GROUNDING PROMPTS
What are your dreams?
What do they mean to you?
Where did these dreams come from?
What do they reveal about you?
Where do these dreams guide you?
What insights do you get from these dreams?
Are you working towards these dreams? Why? Why not?
What do you need to work towards the dreams you haven’t taken action on?
What will it mean to you when you make these dreams come true?
GOING DEEPER
What do you blame yourself about? Why do you blame yourself about any of these?
Who do you blame? What do you blame them for?
Examine each thing you either blame yourself for, and blame others for. What were the circumstances that resulted in this blame?
What part did you play, objectively? What do you wish you could have done differently?
How could you make peace with each of these blames? What needs to happen?
What is the first step you can take to make what you need happen?
Imagine all blame is gone- what does it feel like? Look like? What difference is it making to your life?
GROUNDING PROMPTS
What do you fear? List as many as you can think of.
Why do you feel you fear these things?
What does it bring you to fear these things?
How do these fears protect you?
How do your fears feel like? Look like? Sound like?
How do these fears affect your life?
What do you want to say to these fears?
Pick one fear at a time - what is one small step I can take towards releasing my fear?
GOING DEEPER
Who do I compare myself to?
Who is this person to you?
Do you feel dependent on peer pressure? In what ways?
What does it bring you to compare yourself to others? Think of positives as well as negatives.
What does it tell you about yourself, your needs?
In what other way could you get this without the need to compare yourself to others? What would it look like?
Would it feel different to comparing yourself to others? Would it be better or not? Please describe in as much detail as you can.
Do you compare yourself to your past self? To your future self?
What do you discover about yourself when you compare yourself to other versions of yourself?
What type of comparison do you feel is more beneficial to you? Comparing to others or other versions of yourself? Why?
GROUNDING PROMPTS
Do you feel OK with not being OK? Why (not)?
How does it feel to not be OK? Think of as many examples you can remember.
In each if these examples, what caused you to feel not OK?
How did you react/respond?
What do you wish you would have done differently?
What can you do next time?
In the meantime, or if it doesn’t work, how can you find being OK with not being OK?
What will it feel/look like to be OK with not being OK?
What resources do you need with being able to be OK with not being OK?
PLAY - that is today’s quality card that I picked this morning. And I felt inspired to write about it. When I picked this card (it jumped out of the deck when I was shuffling, that’s my way of picking one card) my reaction was surprise, then pure glee, I got excited but also I felt a very strong synchronicity as I had literally just finished painting backgrounds in my Feelings Journal. I skipped 2 days because it was too late in the evening for me to paint a background and wait for it to dry.
This morning I literally just played - finger painting, using an old makeup sponge and also an odd sock (I had left my paint brushes downstairs and couldn’t be bothered to move from my bedroom!) I used to paint almost daily (mixed media messy art) a few years ago and was hit with artist’s block, desert island. When I tried to paint, it would feel so forced that I didn’t enjoy it anymore and, for well over a year, almost two, I did not paint. Now the fun is back and although I might paint once every couple of weeks, even just doing simple backgrounds of literally one rectangle of colour and a border in another colour for my Feelings journaling practice. It now truly feels like play.
This is just one of many examples of activities where I can feel the quality of play.
I remember a time when I used to work full time (currently at home on furlough since last year), going back home totally exhausted. It was so hard to find time to play, or even the energy. But every time I did, it felt like I had found my salvation, I had come back to life again - I was that little girl, carefree, and just exploring, having fun, making a mess; no stress, no worries, no responsibilities. It was so freeing. Playing brings you back to your inner child, in that state of innocence, untouched and unspoilt by society’s expectations, demands, judgements, values, right or wrong. You want to paint that tree blue and purple? You just do it, you don’t ask if it’s right or wrong - and by whose standards anyway?
Play is the ultimate freedom, unfiltered exploration where you find treasures by using your imagination and your intuition in ways you have always been meant to, and finding these gifts, insights and answers that would have never come to you by using the acceptable logic. Play is a portal to your happiness, freedom, discovering who you are and coming closer to your True Self.
It is so important to incorporate the quality of play in your life. The reality of this world can sometimes be so soul-crushing. Play brings you the balance, the uplift, shows you what is true and beautiful.
Obviously it does not work for everything- I am yet to incorporate the quality of play when I need to do my chores! But I can play pretend that I am a magician or a wizard/witch when I do the dishes (it sometimes work!)
The secret is, when you can, to not take things so seriously and make them less boring, less of a pain. We all have opportunities in our days to lighten up. We just need to notice, recognise and ask ourselves, how can I make this more fun, more playful? and just give it a go.
I encourage you to try it and see what happens. In which areas of your life could you do with a little bit more play? How could you incorporate this quality in simple ways? List all your ideas, pick one, and do it. See what happens. Probably some good old magic...
GROUNDING PROMPTS
What does truly matter to you?
Do you always do it/prioritise it? Why? / Why not?
What would it look like to do what matters ? What would it feel like?
What could you do this week that truly matters to you and that you don’t usually act on?
What would be a first easy step to prioritise it?
How can you make it into an easy and beneficial habit?
GOING DEEPER
When do you feel you could do just the bare minimum?
Do you let yourself do the bare minimum in these times? Why/why not?
If you answered yes, how does it feel?
How would it feel to only do the bare minimum when you feel tired, overwhelmed, stressed...?
What would doing the bare minimum look like for you, in practical terms? What would you prioritise? Why?
How do you usually plan your days? Do you take into account how you feel on that day? Why/why not?
What would it mean to you to give yourself permission to only do the bare minimum when you need it?
How can you make it an available practice to you for when you need it?
GROUNDING PROMPTS
How would you describe your physical pain? What events or experiences relate or contributed to it?
How would you describe your emotional pain? What events or experiences relate or contributed to it? Where do you feel it in your body? How does it feel like?
How would you describe your psychological pain? What events or experiences relate or contributed to it?
How would you describe your spiritual pain? What events or experiences relate or contributed to it?
Do you agree with this affirmation? Why? In what ways?
How can you turn your pain into gold nuggets? Physical? Emotional? Psychological? Spiritual?
*please remember that I am not a professional. These are techniques that I personally use to dig deep in my soul journey that support me. I am presenting these to you in the hope that they will be of some help to you, even if just as inspiration. If anything gets triggered in your soul journey either by any of these prompts I present weekly for Affirmations and Journaling Prompts, or anything else in your life, please ensure that you have qualified or professional support in place to help you. Wishing you all the best in your journey, my beautiful souls❤️
I’ve never really been an outdoor person, although when I do go out for a walk in nature, I really do feel energised and refreshed. Since lockdown #1 started (10 months ago) staying home has been my default mode and I have really struggled to go out for a walk in nature to our local park only a couple of minutes away from us.
In our crazy lives, before COVID and now, I have felt the need in the last couple of years ( more or less since started meditating regularly) to connect with nature.
I am a mixed media enthusiast and when one of my favourite mixed media artists, Jennibellie, created the class Manifesting With The Moon, back in December 2020, I saw this as a sign from the Universe that it was my chance to easily connect with something of nature. Jennibellie describes in this class the phases of the moon and presents her two Moon Rituals, one for the New Moon and one for the Full Moon. This is such a great class, especially for beginners like I was, and highly recommend it.
I have been doing these rituals since then. But a month or so ago, I felt drawn to expanding this practice. I literally spent a full week researching, collating information on all phases of the moon, what each means, what activities are best, crystals and essential oils to use, card reading spreads, affirmations, journaling prompts...
The books Moonology by Yasmin Boland and Lunar Living by Kirsty Gallagher, as well as YouTube channel Elevation 44, have been such a great help to gather and make sense of all this information. For a great overview (and quite detailed, I found) of each phase of the moon, check Elevation 44’s video series playlist Working With The Moon Phases (4 videos). She also regularly does a designated video for each coming full moon and new moon, linking it to the current zodiac energy, which gives extra guidance, meaning and direction to the Rituals.
I have also created some playlists on Insight Timer of moon music and meditations that I would find useful to choose from-
I have also created some moon cards -
From doing a New Moon Ritual and a Full Moon Ritual each month, I now have added journaling sessions in between for each phase of the moon, where I light a candle, have a crystal by me, review since my last ritual or journaling session, use journaling prompts dedicated to the current moon phase, do a card reading spread for the specific moon phase, giving me more guidance, and create affirmations out of the journaling and guidance from the cards.
I have also expanded my Moon Rituals (New and Full) from 1 hour with art journaling included, to about 2 hours without painting (although for Full Moon Rituals, I am intending on occasions to paint over words to release instead of burning pages)
Just to give you an idea of how I “structure “ my rituals, here are my personal guidelines I use:
NEW MOON RIRUAL:
. Setting space: first I do Moon Day activities to define the day as sacred(sacred bath or shower with oils, making body scrub with my current moon essential oils I would be using in the evening for the ritual, making tea blend, making moon oil, doing a yoga flow on YouTube for the specific moon phase...)
Then in the evening, I prepare for the ritual creating a sacred space: incense around my room to remove negative energies and purify the space, occasionally I would create a circle around me with clear quartz in 4 directions and black obsidian in between. I prepare the crystals I want to use for the ritual, choose my essential oils (as I have 2 cats, I don’t use my diffuser anymore, I put a drop of each on a tissue that I keep with me during the ritual. Some essential oils are toxic to pets), the card deck I feel drawn to for the reading, and any symbolic pieces I want to use (I have a black moon and a silver/gold moon necklaces my friend Louise sells on her shop - instagram @ukelooloo).
. Grounding meditation with holding my crystals from Insight Timer, whichever one I feel drawn to when I’m ready to start (from the playlists above - Moon Visualisations especially) - maximum 10 minutes
. I review previous cycles, what I did, journaled , reflect on it. That’s the Dark Moon work, the first day of the cycle where there is no illumination, which is perfect for shadow work, introspection, resetting.
. Now this is New Moon fun - manifesting: visualisation to identify what I want to manifest ( from the Insight Timer playlist) and sending wishes and intentions to the Moon
.Creating affirmations and statements out of your visualisation and what you want to manifest, to put you in a state where it has all already happened, and feel the energy. I say them out-loud and it really makes a difference to hear you say the words. I feel much higher vibrational energy. It is a bit like saying spells.
. I then meditate and let it all soak in, the intentions, the affirmations, the energy, seeing it all in my mind.
. Next step, I journal about this soaking in, what I felt, what I saw, any insights or ideas that came to me and that I want to think about or do something about.
. I love the next step - time to get the cards out! I choose a simple spread from a google search that relates to the new moon and pick my cards at random. I read intuitively first if I can, writing down what I see on the cards, one at a time, and what it reminds me of, how I feel. Then I may check the booklet for extra messages and meanings.
. Finally, I end the ritual by sealing my intentions, blessing and releasing them to the universe/moon. I usually just journal and writing a massive thank you at the end, whatever I feel, I start by setting space in exactly the same way as for the New Moon. Something else I might do on Full Moon is to gather all my crystals on a tray and place them by my window sill for the full moon’s energy to energetically cleanse them. You can also add any jewellery or tools sacred to you.
. I also do a grounding meditation with my chosen crystals, same as for my New Moon Ritual.
. I listen to a Full Moon visualisation and journal on it, what I’ve seen, felt...
. Next step is to review all my moon journaling since the new moon and review my action plan - what has worked, what has not worked, what has come to light from the New Moon manifestations and previous cycles. I celebrate these and reflect on what resources and support I need to carry and how I can get them.
. I then move on to Full Moon journaling prompts to help me see deeper or other aspects that I have not considered. Both in Full Moon and New Moon Rituals, I check Elevation 44’s video on the coming moon and pick up prompts from her video as well to add the zodiac element. This is something that is very new to me so I don’t go particularly deep on these - yet. The video also helps me choose my essential oils and crystals.
. Next step is the card reading spread for Full Moon (again from google search). The process is same as for the New Moon Ritual. You can also pick only one card, which I do if I use my SoulCollage cards, or choose a book that inspires you and open a page randomly and see what words, sentences messages jump out at you. You don’t have to use cards if you don’t have any or you don’t want to.
. Then I start my Release phase of the ritual. I journal on anything I want to release (energies, lack of, people’s influences and behaviours towards you, events, traumas keeping you in the past, limiting beliefs, fears...) and journal on forgiveness (who I forgive, what, what for...)
. I finish my ritual with journaling on gratitude (that one usually last a while, as I find that the more you write, the more you find) and sealing the work in a similar way to what I do for my New Moon Ritual.
These 2 rituals last about 2 hours.
WAXING PHASES JOURNALING SESSIONS:
. I cleanse my space with sage incense (my bed, which is where I journal), light a candle, and do a short grounding meditation (I might just have a couple of minutes focusing on my breath or doing a body scan), maximum 5 minutes
. I then re-read the journaling from my previous phases, reflect and journal, and use journaling prompts for the current moon phase (again, google search).
. My next step is a card reading, using a waxing phase spread (google search)
. Next, I journal on the reading’s insights and messages and create affirmations which I repeat out loud.
. Closing my session the same way that I close my Moon Rituals.
WANING PHASES JOURNALING SESSIONS:
My waning phases journaling sessions are very similar to my waxing phases journaling sessions. The only difference is that I include a Releasing guided meditation and journal afterwards just before I create affirmations. It brings an extra layer to the phases in my moon journaling practice.
For all Moon Phases, I can use my Moon Cards for ideas on activities or yoga sessions I would like to include.
Here are a few photos of what my Moon Rituals set up look like:
This was my set up for my last moon ritual (Full Moon) - the chocolate is my sacred snack 😉❤️
CARDS TO USE FOR READINGS
I use any oracle or tarot cards deck that I have. I even use my self-made SoulCollage cards (see my SoulCollage article in Archives to see what they are). I choose my deck intuitively just before the ritual when I am gathering my “tools”. For my journaling sessions (waxing and waning phases) I similarly choose my deck before I start the session, at the same time I pick my crystals and light my candle.
EXAMPLES OF CARD SPREADS (from internet)
WHAT THE RITUALS AND JOURNALING SESSIONS BRING ME
Connecting the moon enables with nature in a way that is not dependent on the weather, my mood or my energy levels. It also puts me back in focus of the natural cycles of life and our need to rest after effort, and opens my trust to what comes my way for my greatest good, raising my vibrational energy.
It also gives me a reliable and in-real-time system to journal, reflect, set goals and intentions, monitor them, review them, “perfect” them to suit my needs, and be fully open to gratitude and forgiveness. Plus, it’s really fun and relaxing, and enables you to use your creativity as your rituals are YOUR rituals - you design and structure them in any ways that you like or feel you need. It is definitely an integral part of my self care, by making my rituals sacred, I am also giving myself sacred time to myself, and only myself.
I hope that this article would have shed some light and brought you some helpful sources of inspiration as well as a desire to research, to embrace the moon and the cycles of your life.
How can the Moon support you?
