The full moon is the moment in the lunar cycle of peak light, peak energy, peak everything (like the Summer Solstice in the annual solar cycle).
Before electricity, the full moon was when communities held celebrations because you could see all night long.
Also before electricity, the full moon was the friend of anyone whose work took them outside at night -- because you didn't have to stumble around in the dark. Obstacles were clearly revealed.
We're less in touch with the lunar cycle now that we don't rely on the moon to light our nighttime activities, but metaphorically speaking, the full moon can still "illuminate" what we need to "see more clearly" in our lives.
The full moon is a good time for acknowledging the good things
The full moon is an excellent time for celebrations. Take a moment while the energy is peaking, to count your blessings and acknowledge and celebrate your strengths, commitments, good intentions, and accomplishments.
Cant find any? For three days in a row over the full moon period, in your journal or on a piece of paper, write:
"I'm grateful for [...].
"I acknowledge [...]"
(Not sure what to acknowledge? Pick something good about you, something you've achieved, or even just something you haven't given up on. It gets easier with practice.)
And finally, write
"I want [...]"
(Acknowledging our desires, especially the ones we don't want to admit to, is a way of honoring them -- which is much healthier and kinder than ignoring or suppressing them2.
The full moon illuminates what's standing in our way
Sometimes it feels hard to find much to celebrate, or any authentic desires.
Sometimes all I see at the full moon is obstacles. Frustration. Flare-ups of difficult patterns that just keep hanging on no matter how hard I try to shake them off.
The full moon brings a kind of "peak illumination" to whatever needs our attention. Whatever we've been avoiding addressing in our lives.
"What is obvious--fully illuminated--in my life right now?" is a question I ask as the full moon approaches3.
"What is most intense, obvious, or compelling; what is demanding my attention right now?"
"What am I compelled to notice?"
Don't be discouraged if all you see is obstacles. Obstacles present themselves to us more clearly and insistently when we're ready to resolve them.
Until then, they hide in the shadows. We stumble over them, we know they're there, but we don't see them clearly until we're ready to resolve them.
When we're ready, when we "see" clearly--not before--the insight, teacher, support, or resources we need show up. The situation resolves itself, one way or another. (Maybe not comfortably.)
Our job in the meantime is to pay attention.
Right now, give your full attention to whatever feels intense in your life as this full moon approaches. Feel what you've been avoiding feeling.
Where is it in your body? Does it have a colour? A shape? A texture? How might a small child describe it?
Identify how it feels in your body to be so blocked, miserable, frustrated, whatever. Be with it to whatever degree feels do-able for you right now.
Take a long, deep, slow breath into the part of your body where you feel the sensations. Slower. Deeper.
Then let your breath out.
Slowly.
Even slower.
Keep breathing out until your lungs are empty, and then breath out a bit more.
Do that three times: breathe into the sensations; breathe out slowly and completely. Make your out breath longer than your in breath.
Sometimes it helps to hum as you breathe out. Tunefully or not, it doesn't matter. When I hum, I sound like a drone or a bumble bee4.
Now. Now, you're paying attention.
And when you're paying attention (as opposed to just coping) you're more likely to recognize the help you need when it shows up (in whatever form it comes).
Related reading
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Footnotes, Refs, Resources
- Chapter 4, The Empowered Wife by Laura Doyle.)
Repeat each prompt at least three times and finish the sentence. For three days in a row over the full moon.
I know. This is not a comfy exercise. In our go-go-go culture it's easier just to stay in the trap of never looking up from the daily grind.
But remember: what we focus on is where our energy goes, and what our energy goes toward is what we get more of1Hat tip to my EFT Coach Andrea Partridge who pointed out to me recently that its a good idea to celebrate how far we've come as well as thinking about where we want to go. And to the amazing Menstruality Educators at Red School who teach about the inner seasons of our lives, and how the inner season of "summer," around the full moon or ovulation if you're a menstruating woman, is the time to celebrate our selves
- Hat tip to the School of Shamanic Womancraft Founder Jayne Hardwick Collings, from whom I learned about using journaling prompts throughout the lunar or menstrual cycle to help me see where I've been and where I'm going
- Extending your exhale and humming can both help stimulate the vagus nerve, which will make you feel better. I've suggested 3 breaths because that's something you can try RIGHT NOW. Longer, regular sessions of breathing and/or humming can support your nervous system to literally rebuild itself so that you can gradually feel better more often and for longer. This post gives an example of extending your exhale to help you calm down or even sleep; you can follow the same steps and include humming on the out breath to increase its effectiveness.