Full Moon 101: What to expect and how to work with the energy
For centuries, humans have been living by lunar cycles and harnessing it’s energy. Living more in alignment with these cycles helps us stay connected to the earth and cosmos, giving a sense of grounding and connection.
The full moon happens once a month (it can rarely occur twice in the same month, called a Blue Moon), when the sun and moon are directly opposite of each other in the sky. Then, the sun’s rays illuminate the surface of our moon, and we have a full moon happening.
How does the full moon energy affect us?
Full moon’s mark the end of a full moon cycle. The intentions we set during the New Moon have now come to fruition and we reap the fruits of our labor. During this time, we may also experience heightened emotions and intuition.
In former times without artificial light, full moons were a time to gather outside together, play, connect to the earth and cosmos. It was a time to play and cherish the night, since the full moon only illuminates the earth once a month (because it was otherwise pitch-dark outside).
During a full moon, there is a heightened energy. You may experience:
- Heightened emotions
- More intuition
- A more opened third-eye
- Confusion
- Anxiety
- Vivid dreams
- Trouble sleeping
- A lot of synchronicities or things “falling into place”
- Melancholy
- Old wounds / memories may come up
Also, keep in mind that full moon energy is present three days before and three days after the actual full moon!
“There is a moon inside every human being. Learn to be companions with it.”
-Rumi
What should you generally keep in mind during a full moon?
A full moon is the time to let go and surrender. During this time, you should practice acceptance and keep an open mind to whatever is happening on the outside.
Your general attitude should be:
- Practice non-attachment and letting go
- Surrender to your yourself and the universe
- Tap into your intuition
- Connect to the divine
- Ground yourself
- Practice emotion regulation
You should not:
- Let your emotions guide your actions
- Make important life-decisions
- Set intentions
- React too fast
Full-Moons are a powerful time that reveal a lot about the inner-workings of our psyche and our shadow self. Stay open about whatever comes towards you but be aware that there can be a lot of tumult and confusion. Stay in the role of the observer and work your way through whatever came up during the full moon a few days after the energies have settled.
17 Things to do during a full moon
Here are 16 practical things for you to do during a full moon. They help you stay grounded, manage your emotions and to harness this potent energy.
Practices to Release
- Journal
Let your thoughts flow and release themselves through manifesting in paper. Journaling can be a great way to get things out of your mind and onto paper.
If you want, you can also burn whatever you have written down. Through tapping into the fire-energy, you materialize your intention of letting something go.
2. Yoga
Yoga is a great way to release stagnant energies throughout the body. Practice heart and hip opening poses to release emotions.
Great poses are: Warrior I, Half Moon Pose, Bhujangasana (Cobra), Puppy Pose, Camel Pose, Bridge (…).
3. Dance
Dancing is also a great way to tap into a more playful energy and to loosen up. Put on your favorite music and dance it out!
4. Write a letter, then burn it
This ties in with journaling. If you hold resentment towards someone or have things left unsaid, write them all down in a letter. Afterwards, burn the letter with the intention to let that go and to let that message find its way without you clinging to it.
Be careful not to send the letter though! Wait at least a week until making that decision.
“Escape from the black cloud that surrounds you. Then you will see your own light as radiant as the full moon.”
-Rumi
Grounding and Relaxing
5. Say / Chant a Mantra
Concentrating on a Mantra can be a powerful tool to help calm down a racing mind. Plus, traditional Mantra’s resonate on a certain frequency and can bring about a lot of healing and a deep spiritual experience.
A traditional Mantra specifically for the full moon would be: Om sri chandraya namaha.
You can always choose your own mantra. It could be a sentence like: “I surrender and let go.” or “With every inbreath, I ground myself, with every outbreath, I let go.”
6. Meditation
Meditation is a powerful way to come back to center. If meditation in silence feels uncomfortable for you (especially during the full moon), don’t force it!
Try out a guided or moving meditation. Also, If you struggle with resentment, I advice you try a ho’oponopono – meditation out.
7. Yin Yoga
Yoga is always a great way to relax the body and mind. Certain poses (i.e. Tree pose or Mountain Pose) can give you some extra grounding.
For really winding down, I advise you try out Yin Yoga. It is a slow type of yoga, where certain relaxing poses will be held for 1-5 minutes, sometimes even longer. The stretches of Yin Yoga can really loosen up your muscles and even fascia.
8. Work with herbs
Plants carry certain energies and properties. For Grounding and Relaxing, try out soothing herbs like lavender, chamomile or Valerian Root.
You can put your herbs in your bathtub, make tea out of them or even implement them into your cooking and baking for some extra magic. Of course, there are many more ways on how to work with your herbs (i.e. making herb sachets, making syrup, oils, spray bottles, …).
Cleanse & Clear
9. Clean & declutter your space
We all know the saying how a clear environment brings a clean mind. Full Moons are a great time to declutter your space, spend some time deep cleaning and sorting things out.
Whilst cleaning, you could also have the intention of: “As I’m cleaning this space, I am getting rid of all stagnant energies that no longer serve me”.
10. Bath/Shower
In the Yogi Tradition, the morning practice starts out by cleaning the body. Take some time to yourself and have a little self-care routine, you will feel different and refreshed afterwards.
If you want to add some extra magic, you could try making a herb bath. Put some herbs with properties in your bathtub, light some candles and have some time winding-down.
11. Frequencies
Sounds have different frequencies. Different frequencies have different affects on your mind, body and soul.
You could ring a ringing bowl, If you have one. Another great way to clean your space of energies is to put on a youtube video on your speaker that contains 417Hz which cleans out your environment.
12. Burn herbs
Before starting any ritual, I’d always advice to burn some cleansing herbs. White sage, Palo Santo or Rosemary are great to really wipe out any stagnant or old energies from yourself and your space.
Make sure to use ethically resourced herbs. If you have a Rosmary plant, dry your own herbs and use those! Be safe whilst burning herbs and don’t leave them unattended.
Other things
13. Make Moon Water
This is one of my most favorite things to do during the full moon. Just put a mason jar filled with water outside during a full moon night (water from a natural source would be optimal, but you can also use tap water). It’s best to take it in before sunrise.
You can use the water for many different purposes. You can use it for manifestation or in any of your rituals. I like to make my herbal sprays with moon water.
14. Do a full moon ritual
There are many different kinds of rituals you could do during a full moon. Try out different things and with time, you will find out what works for you!
For starting out, maybe try some things of this list. First, you cleanse your space and energy. Then you try some type of meditation to alter your brain state. Afterwards, you can write down something you want to release or do some type of divination (i.e. Tarot cards, runes, pendulum).
15. Charge your crystals
For your crystals to work optimally, they need to be cleansed and recharged frequently.
An easy way to charge your crystals is laying them outside during a full moon night. But be aware of rain, as some crystals dissolve in water.
16. Spend time alone & offline
During a full moon, you may be more sensitive to what is going outside. In addition, other’s experience the same heightened emotions.
Spending time alone is especially beneficial during a full moon, because your intuition is heightened and your shadow side is prevalent. It is a perfect time to do some healing and shadow work.
17. Tune into your intuition
Finally, the full moons are the best time to doing some type of divination work. Your intuition is heightened and more information than usual is available during full moons.
You might want to try spreading some Tarot cards or tuning in with your spirit guides. You could also work with a pendulum, runes or simply try out lucid dreaming.
Wrapping up
Full moon’s can be a challenging time because of our heightened emotions and energies. If you become more aware of the moon cycles, you can align yourself with this cosmic energies.
Through pracitcing grounding and cleansing work, full moon’s can become a pleasant and healing time. We are so used to rushing through our weeks that slowing down rarely comes to mind.
Also, there are many beautiful and potent ways to use the full moon’s energy. Spells, divination work and banishing rituals work especially well during this time.
“The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full.”
-Rumi
