Harnessing the energy of the full moon

Glancing up at the night sky and noticing a full moon allows you to take a moment and admire the true beauty of the universe. But this monthly event in the lunar calendar is much more than light in the sky. There are ancient theories that suggest a deep link between the lunar cycle, the moon’s energy and our emotions and spirituality. And there are simple rituals you can perform to harness the powerful energy of the full moon, which promote genuine self-reflection, setting new intentions and letting go of what no longer serves you.

A full moon is the lunar phase when we can see it fully illuminated. This occurs when it aligns with the sun on the opposite side of the Earth, so the moon’s full face is lit up by the sun’s rays.

As the full moon marks the completion of what is called the waxing cycle (growing with light), it can also be seen as the growth cycle of our own intentions. This is when the moon’s energy is said to be at its peak and offers a great time to reflect on what has or hasn’t come to fruition in your life just yet. It prepares us for the waning cycle (light shrinking), toward the phase of a new moon.

Fill your cup with a full moon ritual

Whether you’re familiar with the power of the moon or just starting to explore the practice, the benefits can be illuminating.

Many people experience feeling overly emotional and disconnected at the peak of the full moon phase. But by utilising the moon’s energy through a thoughtful ritual, you may be able to uncover underlying, or even unconscious reasons for these emotions. A ritual allows you to dismiss old stagnant energies and thought patterns and replace any darkness or negativity with bright energy. It also gives you the time to make space for the new things you’re inviting into your life.

Rituals can be simple and quick – just focus on the intention and commitment to being present.

Try these easy rituals to connect with yourself and the power of the full moon.

1. Cleanse your space – both mental and physical

Light and dark energy are both at a peak during the full moon, so it’s a great time to cleanse your space, body and mind – clearing out any energy you no longer want to hold onto. Consider a smudging ceremony by lighting sage or palo santo to cleanse your home or workspace. Take a relaxing bath or go for a swim in the ocean, or simply change your bed sheets and declutter your space to cleanse your soul. It could be the fresh start and clean slate you need this month. You can combine this with affirmations or meditation if that feels authentic to you.

2. Charge your crystals

Many people believe the full moon is the optimum time to charge and cleanse your crystals for healing. Here is a basic guide to cleansing your crystals during a full moon.

1. Take your crystals outside and lay them out somewhere where they can be bathed in moonlight. Don’t worry about cloudy nights – it’s not the light that cleanses, but the moon’s energy as it passes over.

2. Place them on a natural surface like the earth, your lawn or a wooden plate. You can also use a crystal grid or your windowsill.

3. Leave your crystals out overnight if you can and collect them in the morning.

This process recharges the natural properties of your crystals, but what about your own intentions? This is a good time to set some intentions on how you would like your crystals to support you for the month. Write them down or say them aloud – whatever feels right for you. Now give thanks and express gratitude, taking the opportunity to connect with your inner self and the natural world that surrounds you.

3. Letting go

There are a few ways you can release energy during a full moon. You could light a candle, take some time to meditate or quietly reflect. You can also write down anything you want to let go or move on from, then burn the paper (in a safe place) before returning the ashes to the earth. You can also dance it out. Move your body alone or with some friends and release any stagnant energy by getting into your body and feeling free enough to let things go.

4. Reflect on your to-do list

If you’re a list person, the full moon is a good time to reflect on both short and long-term goals. Honestly check-in with yourself on your progress. Are you any closer to completing them? If not, why? Be proactive and set yourself a plan for getting there. You may also notice that some of these goals no longer resonate with you. That is ok, and is what the full moon is all about. Let go or modify your goals and accept yourself as you are right now.

This time of the month is a reminder to check in with yourself regularly and spend some time gazing inward. It is important that we take the time for ourselves to promote our own spiritual, mental and physical health and happiness and welcome new, positive opportunities into our lives.

a New Moon Ritual for you

If connecting to the elemental flow of nature isn’t enough to shift your perspective, our ever present luna moon has her unique cyclical rhythms of influence that she bestows upon us all. Being lovers of ritual coupled with intention, we’d like to share with you how you can harness the power of the New Moon.

The new moon is the birthing phase of the lunar cycle. This metaphysical energy of “new birth” that surrounds us as each new moon darkens the sky, hands us an opportunity to focus our attention on fresh new ideas, ways of being and manifestations we would like to call into our lives.

You might be feeling a void, a space or a gap in your life and you’re not quite sure how to fill it

Maybe you are beginning a new project or path for yourself and you’d like a little say in the vibe it carries

Perhaps you’ve discovered some new ideas or philosophies and you’re not sure how they fit into your life just yet

This is the time to ask our Luna New Moon for some guidance or support.

Setting the scene

A couple of days out leading into the new moon, begin to use your moments in between moments to be with yourself (instead of scrolling) and notice the emotional quality of your life. Naturally, desires and wishes for yourself may begin to surface. If and when they do, notice the emotional quality behind your desires. You might feel the calling to discover a new business idea, but at the core of this desire is to find a sense of purpose and creativity.

This is your New Moon offering or intention.

Basking in the energy of the New Moon

As the new moon arrives (in this case on Saturday) plan to spend some time where you can connect with her. Most people find being in nature the easiest conduit of connection, but do what resonates with you. If being outside in nature isn’t possible due to little humans (who you can absolutely include in this ritual!) or due to other limitations, some ideas could include;

• Having a warm bath with essential oils – our moon is deeply connected to the element of water.

• Reading your kids a story about the moon as they go to bed, holding your New Moon intention in your heart as you do.

• Making a warm cup of tea, with 5 minutes carved out just to focus on your New Moon intention as you lovingly consume it.

Wherever your circumstances find you, allow yourself to firstly come into a state of reverence towards the moon. Physically look up towards her direction if you can to take in the majesty of the night sky. Find yourself coming into a state of gratitude and awe of her magnitude, her influence on the rhythms of natural life – take her all in. 

Next, allow the energy of her to move through you, in whatever shape or form that takes for you in the moment. The new moon holds the qualities of possibility, potential, limitlessness, freshness, opening & wonder, so ask your body to open up to and accept these qualities. You may find yourself simply being in still presence with her, moving your body, crying, laughing or breathing deeply… there really are no limitations.

Handing over your offering to her

From this place of deeper connection with her, bring your offering or intention for this phase of the lunar cycle to mind and heart. Visualise your offering floating out of you and up up up towards the moon till it reaches her and is lovingly held by her. Allow yourself to feel a sense of trust, knowing that your intention may manifest itself in limitless ways, which will be for your highest good. With full surrender, we then say thank you.

During this ritual, include any other rituals that feel like home to you. This could be lighting a candle, lighting incense, sage or using essential oils, moving your body to rhythmic music, singing, repeating a mantra, saying a prayer and so on.

Tools for becoming more in sync with the lunar cycles

By far, the best way to become more in sync with the cycles of the moon is to pay attention to how you feel during her different phases. You can do this easily by downloading a free moon cycle and journaling your thoughts and feelings daily, with a little note next to each journal entry for the corresponding moon phase.

Morning Rituals for a happy heart and soul

How we start our day reflects the energy that we will be inviting in for the whole rest of our day ahead. Perhaps you can remember a time when you have woken up, checked your phone or emails straight away and became instantly stressed or agitated which then carried through for the whole rest of the day with many things going wrong. Whereas I’m sure you can remember a time where you woke up and had a beautiful and nourishing morning which then went on to lead you to having a beautiful and fulfilling day ahead. So as you can imagine, it is so important to begin our day with morning rituals which invite in the energy of calm, gratitude and flow in order to live each day in alignment with the expression of our Highest Self.

Things to avoid in your morning routine:

• Checking your phone/social media/emails

• Drinking stimulating substances (coffee/energy drinks)

• Eating sugary and processed foods

• Watching/consuming the news or other forms of media

• Leaving your bed unmade & leaving mess to deal with later

Morning Ritual Ideas:

Here are some morning ritual ideas which will help to nourish your heart and soul and allow your day to start off from a place of softness and alignment, which can be energetically carried through the rest of your day. You may not have time or even want to do everything on this list, but we can suggest choosing the ones that resonate with you best and then incorporating the into your daily morning routine.

1. Tongue Scraping

Tongue scraping is an ancient ayurvedic technique that has been used for thousands of years as a way to remove any toxins that have accumulated on the surface of your tongue. Overnight as you sleep, the body is working hard to remove these toxins which are then collected as a white coating over your tongue. In ayurveda they believe that it is very important to scrape away this toxic layer before you consume any liquids, so that you are not allowing the toxins to reenter into your system. You can do this through a method called ‘tongue scraping’, which is using a metal tongue scraper (or a teaspoon works just as well), to remove this coating. You can scrape your tongue and then wash away the white residue, and continue this process around 5-10 times until this layer has removed. 

There are a number of scientifically proven benefits associated with this practice, such as:

• Improves sense of taste

• Enhances oral hygiene

• Removes bacteria

• Reduces bad breath

• Improves overall health

• Prevents cavities

2. Warm Lemon Water

After you have removed any toxins from the mouth through the tongue scraping, now is the time to cleanse your digestive system for the day ahead with a warm and nourishing glass of lemon water. Drinking warm lemon water every morning helps the body to maintain its natural pH balance and helps to boost the immune system through its rich source of vitamin C. Other beautiful benefits include:

• Helps to fight infections with its powerful antibacterial properties

• Maintains digestive health

• Flushes toxins out of the liver

• Reduces joint and muscle pain

• Increases the metabolic rate

3. Gratitude Journaling

A bit of a fun way that you can incorporate gratitude into your daily life is to have a gratitude jar or box. You can find an empty jar or box and decorate it as you desire so that it looks pleasing to you. Once you have your gratitude container, the idea of this is to write down a gratitude statement on a piece of paper and add a new statement into the jar or box everyday. Then by the end of the week or the end of the month you can take out all of the statements and read out everything that you have been grateful for over that period. 

There has been an incredible amount of research on the healing benefits of regular gratitude practice. This can often take place in the form of gratitude journaling, where you can start your day with writing down three things you’re grateful for and why. When you allow yourself to tune into the resonance of gratitude, you will recognise more things that you are grateful for throughout your day. This attitude of gratitude shifts you away from a mentality of lack and fear, and into the vibration of love and appreciation.

4. Dream Journaling

Writing down your dreams when you wake up, is a beautiful way to boost your levels of creativity, and connect more to the messages of your unconscious mind. Writing down your dreams can also be a very therapeutic process, which can help you to process the experiences and emotions which you’ve had in your waking life which is often played out in the dream space. Research has also indicated that dream journaling helps to improve memory recall and strengthen the immune system.

5. Digital Detox

A digital detox is a complete break from technology and all media outlets. This includes checking your phone, social media, watching the news etc. Typically a digital detox may be for a prolonged period of time. However we understand that with the world that we live in, this usually isn’t possible. However it is definitely possible and attainable to have a digital detox every morning. This means waking up and not checking your phone or emails straight away. It would look something like waking up, practising a few of your nourishing morning rituals, having breakfast, having your shower and getting ready for your day. Only when you are ready and you have done everything you needed to and have established the right energy for the day, then you can consciously check your phone or emails when needs be. We would also very much recommend taking a digital detox before bedtime too so you can ease yourself into sleep without your stress response being triggered by the notifications and the blue light. 

If you want to find out more about starting a digital detox, check out our previous blog post: https://www.heartandsoulretreats.com.au/blog/digital-detox

6. Pranayama

Connecting to the power of your breath is a beautiful way to start the day, as it helps to connect you to your prana (your lifeforce energy), which can leave you feeling grounded throughout the rest of your day. Pranayama in sanskrit means to control your life force energy, which can be done through a variety of different breathing techniques which the ancient yogis have practised for thousands of years. There a number of amazing benefits associated with practising pranayama, such as:

• Decreased levels of stress

• Improved quality of sleep

• Increased levels of mindfulness

• Reduced high blood pressure

• Enhanced cognitive performance

• Improved lung capacity

• Regulates subtle energy in the body

• Helps to clear away stagnant energy and blockages

7. Yoga

A regular morning practice of yoga can help you to start your day with a positive flow of momentum. A yoga practice can help you to feel centered, calm and grounded so that you can move throughout your day within a more balanced state of mind. You are also allowing an increased level of prana (lifeforce energy) to flow within your energy field, which will help you to feel more connected to the wisdom of your Higher Self. Which will help you to respond instead of reacting to stressful situations that you may face throughout your day. Other wonderful benefits of a regular morning yoga practice includes:

• Helps to regulate your sleep rhythm and balance your hormones

• A great caffeine alternative to provide energy throughout the day

• Prevents injury and an achy body throughout the day

• A more dynamic practice will help to boost your metabolic rate

• Helps to build a healthy and consistent routine

We hope you have enjoyed these morning ritual ideas for a happy heart and soul. Let us know in the comments which rituals resonate with you best.