Hello,
Welcome to Dark Moon Musings #08.
Today I am going to share with you how the moon can help you balance work and rest.
‘Boom and bust’ is an apt description of my old work-life balance.
I see-sawed between overwhelm and calm for years.
These days my work-life balance is more of a gentle waxing and waning—thanks to aligning my life with the cycles and seasons of nature and life.
There is no sense in striving to be in perpetual full bloom.
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We expect ourselves to be in perpetual full bloom in an attempt to reap a never-ending harvest. But that's not how nature works. Everything waxes, then it wanes. But somehow, we believe ourselves exempt from this cycle. Decay is as important as growth. You can’t have one without the other. By always being busy, we are working against nature’s natural rhythm—and consequently, we are exhausting ourselves, and nature. We have limits; nature has limits.
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We all know we need to rest—but most of us are not very good at recognising when to do it.
Thankfully nature is here to help us.
Nature’s cycles, be it the rhythm of the day, the earth’s seasons, the phases of the moon, the menstrual cycle, or our life cycle—they all do a beautiful job of reminding us when to retreat.
My absolute favourite of all these cycles is the lunar cycle. These days, I plan my life around the phases of the moon and finally feel like I've nailed work-life balance.
I wax when the moon waxes, and wane when the moon wanes. It's as simple as that.
That's the short version. Continue on for the longer version ;-)
Last month, I shared tips for following the phases of the moon by looking up at the sky, rather than relying on an app. Check it out here if you would like to catch up.
Apps still have their place. I use a moon phase calendar widget on my phone to plan ahead. I plan my life around the phases of the moon. What I’m doing each and every day is influenced by the phase the moon is in.
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Phases of the moon Southern Hemisphere.
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Week 1: New Moon until First Quarter.
The first week of the lunar cycle, from New Moon until First Quarter, is equivalent to the energies of midnight until 6 am.
It is a time for unfurling slowly.
It is the ideal time to dream, plan, schedule and brainstorm.
At the start of each lunar cycle, I sit down and work out what my priorities are for the month: for health, family, and work. I set my intentions, craft them into new moon prayers, and schedule out the entire month, with the phases of the moon influencing what I do when.
Week 2: First Quarter until the Full Moon.
The second week of the lunar cycle, from First Quarter until the Full Moon, is equivalent to the energies of 6 am until noon.
It is a time to step up, get busy, look outwards, and be inspired by others. If you are going to overload yourself with information and tasks, this is the week to do it.
I schedule most of my challenging and outward-focused tasks around the full moon. For example, when scheduling my chat with Brooke for the Slow Home Podcast, I selected an appointment time as close to the full moon as possible.
Week 3: Full Moon until Last Quarter.
The third week of the lunar cycle, from the Full Moon until Last Quarter, is equivalent to the energies of noon until 6 pm.
It’s still a busy time, but your attention starts to turn inwards. If you were sprinting the week before, now is a good time to slow down to a jog. It is the ideal time to edit, refine, polish, finish, wrap up, and share whatever you may have been working on during the lunar cycle.
If there’s a task I’m yet to start by this week, I bump it to the subsequent month. This week is not the time to be starting something new.
Week 4: Last quarter.
The fourth week of the lunar cycle, from Last Quarter, until Dark Moon, is equivalent to the energies of 6 pm until midnight.
It is the ideal time to clear away all the tasks, distractions and clutter you don’t want to drag into the coming month. It is time to turn down the volume on the outside world, turn inwards and tune in to your intuition without being distracted by the views of others.
This is when we should embrace all those wonderful ‘re’ words we tend to neglect: reflection, reevaluation, recalibration, regeneration, retreat, revisit, rethink, recharge, resolution, renewal and restoration.
The last few days of the lunar cycle is when Dark Moon musings lands in your inbox as a reminder to pause. So consider yourself reminded right now. Go on, take a breath. It is time to reflect and rest so that you can start the following month renewed and restored.
I know doing nothing isn't always possible. This Dark Moon I have a house full of family and am celebrating my 50th Birthday. So I imagine there will be very few moments of retreat. But that just means I'll have to go gently the following month.
We all have important work to do. Looking after ourselves, our family and our community. There is no sense in us being overwhelmed and exhausted. We need to be well and wise right now, more than ever.
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p.s. My next series of one-day Inside Time Outside nature connection retreats for women (in the Hunter Valley, NSW) will focus on stepping into winter. If you would like to join us, there are still tickets available for the 29th of May. Registration for the Spring retreats (28th Aug and 4th Sept) is also open.
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