Skip to main content

Crescent Moons

Image
By
Waxing Crescent Moon

Ask the questions: Who are you, really? What do you desire? What do you need, on all levels—your mind, body, and heart? Pay attention as this practice reveals the answers to you over time. You will find that layers upon layers are revealed to you as you go deeper, not just in thought, but also in your lived and felt experience.

 This is the first of the Yin phases. The Yin phases are a way to conceptualize downtime and help us navigate a busy schedule. They show us how to start practicing a better way of living and working.  

The Lunar Abundance practice works with eight Moon phases alternating, in pairs, between Yin and Yang. Therefore, within the lunar cycle, four phases are Yin and four are Yang. The Crescent Moon is the Yin phase that corresponds to the New Moon.  

Yin phases are a guide to help you to tune into yourself and to practice slowing down. These are the ultimate permission slip to tune into your body.  

Yin and Yang are relative. What these phases will look like, in practice, will depend on the contours of your own life and work.  

It is not only more conducive to your well-being to bring back the Yin; it is a pathway to sustainable success.

Spencer, Ezzie. Lunar Abundance (p. 104). Running Press. Kindle Edition. 


Waning Crescent Moon

Receiving is a key Yin principle. The more you are able to receive in healthy and effective ways, the more you will be able to enter the flow of life, make others happy, cultivate abundance, and enjoy yourself a little more! There are principles regarding healthy and effective receiving that are worth following to avoid the less effective ways of being in Yin—to be so closed that you are unable to receive at all (not conducive to abundance!) or to be so open that you receive everything without discernment, preventing you from living in a purposeful and intentional way, able to focus on the aspects of life truly important to you. 

And now that we have started to receive? It is time to give back.

 After the excitement of the Full Moon, stay committed to your practice for the remainder of the Moon cycle. The waning part of the cycle (and Yin phases in general) is not about checking out. Any practice requires ongoing devotion to yield results.

The emphasis of this Yin phase is to help us receive. Receive selectively—as opportunity floods in, you will not be able to accept every invitation or you may not want to. Look to the return of the discernment principle: discernment in receiving and being, as well as giving or acting.  

Receiving is most powerful when accompanied by a feeling of gratitude.  

Elements of a redemption narrative, when working with gratitude, can be helpful in keeping up your morale and helping you to see the next step to take. There is no obligation to feel grateful for awful things going on in your life, however. Before reaching for gratitude, reach for support.

Spencer, Ezzie. Lunar Abundance (p. 185). Running Press. Kindle Edition. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National Make a Friend Day

By
I am not very good at making friends or keeping them it seems. I do not go outside much, in fact I hardly leave my home unless it is family related. That makes it hard especially since friends expect you to come to them at least once in a while and I find I can't.

If it were simply a matter of laziness it would be understandable but it isn't. Some days I can't even open the door to let in some fresh air. I do not know where the fear comes from I just know that that is what I feel when I think about going outside most of the time.

Agoraphobia: Triggers for this anxiety may include wide-open spaces, crowds (social anxiety), or traveling (even short distances). Agoraphobia is often, but not always, compounded by a fear of social embarrassment, as the agoraphobic fears the onset of a panic attack and appearing distraught in public.
Causes: Genetic and environmental factors Symptoms: Anxiety in situations perceived to be unsafe, panic attacks Treatment: Cognitive behavioral ther…
2 comments
Read more

Hello March

By
May the sun be with us! Except with the quiet coming of March be on the lookout for at least one more big storm before the end of the month. I love the sun but I always hope March comes in like a lion so that it will go out like a lamb. I can deal with cold and snow early in the month but I always wish for the beauty of sun and green buds on the trees at the end of it.

So where did the phrase 'In like a lamb, out like a lion' come from?

There are several ideas:

While many sayings are base on observation and are accurate, others are the rhymes and beliefs of those who came before us.
Those folks actually believed that bad spirits could change the weather adversely, so they were cautious as to what they did or didn't do in certain situations.  Those beliefs also included ideas that there could be a balance in weather and in life. So if the weather came in bad, (like a lion) it could go out good and calm. (like a lamb)
Since March is such a changeable month in which we can see…
Post a Comment
Read more

Women's Heart Health

By
February 1st - 7th is Women's Heart Health Awareness Week and I felt it would be remiss of me not to include some conversation about it here given that the professor suffered a heart attack a bit over two years ago and that I am a prime candidate.

Let us start with why I am a prime candidate - Obviously being 100 pounds overweight puts me in the high-risk area immediately. Add in High Chloresterol, physical inactivity, diabetes, post-menopausal and over 55. Since only two of those are needed to put me in the at-risk category that I have six means that I am very high risk. The only way it could be worse is if I still smoked or drank and still lived a high-stress life. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Not sure where you stand? check out this checklist. This checklist and the other pdf's linked here are from the Women's Heart Foundation

Do you know what the prescription is to lower the risk factors? It's simple join the 10,000 steps a day club. That's it! walk 10 th…
2 comments
Read more