This Summer’s Mercury Retrograde Is Going To Be Rough & Here’s How You Can Prepare NOW

Starting Jul. 26, Mercury will go into retrograde and stay there until the end of the summer — meaning that much of August will take place during Mercury's wrath. But before you cancel all of your exciting adventure and beach plans in favor of ducking for cover, you might want to check out some Mercury retrograde summer astrology predictions in case your zodiac sign may not be as affected as you think. Or, at the very least, so you'll be able to protect yourself with a little preparation.

I know that it's standard procedure to cringe when anyone mentions Mercury retrograde, but the reality of its wrath is much less haunting than the fear of its wrath. As powerful as Mercury retrograde can be — yes, the rumors are true, miscommunications and technological setbacks are a-plenty during this time — there are ways to protect yourself from the effects of it. And if you give into the fear of the retrograde, you might manifest the negative effects of a retrograde. So keep your chin up, keep your plans intact, and put up a fight for the next three weeks.

Instead of cancelling your plans or rerouting your trips, spend a little time preparing for mishaps so you can make it through the summer undefeated. Just because Mercury's backward motion might be creating travel delays, computer crashes, and epic communication struggles, you can still make sure any summer plans you have go off without a hitch. Thinking ahead, making small adjustments, and mentally preparing yourself will help you keep things moving forward. As astrologist Linda Furiate tells Bustle, despite what you may be conditioned to fear about Mercury retrograde, it actually offers a lot of great opportunities to grow and to improve self worth. "Mercury retrograde is not to be feared," Furiate says. "It is a time to revisit many aspects of our lives, and to gain insight into how something may continue to serve our higher self."

On Jul. 26, at 1:03 a.m. EST, Mercury, the planet that rules all forms of communication, will station retrograde in the zodiac sign of Leo. According to Furiate, "since Mercury rules communication, our thinking process and the mind, this will be an excellent time to focus on what we want." So, while we should all definitely get the ball rolling with this thought process, Furiate also says we shouldn't "‘act upon’ our desires until Mercury is once again moving forward after Aug. 18." So you might want to consider writing down all of these thoughts in a journal so that you don't forget anything and can look back on it after the retrograde period is over.

To further prove that you should definitely not cancel your early August travel plans, Furiate tells Bustle, "now is an excellent time to review or revisit those aspects of our lives that offer us fun and enjoyment. This is the perfect time to take a fun vacation with those you love." But just because this might be a good time for you to travel for yourself, there still might be technological issues or communication issues, so Furiate suggests that during this time you plan trips only to places you're already familiar with, to minimize potential mishaps. There are a lot of details that you have to rely on when you travel somewhere new, and during Mercury's retrograde any one detail that's out of order might throw off a trip. So go to a place where you've already made good memories, and make some new ones.

If you're feeling low energy during early August, it might not have much to do your sleep schedule. Furiate warns that the combination of Mercury and Mars being in retrograde at the same time (Mars' retrograde runs from Jun. 16 to Aug. 27) might leave us all feeling a bit more sleepy and slow than usual. Furiate also says that we "may be met with extreme or oppressive weather patterns that zap our energy and desire to accomplish much beyond our daily tasks," during this time as well. If that happens, she encourages people to make a list of all the home or professional projects that we were working on and muster up the energy to complete them. This process will reinvigorate everyone, and make them feel productive. If we spend the entire retrograde period finishing up unfinished projects, we'll feel lighter and more focused by the end of the summer.

Lastly, Furiate tells Bustle that any lost items, experiences with travel delays or stressful, uneven conversations are all great opportunities for us to practice patience and self improvement. There's always a nicer tone of voice we can take, there's always a bit more patience we can find and there's always someone or something that we've been neglecting and that we can return our energy to. With a little extra motivation, this retrograde period could be powerfully transformative, rather than destructive.