The moon and you…what’s the real connection?

Live by these four cosmic phases for a happy, harmonised month

Have you ever wondered why women are so changeable? From our fluctuating weight to all the moods we traverse in any given week, we have greater highs and lows than our male counterparts. Why is this? It’s because the lunar cycle governs the feminine psyche and hormonal cycle, and the moon fluctuates a lot more than the sun. For example, the moon changes astrological signs every two and a half days, whereas the sun changes signs once a month. The moon has four main phases within a 28 day cycle, whereas the sun experiences four equivalent phases within a 365-day solar year. It’s also worth noting that women still cycle energetically with the lunar phases once menstruation ceases. In fact, this is when your feminine power is
at its strongest! So while for women it can be personally challenging to experience so much change, it’s an opportunity to accelerate our psycho-emotional growth. How do we do this? By consciously seeking to understand how the lunar phases and transits through the zodiac signs are affecting us. For example, as the moon moves from one sign to the next, we feel the influence of each sign, regardless of our personal horoscope. When the moon waxes and wanes through its four main phases – new moon, first quarter moon, full moon and last quarter moon, this also influences us. Simply by being aware of the lunar phases, we can apply their lessons and experience less emotional drama. Here we explain the four main phases of the moon, along with tips for thriving in each one.

NEW MOON – MEDITATE AND MANIFEST
In this phase, the moon isn’t visible to us at night because the sun and moon are conjunct (appear on top of one another). During this phase we’re more likely to feel tired, inwardly focused and vulnerable. This is the monthly crossroads when we can experience a psychological death and rebirth if we contemplate the beliefs and conditions that we’ve outgrown. This is a time when our psychic senses are amplified, making it ideal for meditation, conscious manifestation, channelling and attending women’s sharing circles. If your fertility cycle has ceased, this is the time of your ‘energetic period.’ It’s also when the majority of women menstruate

FIRST QUARTER MOON – PLAN AND SOCIALISE
One week after the new moon, the moon appears half illuminated. This is because it forms a 90 degree angle to the earth and the sun. During this phase, we’re likely to take risks, have more energy to exercise, and feel more social. This is a great time for putting ourselves ‘out there’ by sharing ideas, launching new projects, or planning social events. This is a time of doing, rather than reflecting.

FULL MOON – CONNECT AND INDULGE
This is the third week of the lunar month, when the moon is most visible and luminous. Why? It’s aligned with the earth and the sun, but is on the opposite side of the sun, so it reflects more sunlight. Full moon is when we often experience the culmination of either our conscious intent or the unconscious expectations that we seeded at new moon. Emotions tend to run high now and it can be a challenge to stay energetically grounded and get to sleep. This is the ideal time to celebrate life with the party or a shared meal, as we can weather late nights more easily. There’s also an innate urge to indulge our feminine desires for connection, communion, and sensual pleasure. Recent scientific evidence suggests that sleeping with exposure to the full moon regulates menstruation. This is because lunar wattage resets our endocrine function.

LAST QUARTER MOON – REST AND RESTORE
In the final week of the lunar cycle we tend to feel increasingly inward and contemplative as the light of the feminine diminishes. It’s best to conserve our energy as much as possible during this week – if we commit to too many social activities, we may find we don’t have the energy to attend them. This is the ideal time to have some early nights, and catch up on journaling, reading, and quality solitude.

BASK IN LUMINESCENT MOONLIGHT
Cast your mind back to your relationship with the moon as a young child. Did you talk or sing to the moon? Did you feel as if she had special powers? Consider doing some ‘moon bathing’ to bask in her healing, feminine light. Simply lie under the light of the moon and breathe in her luminescent energy; full moon is the ideal phase to do this. To discover the full effect of the moon in all 12 zodiac signs, follow Tanishka’s lunar blog, themoonwoman.com

Tanishka, a.k.a the moon woman, has been working with the moon and awakening goddess energy for more than 20 years. For more information on Tanishka and her upcoming European live tour, visit themoonwoman.com