Hi friends! Happy New Year!
Who else love the fresh start that a new year brings? There’s something so motivating and inspiring about the start of the year and today I wanted to talk to you about a way of setting intentions that you’ll actually be able to keep and continue to practice throughout 2019 (and beyond!) so everything isn’t completely forgotten come February!
You may have read this post from last year where I talked about my 2018 intentions and how, rather than setting “goals”, I was focusing on four main ways I wanted to “feel” in 2018. These four “feelings” I wanted to embody drove how I made decisions and went about last year, and for the first time I actually feel like I completely embodied and achieved so much from my “New Years resolutions” and really lived them out.
This way of focusing on “how you want to feel this year” ties in really well with the book and practice I’m talking about today.
Ezzie Spencer, in her book Lunar Abundance teaches a different way of setting intentions to create a life you love - one with more “peace, joy and abundance”.
Rather than setting goals or a long list of things to achieve, the Lunar Abundance practice that Ezzie created for herself and now shares in her book is about working with the phases of the moon, setting an intention for how you want to feel and embodying that throughout the rest of the moon cycle (which is approximately one month.)
It involves constantly checking in and readjusting, taking action and resting with the natural ebbs and flow of the moon as it moves through its different phases.
Moon cycles??!! At first I thought this was a little out there for me, but Ezzie’s book is incredibly well written, grounded and practical. The big takeaway essentially is that you’re using the moon as a natural timekeeper, reminding you to stay connected, check in with how you’re feeling and set an intention that you work with and constantly check in with everyday, with the opportunity to refocus and reassess what you need and want to work on every month (not just setting a a bunch of resolutions that are then forgotten by the end of January!)
So how does this process actually work?
Ezzie goes into great depth in her book and I highly recommend picking up a copy if you’re interested, but here’s a brief rundown…
The practice revolves around the moon phases, with the New moon starting each new cycle. With each new moon comes an opportunity to set a new intention which you’ll then work with throughout the month through each of the 8 phases - Crescent moon, first quarter moon, gibbous moon, full moon, disseminating moon, third quarter moon and balsamic moon.
The key when setting your intention is to make sure it’s positive, and feeling based rather than objective and measurable (Ezzie would say “how does that feel in your body?”)
An example of an intention might be:
“I feel a sense of peace, freedom, joy and expansion as I take action to embrace my creativity and continue forging my own path”
Then (if you want to), you can set a corresponding goal that’s more specific in terms of the “action” part to work with alongside your intention.
The book goes into specific ways to work with your intention through each of the 8 Moon phases. Each phase lasts a few days and with each phase, Ezzie gives suggestions of ways to work with either the yin or yang energy of each of the phases (the feminine or masculine energy - aka - “being” or “doing”).
Each cycle has a balance of working and resting, allowing a much more flowing and easeful (yet effective) way of getting things done and achieving what you’ve set out to achieve, rather than the typical “hustle and grind” approach. It’s about taking the most essential action to move yourself forward, focusing your energy on what is important and connecting with your intention daily.
Even if you’re not really interested in jumping right into it yet, I’d highly recommend giving just this first step a try - taking a few minutes each day to really check-in and feel your intention, and see what happens through the month. It’s pretty powerful!
One of the things I loved about the book is how Ezzie is not saying the moon “makes us do things”.
It’s about claiming your personal power and using the moon as a “natural time keeper”, as a tool to remind us to reflect and refocus. It’s not about being a subject or under the control of anything!
“This lunar abundance practice can be effective without suggesting that the moon makes us do anything. We work with the moon as a natural time keeper, a method to track a deep dive into ourselves, and a natural calendar for us to engage more with our world and spirituality, if this is relevant for us... the moon acts as a trigger to look within” Lunar Abundance book pg. 36
And if you “fall off the wagon” one month? There’s always a new cycle, it’s not like New Years resolutions that are so often set and then forgotten!
“With her rolling cycle, the moon speaks to me of her essence of abundance. She won’t “run out”. You will not “miss it.” You can’t miss it: she is there for you when you are ready. There will be another new moon, another cycle, and another opportunity to engage with the wisdom of the Moon cycle.” Lunar Abundance pg. 42
So if you’re interested in trying something a bit different this year I’d highly encourage you to check out the Lunar Abundance book and explore this really interesting (and rather magical!) practice that Ezzie shares.
There are plenty of free resources on her website too including a chart showing the Moon Cycles for the year with dates for each of the phases. She also has a few podcast episodes which go into more detail and were really interesting to listen to!
Last year she held online New Moon intention setting ceremonies where she really walked you through the process of connecting with yourself and setting an intention that feels right for you. There’s a free audio on her site which you can download if you’re wanting to give this a try.
I had the good fortune to meet Ezzie last year and to do an in-person intention setting with her. It was actually so magical and I’ve been playing with the practice over the past 6 months since meeting her. Last year it was mostly internal/mindset related work that I was focusing on and there have been huge shifts since that session with her (even if externally things may not look that different!) and I’m excited for what’s to come in 2019!
Let me know your thoughts and if this slightly more “magical” way of setting some intentions/resolutions for the new year peaks your interest!
As always, come say hi on instagram @laurennatalia29 or leave a comment below!
Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx