Feeling jangly? Blame the Solar Storms

On May 22nd, the sun produced an incredible sequence of solar flares. Earth-orbiting satellites detected a dozen explosions in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2824. One of them emitted a radio burst so strong, it drowned out static from lightning storms on Earth and was recorded at midnight by listening stations in the Arctic. NOAA forecast models suggest that a CME might hit Earth’s magnetic field on May 26th. 

SpaceWeather says

During yesterday’s frenzy, the sun emitted a shortwave radio burst so loud that “it drowned out lightning static from a severe local thunderstorm,” reports Thomas Ashcraft, who recorded the noisy signal using a radio telescope in rural New Mexico. The radio burst coincided with an M1.4-class solar flare at 21:30 UT. “This was a very hot and dynamic flare for sure,” says Ashcraft. “I was recording audio at 22 MHz and 21 MHz, and my radio spectrograph was operating from 30 MHz down to 15 MHz. Strong solar radio emissions were present at all frequencies.” This event was so intense, radio operators in the Arctic heard it at midnight. “Normally, solar radio bursts can only be received during daylight hours,” says Stammes. “Here in the Lofoten islands, the sun is only just below the horizon in May around midnight. So I was able to detect the event even though the sun was not up.” Astronomers classify solar radio bursts into 5 types. Ashcraft’s radio spectrograph is able to determine which ones were present in the May 22nd outburst. “It was a mixture of Type II and Type V,” he says. These are caused, respectively, by shock waves and electron beams moving through the sun’s atmosphere in the aftermath of strong flares. The flaring of sunspot AR2824 continues apace on May 23rd, so more radio bursts may be in the offing.

I have talked before about how the energy of the sun affects the electromagnetic field of Earth, and our own personal electromagnetic fields as well. If you have been feeling “off” or overwhelmed, it may not be entirely about you. Don’t get me wrong, shifts like this will frequently bring things to the surface for processing, but it’s because of the discomfort, not the other way around.

Here are some tools you can use to get to a better place:

    * Journaling. Do some free-form, stream-of-consciousness writing about whatever is all jumbled in your head. When stuff stays in your head, it feeds on itself and gets bigger and more unwieldy. Writing it down can afford you come clarity, and it’s a kind of purge.
    * Drink more water. Energy like this tends to make you dehydrated, and dehydration brings on feelings of overwhelm. You can increase the effectiveness of your water by adding some clear fruit juice to the water.
    * Modified Sun Salutations are helpful for re-aligning yourself with the Sun’s energy, so it feels less dissonant.
    * Grounding always helps. You can either stick your feet in the grass, sand, or dirt, or do a grounding meditation (a deep meditation or even a 5 minute one will work).
    * Meditation in general isn’t a bad idea, either.
    * Eat foods that are close to nature. That’s my way of telling you to eat healthier.
    * Cut yourself some slack. And then cut other people some slack too. If you’re all feeling this way, the potential for weirdness, misunderstandings, and disagreements is higher. Do yourself a favor and breathe before speaking.

This too shall change, whether you want it to or not.

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