Here we are...back at a full moon again. It's the full moon in Virgo and HOLY SHIT, the last full moon of winter! That’s right folks, in one more lunar cycle, it will be spring! You can already feel it. The air is more saturated, the light sticks around a bit longer, the buds have begun to form. Oh, and do you feel like you have more energy? Yup. The longer exposure to daylight is signaling your body to WAKE UP.
Since this full moon is in a cosmic position (Virgo) that beckons us to LEAVE BEHIND BAD HABITS, for Virgo is the healer, I’m going to make a cheesy analogy about “spring cleaning.” After a long winter we sorta need to shed our skins (Ew, gross. But, we do), and clean out the winter “junk.” Our bodies speed up metabolically, waking from our long winter’s rests, and the body, mind, and soul crave cleansing in order to stimulate new growth and renewal. That’s how it works, biologically: it’s time for hibernation and overeating cheese and pasta, to end. So, where to start in this cleansing process?
First, lock in on your body and switch up the ‘ole diet. Eat more bitter and fermented foods (bitter greens like dandelion greens and chicory and some delicious kimchi would work) to cleanse the blood, and get the immune system moving. Also, start actually MOVING your body. Get to yoga, go for a jog, start a regular fitness program. Use that extra energy to your advantage! There is this push to do this right after the holidays, but in all honesty, the body has literally just gone into winter hibernation mode at solstice. Let yourself rest. However, right now, leading up to vernal equinox, is the time to get this underway! Drink tea, drink water with unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and get some fresh, freakin’ air.
I suppose it gets a little fuzzy when we move into mind and soul territory (though, remember, all are linked and YOGA helps you cultivate that connection with the body, so get to class, kids!). So many different options to begin this cleansing and renewal process. So many options regarding what needs healing. So many different paths can lead you to “what do I need to release and what do I need to manifest?” Per usual, I suggest following your intuition. It never leads you astray. Not really, anyway. If you feel led astray, you probably didn’t follow your intuition in the first place. With the mind, in this full moon, we are called to “anchor” down. Once we anchor, we can focus. Why anchor before focus? Well, you can focus all you want on a point on the horizon, but if you haven’t anchored your ship, you’re gonna drift off course. Anchoring down into mother earth can ground us. Where do you feel, truly, in your heart of hearts, the need for healing most? Perhaps identifying that will lead you to which old habits (these can be an activity, a thought, OR a person), need to be left to blow away on the last winter wind of 2018. By anchoring and focusing, we can transform. We can weave a new tapestry and conjure new manifestations to fill the void where old, played-out stories have been released from the mind and the soul.
Fun fact: this full moon is also known as the worm moon. Nice name, right? But ecologically, worms play an enormous role in cleansing, renewal, and transformation. Around this time of year as the soil thaws, worms kick up their metabolic function and start moving around. And when worms move through the soil, their little wormy tunnels aerate the soil ( I always make sure my garden boxes are full of these little squirmies). Aerated soil allows cleansing and creates SPACE, just like your yoga practice, so that water, nutrients, and oxygen can move with ease and nourish newly sown seeds and previously established roots. Worms also nourish the soil through their own existences, providing minerals and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which will literally transform seeds into plants as the growing season continues. These little guys are ecological engineers. They transform the entire subsurface environment and allow growth, expansion, and abundance. They are most certainly the weavers of a beautiful life tapestry and thus, this moon is aptly named.
You may not find all the answers on this full moon, or during this spring season even, but it’s an iterative process. We work one thing at a time and sometimes everything at once. Be patient and try to find the anchor and focus, and let the transformation within you begin to unfurl, like the petals of a flower reaching for the sun, or the sails of a ship setting out on a great journey.
Namase and Blessed Be.
