Start a new moon ritual: Set your intentions and follow through
New Moons occur when the moon is exactly half-way between the Earth and the Sun. When that happens, the backside of the moon becomes visible from Earth.
New Moons are thought of as starting points, opportunities to plant seeds that we’ll harvest six months later, under the light of the Full Moon in the same sign.
Traditional farming techniques are based on this philosophy: plant seeds on the new moon, harvest on the full moon. Astrology nerds view it similarly: plant intentions on the new moon, witness them come to life (through focus, hard work, and mindfulness) on the full moon.
The cool thing about the New Moon (whether you dig the astro-vibes or not) is that we can use it as our special day each month to pause and notice if our life is on track with where we want to go, and whether we are showing up fully in order to get there. It’s an opportunity to adjust and re-focus our energy, so that we wake up from our day-to-day blahs and instead take action towards living the life we want to be living.
I am very into the moon cycles. Even as a girl, I was very interested in the moon. (There is a strong possibility this was due to watching An American Tail and singing the theme song 6 zillion times.)
I believe so much in the beauty of the moon cycles, I structured the milestone dates of the sale of my last company around them. My team plans our entire business calendar around them. I use the moon cycles to guide all the journal prompts, movement series, meditations, and creative projects that are part of our online studio.
However, it is not about “making it” within six months.
The moment you realize the intentions you set did not become reality, you’ll have an opportunity to check in and be sure they still align with your current vision and values. If your intentions do align, you can then re-evaluate your plan and up-level your commitment.
Sometimes, your own intentions no longer resonate with you (for a variety of reasons), and this gift of clarity allows you to connect with the new you and get curious about what’s possible now.
This is the best one of all! This is where some soul-searching is needed. In this phase, the baths get longer, the tears fall, the journaling gets specific, and this is when you may want to jump into an extra group life coaching session to be held accountable to digging into this nugget.
Am I super into the moon? YES! Why? Because it’s pretty, fun, bigger than me, been here longer, and it gives me a cyclical reminder to notice where I am at right now and imagine where I could be tomorrow.
Pro-tip: Put all the new moons into your calendar (with reminders) for the next six months. Play and see what comes. If scheduling on the actual new moon doesn’t feel right, pick any day that does.