindsidedness, Cancer. Trust your intuition every step of the way and most importantly remember to differentiate between your fearful voice and your intuitive inner voice. Your cards are laid right, it is just your mind and perspective that need a refresher. If you’ve been trying to hold it all together and wondering why the hell are things feeling heavy, perhaps all you need to do is to direct things instead of really doing them yourself. Remember the king is royalty not because he is always available, Leo. Not everyone in his kingdom is his friend, even though he can choose to be kind and welcoming to everyone he meets.. Read on for what the stars have in store for you, and make sure you check out your sun, moon and rising signs for the complete picture.. You received an opportunity, an idea, a love interest or offer, and you went right in, thinking it would be an overnight fairytale, but it wasn’t. Aries, the deal is not that you are not onto the right thing. The deal is that you need a little more consistency and patience to let your fruit unfold. Sure you had different expectations, but what makes you feel like this won’t build up to the standards you are setting? Give it some time, give it some attention and most definitely, grant it a benefit of doubt, just because the gift is not wrapped in your favourite paper, doesn’t mean that you won’t like the gift.. Cosmic tip: Think about it and then zoom back in to get working with it.. You got to do both. The answer is that simple. Taurus, it is a myth that you need to make a choice, or to pick one aspect of your life over the other. Your love and professional life can thrive however, you need to be able to understand the balance and the demands it requires of you. In the past there may have been several options to choose from but now, you know that there has been something you have been working on. Please don’t chuck it up in order to pursue your lofty dreams, instead take a grounded approach and figure a way of slowly bringing your plans to life without disrupting the current flow of things. Sometimes love demands stability and while this may sound boring, it is a very practical life lesson.  

​You received an opportunity, an idea, a love interest or offer, and you went right in, thinking it would be an overnight fairytale, but it wasn’t. Aries, the deal is not that you are not onto the right thing. The deal is that you need a little more consistency and patience to let your fruit unfold. Sure you had different expectations, but what makes you feel like this won’t build up to the standards you are setting? Give it some time, give it some attention and most definitely, grant it a benefit of doubt, just because the gift is not wrapped in your favourite paper, doesn’t mean that you won’t like the gift.. Cosmic tip: Think about it and then zoom back in to get working with it.. Taurus March 20, 2026. Gemini March 20, 2026. Cancer March 20, 2026. Leo March 20, 2026. Virgo March 20, 2026. Libra March 20, 2026. Scorpio March 20, 2026. Sagittarius March 20, 2026. Capricorn March 20, 2026. Aquarius March 20, 2026. Pisces March 20, 2026  

​You got to do both. The answer is that simple. Taurus, it is a myth that you need to make a choice, or to pick one aspect of your life over the other. Your love and professional life can thrive however, you need to be able to understand the balance and the demands it requires of you. In the past there may have been several options to choose from but now, you know that there has been something you have been working on. Please don’t chuck it up in order to pursue your lofty dreams, instead take a grounded approach and figure a way of slowly bringing your plans to life without disrupting the current flow of things. Sometimes love demands stability and while this may sound boring, it is a very practical life lesson.. Cosmic tip: You know what you need to do. Stop allowing your logic to purely make decisions that your intuition also needs to be part of.. Aries March 20, 2026. Gemini March 20, 2026. Cancer March 20, 2026. Leo March 20, 2026. Virgo March 20, 2026. Libra March 20, 2026. Scorpio March 20, 2026. Sagittarius March 20, 2026. Capricorn March 20, 2026. Aquarius March 20, 2026. Pisces March 20, 2026