Five Simple Ways To Practice Mindfulness to Live Happier
Gabrielle Mastronardo
May 9, 2024
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Discover the power of new moon rituals and how they can serve as a catalyst for new beginnings and manifestation.
Each month as the sky goes dark with the moon hiding in the shadows we have the perfect opportunity to slow down and shine a light on what our deepest desires are.
The new moon is the first phase in the lunar cycle and symbolizes a time for new beginnings. It serves as a reminder to set intentions and plant seeds that you want to manifest and see grow.
Since it’s a time for starting something new or realigning with your intentions, the new moon is a powerful time to perform a manifestation ritual to propel you into taking action toward your dreams.
Even if you’re not a big believer in the lunar energy, the cyclical nature of the moon can serve as our accountability partner for staying on track with our deepest desires, manifesting at the new moon and releasing during the full moon.
Using the phases of the moon cycle as markers to perform a ritual, check-in, and give yourself a little time for self-care on a reoccurring basis will help you make strides toward the life you dream of.
The word ritual might be intimidating, but it’s nothing to be afraid of— there is no witch’s cauldron or dancing in a graveyard necessary.
A ritual just means that you’re doing something with a set intention behind it and that you repeat it regularly. This is why rituals go hand in hand with conscious living, which is living with intention and awareness.
Rituals have been a part of holistic living since ancient times, with every culture cultivating its self-care rituals.
Today we have all sorts of rituals in our lives, think about your skin-care routine before bed each night, that’s a ritual. Maybe you do something every Sunday with your family, that’s a ritual too. Nothing woo woo about that, just repeated behaviors that are done with intention, be it better skin or deeper connections with our loved ones.
When it comes to a new moon ritual you have complete control to create your own ritual ceremonies that are personalized to what works for you or whatever you’re comfortable with. The most important part is that you do it with conscious attention to what your intention behind it is. We will get into all of that in this article so keep reading to learn to harness the energies of the new moon to manifest your best life.
You’ll want to prepare mentally and physically to get the most out of your new moon ritual.
Don’t worry if the first time it doesn’t go as smoothly as you thought it would, with each new moon you’ll be able to adjust until you have a ritual that works for you.
To start pick a time that you can devote to yourself for your new moon ritual with no external distractions. You can decide how long you want to spend on this ritual, it can be 30 minutes or 2 hours, as long as you can be fully present— with your phone on airplane mode and no kids, boyfriends, girlfriends, roommates, husbands, wives, etc. interrupting. This time is for you and what you want for your life.
Once you have the time in mind, you’ll want to create a sacred space where you can feel comfortable carrying out your ritual. Make sure that wherever you’re doing the ritual, you will have privacy and peace, and quiet. You don’t want someone watching you while you’re doing your rituals, it might make you feel uncomfortable, especially if you’re new to this.
Invoke your senses by lighting a candle, using essential oils, or burning palo santo sandalwood or sage. Set out any crystals that are calling to you. Place any moments that remind you of your goals and dreams.
If you want to go all out you can create a new moon circle of your crystals or flower petals, placing an element in the middle that aligns with what astrological sign the moon is currently in (i.e. if the moon is in a water sign, place water in the middle, if in a fire sign place the candle in the middle, etc.)
The new moon lunar phase works on two timelines, either two weeks or six months. Decide if you’ll be setting intentions for the short term or the long term (or both).
This is important because when you start digging into your intention setting part of your ritual you’ll have a clear idea of the timeline you’re working with for manifesting your intentions. Remember manifesting isn’t just about thinking and asking the universe for what you want, but putting actions with your wants and desires. Being specific down to when you want something to happen and exactly how you want to get there is absolutely essential for making these rituals work for you.
Now it’s time to select the actual activities that you’ll be doing. I’ve outlined the activities for new moon rituals below. They separated between finding and clarifying your intentions and honoring them. You should pick at least one from each section, but feel free to add as many as you’d like to make it your own.
Before you start the activities make sure to show gratitude to yourself and the moon for where you are right now in your journey. At the end of the ritual ceremonies honor yourself and the moon one more time by ending with gratitude. This is a great way to release any negative energy and focus on what’s serving you, rather than what’s not serving you.
Finding and bringing clarity to your New Moon Intention.
One of the best ways to turn inward and find what you desire is to journal. This can be done through stream-of-consciousness journaling. Meaning that you read a prompt and then just allow yourself to write unedited— not stopping yourself from writing what you’re thinking. Getting everything out on paper helps us find clarity and get rid of the clutter that is accumulated in our minds.
Use these New Moon Journal Prompts to Get Started:
In the next (two weeks, six months), I would like to bring more (****) into my life.
My wildest dream on this earth is to (…)
As I move toward my dream and imagine my dream coming true I feel (…)
I am interested in learning more about, exploring, or experimenting with (…)
If I could make decisions and take steps purely based on excitement, fun, and joy, I would (…)
How Can I Break My Goal Down Into 8 Actionable Steps? (one for each moon phase as milestones)
Some of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had over the past month were (…) They made me feel (…)
Think about your life in 5 years. What are you doing? Where are you living? Who are the important people in your life at that point?
Remember to be honest and not hold yourself back while you are journaling. You’ll find that your intentions will start to emerge from your stream of consciousness.
Using meditation is another way to find what you are desiring for the next two or six months. Here’s how to do it:
Lay or sit down comfortably. Place one hand on your heart and another hand on your belly. Then ask yourself “what do I desire” your mind will start to race. Take one of your thoughts and repeat it back to yourself.
For example, if you’re desiring to find success in your business— or deepening your relationship with your partner. Repeat that back and notice how you feel when you say or think it. Does your body light up with excitement? Does it make you nervous or anxious? Take note then let it go. Repeat this with every desire that comes up.
When you’re finished you can write down what came up for you and select the desires you’d like to manifest for this new moon.
Pulling an oracle card can help kickstart reflection and help pull out what you’re longing for in the future. If you’re not familiar with what Oracle Cards are, they’re similar to tarot cards but much simpler for the average user.
To use an oracle card, you simply as a question and pull a card. The card will have a prompt to read and possibly a book that has a linking passage to the card to go deeper into it.
Oracle cards can help you set your intention because when you read the prompts your inner voice will automatically start to draw up the things that are important to you. Then you can work with these thoughts to set your intentions.
Now that you know what intentions you’d like to set for the next two weeks or six months, it’s time to seal the deal and manifest them into reality. You can honor the intentions you set in many different ways but these are my favorite:
Affirmations are a great way to get yourself started on the journey of moving from your intention solely in your mind to making them happen in real life. If you’re not familiar with affirmations, basically they are just positive statements that you say out loud, listen to or write down.
The key is that these statements are spoken in the present tense— as if your intention has already come to fruition. For example, if your intention is to live more consciously over the next two weeks your affirmations could be: I am always living in the present moment or I do things slowly and embrace the journey.
Stating these positive affirmations about yourself helps your brain start to associate you with these characteristics on a subconscious level. You’ll be amazed at how your behavior starts to change just by saying a few powerful affirmations.
If you have a vision board, updating it to fit with your new intentions is a great activity to do during the new moon rituals. If you don’t have a vision board, don’t fret this is a great time to start one. Basically what you want to do is find pictures, quotes, or anything that represents what you are trying to manifest. You’ll put all of these things onto a board, in a little notebook, or even make a digital one.
The moon and water are closely aligned in the spiritual world. That’s why during the new moon it’s a great idea to take a ritual or spiritual bath. There are many different ways to draw yourself a new moon bath, you can read Mind Body Green’s complete guide to spiritual baths for more insight into that.
The most important thing to remember when doing this for the new moon, you want to use your time soaking to mediate or visualize yourself manifesting the intentions that you’ve set for yourself.
Before you can close out your new moon ritual with a closing gratitude practice it’s important to make yourself a little reminder of this time you’ve spent cultivating a deeper connection with yourself and the promises that you’ve made through your intention setting.
It should be something that you see daily to keep you on track with your goals and give you a little nudge of encouragement when you fall off of the path. It can be something as simple as a candle that you light every time you’re doing something to bring yourself closer to your goal, or it could be a full alter with your crystals, little notes of your intentions, and whatever you place in the middle of your petal circle (if you made one).
As I talked about earlier in the article, it’s important to not only start your ritual with gratitude but also end it. Thank yourself for showing up for yourself today, for taking the time to set the intention, and thank yourself for the new beginning that you are starting today.
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