You may be asking yourself, “What is a New Moon Circle?”
When I went to my first circle last week, I didn’t exactly know what it was either.
My friend Andrea invited me to go to a New Moon Circle in SF, held by a women’s website called, On Our Moon. She basically said it was life-changing for her and that it was an event where women got together. I had my hesitations but eventually said yes — my life is a rollercoaster of feelings and uncertainty, so I thought, “Why not give this a try?”
The circle started off with Alex and Alison, the founders of On Our Moon, explaining the game plan and what to expect. I quickly learned that a New Moon Circle is a gathering of women where we lift each other up and connect emotionally with the start of a new moon. So we sat comfortably in a circle (blankets and all), talked, journaled, mediated, wrote down intentions and talked some more.
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Here’s what I learned:
It’ll Force You To Dig Deep
We all have a busy life and sometimes it’s hard to connect with your inner-self. SF can feel like a rat race — we wake up, go to work, go home, sleep and repeat. We have a billion things to accomplish, so we often forget to connect with our feelings until it’s too late.
I’m constantly overwhelming myself with thoughts about my to-do list, what I haven’t been able to do and what I should be doing. I’m horrible at mediating (my bf tries to get me to do it, but I can’t turn my mind off), so at least in this circle, I was forced to do it. I was able to get in touch with my emotions, deepen my self-trust, reflect on the past 6 months and think about my intentions for the rest of the year.
You’re Not Alone
In a world where social media makes other people’s lives look perfect, this circle reminded me that whatever I’m going through, I’m not alone. We are all human. I realized that there were other women also looking for clarity, going through change, fearful of the unknown, etc.
Whenever I have my down days, I automatically feel alone, so I think it’s important to connect with others because more often than not, someone feels the same way too.
There is No Judgement
One of the rules while talking within the circle was that we couldn’t interrupt each other with, “Me too!” or “You need to do this…” How many times have you heard that whenever you’re venting to a friend?
Whoever was talking had the floor and all we needed to do was listen.
Vulnerability is OK
We often see vulnerability as a form of weakness, but surrendering yourself to your emotions and thoughts that are deep down inside is super powerful. Being vulnerable allowed me to be open, non-judgemental, and loving towards the women in this space. We are more similar than different.
Set Specific Intentions
New Moons symbolize new beginnings, so setting intentions is a way to plant seeds for our goals for the rest of the year. We wrote SPECIFIC intentions down (i.e. I am going to set aside $100/month for a trip starting in September) so that we could remember them and commit to taking steps towards our goals.
Would I go again? I think so! Even if this isn’t your jam, you can also do this with your friends in a smaller circle.
With the recent passing of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, just wanted to share that it’s important to take care of yourself mentally and emotionally, and that surrounding yourself with positive people can bring more light into your life than you may know.