Why the Moon Effects You and How to Work With It’s Cycles
It might sound a little (or a lot) woo-woo, but working with the energy of the moon is a powerful tool to help you avoid burnout and improve mental wellbeing, productivity, and so much more!
Over the last several years, I’ve been thinking a lot about, and experimenting with, the cyclical nature of our lives. As part of my journey to recover from burnout and build my best life, I’ve been leaning into the idea of honoring the rhythm of life instead of constantly trying to do all the things all the time.
Before electric lights were in every house
Let’s start today by rewinding a few hundred years.
Only 100 years ago, less than half of American homes had electricity. Go back 150 years and it was unheard of to have electricity in your house.
And while there has been much in the way of technological progress over the past 150 years, there’s been little to no change in our physiology.
In other words – your body is still wired the same way your great-grandparents were wired when their houses weren’t!
Before electricity filled the night with light, we relied on fire – and the moon – to light the night. After sunset, all illumination came from candles, fireplaces, oil lamps, and the glow of the moon. That meant that if you wanted to do something after sunset you had significantly more light during the few days leading up to and right after the full moon.
Because of this additional light, it’s natural for us to be more active during the full moon. And the absence of light around the new moon makes it natural for us to be less active and to sleep more. And recent research has shown that to still be true.
Sleep and lunar cycles
A 2019 study looked at people living in rural indigenous communities without electricity in Argentina, as well as Argentineans with full access to electricity and more limited access to electricity. The study also included college students in an urban setting in the US.
Across the board, the research found people slept on average 20-90 minutes less during the full moon than during the new moon. The impact on sleep was more pronounced in those living in the rural indigenous communities, but the disruption in sleep was observed in all population groups studied.
Studies have also found the moon has an impact on our hormones which in turn impacts both our sleep and our ability to regulate our emotions.
We know bright light can delay the natural release of melatonin in our bodies. Melatonin is the hormone which signals your body it’s time to wind down and get ready for sleep. The full moon can trigger a delay in the production of melatonin which impacts the quantity and quality of our sleep.
Infradian rhythms, the moon & your menstrual cycle
You’re probably familiar with the term – circadian rhythm, it’s our natural sleep wake cycle that repeats every 24 hours. Infradian rhythms are part of a longer cycle and include things like a menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and seasonal affective disorder (in non-humans think of things like hibernation and migration).
While research on menstrual cycles syncing with the moon are often inconclusive, a smaller longitudinal study found that women tended to menstruate with the moon intermittently, and found the correlation declined as women aged and when they were exposed to artificial light at night. The researchers suggest these results indicate at one point menstrual cycles may have been more synced with the moon but that linkage has deteriorated with modern lifestyles and artificial lighting.
If you don’t use a hormonal birth control method, you may find your cycle aligns naturally with the moon’s cycle.
The window from new moon to full moon may be linked to the time from the end of your last menstruation to ovulation. From full moon to new moon, you may find your body moving from ovulation to menstruation.
Why does the moon matter when we have electricity
Ok, so we’ve covered the science of why physiologically we respond to the moon, but over and over results find the impact of the moon on our body diminishes the more and more we’re exposed to artificial light at night.
So if you can just turn on the lights and decrease the impact, why should you care about the cycles of the moon?
So many of us live in a society that encourages us to wear stress, overwhelm, and exhaustion like a badge of honor.
I remember a time when I was so proud of consistently putting in 14 hours a day at work. And I also remember a time when I cried under my desk every afternoon. The truth is that we physiologically can’t sustain the level of constantly going and doing that we strive for.
Your body can’t tell the difference between the stress of work and the stress of being face-to-face with a hungry bear. We talked a lot about the stress response in Episode 8 of the podcast. If you need a refresher, go back and check out that episode. But in a nutshell, constant stress sets us up for burnout, disorder and disease. Building in times of rest and introspection allow us to break the cycle of stress and give our bodies a chance to reset.
Living in harmony with the moon
Before electricity this cycle was naturally built into our lives. When the moon was full we were able to stay up later and do more with the additional light it provided. And when we move into a new moon, it allowed us to not only sleep longer, but also provided space for quite activities like introspection.
New moon to full moon – Inspiration
The growing of the moon from dark to light is the time for us to grow as well.
This inspiration phase is the going, doing, making stuff happen part of our cycle. It’s a time to use the light of the moon and the shorter nights of sleep to ignite your creativity and productivity. It’s a time of inspiration, growth, and curiosity in the world around us.
BUT, if we push ourselves to stay in the inspiration stage continuously, we burn out, we lose our ability to be inspired at all. And we remain in uninspired burnout until we’ve been able to replenish ourselves.
Full moon to new moon – Reflection
The reflection period as the moon wanes from full moon to new moon is a time to slow down and to focus more on the being than the doing. The increasing darkness outside is a sign to turn your focus inward. You might also notice it’s accompanied by a drop in energy, further encouraging you to be quiet and rest.
During this time, we’re called to enter a state of introspection and reflection.
When we take the opportunity to go inward, we may find things we’ve hidden away. These might be bright shiny things, and they may be slightly less shiny, but no less important things.
Your biography becomes your biology
By honoring both the inspiration and introspection stages of this monthly lunar cycle, we bring balance into our lives. As the old adage goes, too much of anything is never a good thing.
By honoring the monthly shifts, we give ourselves room to celebrate not only our creativity, but also the deep knowledge within ourselves. Finding a natural balance between these two allows us to create AND replenish so we don’t become burnt out.
Emotions (good and bad), stress, trauma, all of these things become embedded in our bodies. When unheard, they can manifest as disorder, disease, and chronic health issues. Remember – if you listen to your body whisper, you won’t have to hear it scream.
By taking the time to turn inward and listen to our bodies each month, we’re not only able to hear their messages, but we’re also able to acknowledge these messages have been received.
In acknowledging (and if necessary acting on) those messages, the body begins to process and release the emotions, stress and trauma it’s been holding onto, and in hearing the whispers we’ve helped prevent it from screaming for our attention.
The benefit of aligning with the energy of the moon
While you could cycle through inspiration and introspection independent of the moon, pairing it with our physiological response the lunar cycle allows us to find more ease in the process.
Just as the moon moves from darkest at new moon to brightest at full moon, you’re also invited to monthly move from the darkened days of introspection to the bright days of inspiration.
Through the process of introspection, you break down and release what you no longer need, learning lessons, and creating a fertile soil in which you’re able to plant your seeds of inspiration to help them grow faster and stronger than before.
Think of a vegetable garden grown in hard packed clay without any fertilizer or nutrients added. Now imagine a garden of light soil enriched over many planting seasons with nutrient filled compost. Which do you think will produce better tomatoes?
The same goes for you when you begin to move in harmony with the moon, you grow better metaphorical tomatoes. And the longer you flow in this rhythm, the more things in your life improve.
You’re healthier, you’re more creative, you’re more productive, and you’re able to achieve things you might not have thought possible. And it all starts with creating space for doing as well as being.
Additional infradian rhythms – the changing of the seasons
While this is a whole extra topic, I did want to quickly mention that the seasons are another infradian rhythm we can benefit from learning to harmonize with. Similar to the lunar cycle, the seasons provide a time to simply be, rest and draw inward (during the fall and winter) and a time to do and create (during the spring and summer).
Working with the lunar cycle or the rhythm of the seasons doesn’t have to be major shift in the way you live your life – for instance, I focus more on yin and restorative asana practices during the inwardly focused times and return to more active hatha and vinyasa practices during times of doing and creating. I’m still doing yoga every day, but I’m tailoring the practice to what the stage in the cycle calls for.
You can get more details on learning how to work with the energy of each season here.
How to start living in harmony with the moon
Are you ready to start experimenting with working with moon cycles? I’ve created a quick start guide with everything you need to create your own lunar routine – you can download your copy using the form below.
But even if this still feels a little woo-woo and you’re not sure you want to start planning around the moon, consider taking time each night to simply look up into the sky and notice the moon for a minute or two.
The magic – and science – of sky gazing
Many of us live in brightly lit cities and the light from the moon is much less noticeable. With lights in yards, on houses, lighting streets, night is turned into day, and we have to actively seek out the moon glowing in the sky.
Simply taking a few minutes to notice the beauty of the soft glow of the moon can make a difference in your life. Studies have found sky gazing reduces stress levels. So try to build a few minutes to look into the night sky into your evening routine – I like to look out the window while I brush my teeth each night.
Finding your own balance between inspiration and introspection
The biggest takeaway from today – is that there’s so much value in offering yourself the grace to incorporate times of inspiration and introspection. Creating space in your life to times of going and doing and times of resting and being.
If you want experiment with incorporating these different ways of showing up in your life with the lunar cycles – don’t forget to grab your copy of the quick start guide for working with the moon using the form below.
And remember – living your best life isn’t about changing your life – it’s about changing the way you show up for your life!
Show Notes
Additional Resources
Get the Quick Start Guide to start working with moon cycles including everything you need to begin incorporating periods of inspiration and introspection into your life! Grab your copy using the form below 👇!
Learn more about the stress response in Episode 8.
Get more information on working with the seasons.
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Submit your question to be featured on a future episode.
