Meditation teacher Jeff Warren tells a story about how, after the publication of his first book, he struggled for years to write the follow-up. He’d show up to write every day, but each day he’d write about something else.
He couldn’t get traction, and he was in agony about it.
Nevertheless, he was persisting, trying desperately to honor his commitment to his publisher.
Eventually, a friend suggested that he give up on the book.
Reluctantly, he gave it up. He faced the emptiness of not knowing what would come next.
A few months later, ABC News anchor Dan Harris reached out to Warren and asked him to co-author the book Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. With space in his schedule, he accepted. That book turned into a big hit. It changed Warren’s life.
Warren’s point is that sometimes we need to give up something — not necessarily as a ploy to get something better, but because the current thing isn’t working.
Every time I hear this story, it feels like medicine aimed to cure a deeply embedded belief that quitting is a sign of weakness and failure.
This lesson is one to keep in mind over the next several months as Saturn enters its annual retrograde phase.
Saturn Retrograde in Aries and Pisces
Since May 24, Saturn has been in Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. It stations retrograde (July 13, 12:07 AM ET) in early Aries and will move back into Pisces for one last visit before turning direct on November 28.
Retrogrades refer to the periods when a planet appears to be moving backward through the zodiac. This “backtracking” is a signal to us to engage in a review of the topics ruled by that planet.
Saturn is the planet of structure, systems, boundaries, responsibilities, and commitments.
Saturn’s retrogrades invite us to review, revise, and renegotiate our
- responsibilities and commitments
- systems and structures
- our schedules and how we work with time
- the boundaries we’ve established or need to establish
This retrograde might reveal where you’ve taken on too much, or where the commitments you’ve made just aren’t serving your deeper needs.
Like Warren, you may be called to give up a project or responsibility.
This can create a tension with another part of Saturn’s archetype that exists within you: the persistence to see your commitments through. Keeping your commitments is a high value for many of us, and the thought of quitting a project or even asking to renegotiate a commitment can feel antithetical to our core values.
Our culture lays out a clear division: persistence is noble and good; quitting is weak and bad.
But it’s not always so clear-cut.
There’s no virtue in over-committing or taking responsibility for more than your current capacity allows
Giving up something that isn’t serving you — or that is actively destroying you — can be self-preserving. It also frees up your time, attention, and energy, for your other commitments.
As Warren reminds us, giving up on a project is not the same as giving up on yourself or even giving up on the outcome. Sometimes, you need to find a different way to get the result, and you can only do that if you let go of the current way.
Close Out Open Loops
Saturn in Aries wants to take on new commitments. This particular transit of Saturn through Aries corresponds to other massive changes. In early 2026 Saturn and Neptune will meet at the 0-degree mark of Aries, initiating a new cycle. `
As life, responsibilities, and seasons change, sometimes we need different systems and structures to support us.
As Saturn slides back into Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac, we’ll be invited to look at what open loops we need to close out before we can fully commit to a new future.
Areas to Review During Saturn Retrograde
Everything has its season. Wisdom is knowing what season you’re in and honoring that season.
Here are some prompts to guide you through Saturn’s retrograde in Aries/Pisces:
- What structures and systems that once supported you no longer serve your new vision?
- What responsibilities do you need to renegotiate in order to gain traction on a project that matters to you?
- What rules do you have in place that are not serving you?
- What boundaries do you need to strengthen?
- Where do you need to relax your boundaries?
- What is your relationship with time? How might you need to revise this relationship?
- Where are you over-committed? Where are you under-committed?
- Where do you need more structure? Where do you need less structure?
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