Monday Moon Phase
What is Monday Moon Phase? Monday Moon Phase is my day to explore the moon phase. To take a look at the spiritual meaning of the moon phase in New Zealand, and see how learning about it, aligning to it, and utilising it’s cyclical power could help us in our lives.
MOON PHASE Waxing Crescent
Today’s moon phase of Waxing Crescent presents a time to set intentions. The new moon began its cycle on 18 July and will come into the first quarter by 26th July. This is where the light illuminating the moon grows from New Moon to the first quarter so does the energy. The new moon energy generates the power to refresh and rebuild from where we are. And we have a few days of this new phase to align ourselves to what we most want to achieve over the cycle.
For more moon insights on where we are at from a zodiac perspective read this Moon Omens article.
Get clear. Prioritise pathways
It can be hard during winter to get motivated. Using this moon phase can help invigorate your drive. The waxing crescent moon phase is a good time to get clear on your most important priorities. A great way to find out what these are is by doing an exercise called the 3 Most Important Questions. It’s a Mind Valley exercise that is great for finding out what is most important to you.
End Goal vs Actionable Steps
This moon phase presents a good time to develop a single-pointed focus. Your wider or end goals can be the same as they have always been or they could be new. The waxing crescent phase allows you to create new pathways or new steps toward your goals.
How do we get clear?
Getting clear on what you want can be difficult in our current times, as we have a long list of things we wish to achieve, have a lot going on in our life, or simply have no idea where to start this is all fairly normal and you are not alone.
If you are lost in the forest of ideas, uncertain of where your starting point should be - do not worry. I have some tips below to get you started on your clarity.
Step 1 - Begin small
As many yoga teachers say in regard to your yoga practice ‘the first step is getting on the mat’. The same applies to intentions. Or what James Clear calls our habits. Begin in the smallest possible way. This thought alone could help you create your step 1. Step 1 doesn’t have to be something you do immediately it can be a plan. We must note - Setting intentions has no specific size. And when life looms larger and more daunting setting small intentions can help to overcome overwhelm.
“Overambition can be destructive of sustainable progress.” B.K.S Iyengar - Light on Life
What is a small intention?
A small intention could be as tiny as breathing. Or planning a breathing session. A small intention could be getting the pens to write with. Or planning a minute to write. A small intention could be smiling for a second. Today’s small intention is to plan to smile for 1 minute. The point of setting a small intention is to make it sustainable progress and not as a destruction to progress.
Beginning with the end
Your small step doesn’t have to be at the beginning. It can be at the end. For example, you can set your intention with the end in mind. If you know you want to be running in a marathon. You could look at the things or choices you would need to make to have that intention become a reality.
Yoga poses for small beginnings: Apanasana - knees to chest pose, Cat/Cows, Downward Facing Dog, Tadasana - Mountain Pose, Sukhasana - Easy Seat, Bird / Dog.
Step 2 - Create realistic valuable action points
Actioning your intentions can be equally as hard to do as setting the intention in the first place. Using the same small focus approach as step one. A good way to achieve or complete your end goal is to break down the goal into not just smaller chunks, but realistic, valuable, and actionable points.
Mapping your intentions with a group of clear and realistic actions will give you an idea of how to make it happen. The value of the task is important to look at in terms of its priority and therefore effectiveness. Eat That Frog mentions the 80/20 rule in reference to how trivial a task is to the end goal. Time stamping can help here.
Create measurable time stamps
It’s very easy to put something off. One way to make something happen is to create measurable and achievable time stamps. An alarm for a minute of time. Or a deadline for a task. Make them as small as you need to start. And increase them if you’re doing well. For me, I have had the intention of this blog for months. And today marked the day I gave myself a plan. Moon Phase Monday. It’s a step in the direction for me to share what has helped me.
Great tools for this are:
A dedicated notebook. Setting reminders on your phone. Setting targets in your calendar - print or online. Dedicating a noticeboard with post-it notes or purchasing a planner. Creating a Trello board or Asana account or Monday.com. - These are different brands of similar tool allowing you to map out intentions and goals in a visual and online shareable way.
Yoga poses for valuable action: Trikonasana - Triangle pose, Utkatasana - Chair Pose, Ardha Mukha Savasana - Downward Facing Dog, Virabhadrasana I, II, III - Warrior 1,2, 3, Bhujangasana - Cobra Pose
Step 3 - Check-in, review, reflect, learn, reset
What is blocking you? Step 3 is the check-back. When should you check back with your intention? This can be as early as upon setting the intention. If it is an intention you have previously tried to set but nothing has been achieved. The check-in and review can ascertain what happened. This is a time for honesty and accountability with kindness. There is no point in beating yourself up to the point of depression or developing a negative feedback loop.
What is a constructive and positive way you can reset and recreate your intention?
Refer to a step 1 task for what you can do to make this smaller and what is a step 2 that you can do to make it more achievable?
A check-back can also give you a chance to reflect on things that worked well and things that didn’t. This is a time for self-reflection and learning.
Yoga poses for inner-peace, reflection and reset: Tadasana or Mountain Pose, Pose of the Child, Sukhasana - Easy Seat, Savasana - Corpse Pose.
For further reading, yoga & workshops
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy and a book on how to form habits called Atomic Habits by James Clear. James will be doing some live events in September in Auckland on how to get 1% better every day. I recommend attending so you can get a first-hand account of his method of building good habits.
Come to Yoga With Every Fibre on Monday’s at 6.30pm at Optimum Wellness Centre in Campbells Bay. Centre yourself, and create a single-point-of-focus within to power you through your week.