We’re all familiar with the concept of setting new year’s resolutions each year, in the form of new health and wellness goals, bad habits to break, and new career goals too. But what if we took the time to self reflect, set our intentions, and manifest our desires each month –– just think of how much more powerful it could all be? What better way to truly hold ourselves accountable and help stay on track than to check in more often than not?
I’ve found that what works best for me is to combine my goals and ambitions in life with my spiritual practice. I like to do monthly (and sometimes even weekly or daily) self check-ins and really spend time looking inward to answer those hard questions that are needed to break free of my comfort zones and grow.
My favorite self-reflection ritual is to use the phases of the moon for guidance as we transition through each month. (Hey, this is my self care ritual too! #Winning)
Our minds are extremely powerful tools that we often overlook and underutilize. Our thoughts carry power and manifest themselves through the lives we all live. What you think about most is quite literally what you bring about most. Who you surround yourself with, the environment you live and work in –– all of these things are factors that play a role in the type of lives we live and the type of person we are.
In the same way that people try to deny their thoughts have power over them, I think a lot of people still try to deny the effects the moon has on them too.
The moon can shift the tides of the ocean. Have you ever heard someone that works with kids or in the healthcare/mental healthcare industry talk about what it’s like to work during a full moon? There’s an energy shift.
Every 28 days or so, the moon makes her way around us, cycling through the sun’s illuminations. These energies are always going to be there, dancing around us, waxing and waning each month, so we might as well use them to create the best versions of our lives!
In order to understand how we can best channel and harness the power of the moon, we first have to understand the different moon phases, what they mean and how they can best serve us in our journeys.
Moon Phases
New Moon: New beginnings
I set my intention. I am asking what my soul really wants.
This is a time for blank meditation, starting anew, and an offering of a clean slate.
The new moon is when we plant our seeds of intentions that we want to grow. This is the fresh start we wait for, with unlimited possibility. No dream is too big!
Spirit Daughter, one of my favorite spiritual gurus and the creator of the moon journaling I practice each month says that during a new moon, the combined effect of both the sun and the moon creates subtle frequencies that can be felt in our consciousness.
I’m most passionate about what I’m manifesting into my reality during a new moon.
This is the most powerful time to claim the life you want into existence. Think it into existence, speak it into existence, feel it into existence. If I were going to pick only one phase of the moon to take full ritualistic advantage of, it would be the new moon.
Every new moon, I download the specific monthly journal from Spirit Daughter and read through all of the astrological “flavors” we are in, and take extra time to reflect on the flavor of the moon.
I also spend a pretty significant amount of time, sometimes over the course of a few days, answering prompted journal questions and really taking time to dig deeply inward to hear my soul speak.
This is also one of the most powerful times to cleanse yourself, your environment, (and your magical crystal gemstones). Using sage and palo santo are great ways to clear the energies and start anew.
Waxing Crescent: Planning & preparing
I feel my intention. I let the energy of my dreams wash over me like waves.
This is a time to focus on your creative goals and plan accordingly.
Fresh energy. Declaration.
First Quarter: Take action
I take action to support my intention.
This is when you go, go, go!
Momentum is building. Pay attention.
The energy of a first quarter moon can feel intense, as we are breaking through any blocks we have with full steam ahead. During a first quarter moon we can break through our barriers and re-lay the foundations for the intentions we wish to have.
When we put in the hard work now, it will help us better build our dreams in the future.
Waxing Gibbous: Refine & push forward
I trust the Universe will help me focus my intention. I am resilient.
Patience. Edit and refine. Nurture your life.
Full Moon: Celebrate wins (& release losses)
I release the things that no longer serve me and that are preventing me from manifesting my intention. I am free.
This is the re-charge you’ve been waiting for, the full moon brings about a stronger body & mind.
Considered a celebratory time in many cultures, and the spiritually enlightened, a full moon is a time of immense joy and gratitude.
The full moon is the light of the night sky, bold and beautiful in every way. This was always my most favorite phase of the moon aesthetically, but I never fully understood how I could use it to my magical benefit until recent years. The full moon is when we harvest the inventions we planted under the new moon. This is the time to reap what we sow, so to speak.
I try to make it a habit to also practice simple full moon rituals too, and one of my favorite ones is to light a candle and write a list of all the things that I want to let go of and release into the universe. Once I’ve got it all out there on paper, free from my mind, I like to either rip it up (just shred it) into a million pieces, or literally light the paper on fire.
This is also a really good time to recharge yourself, your space and your magical gemstones by the light of the full moon. Don’t forget to practice good self-care! Your soul needs to recharge too.
Waning Gibbous: Harvest benefits
I see more clearly and express gratitude for the shadows coming to light. I am aware.
Take some time to give thanks and reflect on the past month, and any advice you’ve been given.
Nurture others. Release and receive service!
Third (Last) Quarter: Release
I receive the form of my intention the way it was truly intended. I am open.
Re-adjust and forgive! Break things down.
The last quarter moon helps illuminate what is holding us back and bring it to the forefront of our consciousness so that we can release the tension and move on. We can break free of the energies that are hindering us from growth, which can oftentimes be a difficult process, but a worthy one that is necessary for evolution.
Waning Crescent: Rest & reflect
I give thanks to the Universe for guidance. I am grateful.
This is the time to break up with any bad habits you have encountered!
Just surrender. Rest and restore! Reflect. Trust your intuition!
“As if you were on fire from within, the moon lives in the lining of your skin.” – Neruda
I grew up very passionate about the solar system, the universe, the stars, and astrology. The moon has always felt like home to me, (which makes sense because I’m a Cancer!) My sensitive soul has always felt the subtle charges of the moon as she cycles through her phases in forms of up and down mood swings, bursts of energy, and pure exhaustion.
Oftentimes my divinely feminine spirit also syncs up her cycles with the moon, cleansing her own power monthly by the full moonlight. When I’m actively working with the flow of these energies, everything seems to fall in place. When I’m fighting against the current things stray off course, and more challenges present themselves.
Regardless if reflecting by the phases of la luna is a consistent part of your spiritual practice now or not, you can still always use her energies to dive deeper into your own unique self and your identity.
Our energies are already forms of potent communication, expressing us physically anytime we go anywhere and interact with anyone. We already learn so much from each other through our energetic language, and as we continue to experiment more with the spiritual communication of the universe, we will further pivot into our own evolution.
Consider it a monthly form of self-care, just like your exercise, your best skincare routine, and your healthy food choices. We can eat right, and we can move our body, but if we still don’t focus on and deal with what’s going on in our head too, then we will never reach our highest level of peace, clarity and evolved consciousness.
