Lunar Love Letter 🌒 - May 19, 2023

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Important dates this cycle (in EST): 

Lunar Cycle Duration: 5/19-6/17

New Moon: 5/19

First Quarter Moon: 5/27

Full Moon: 6/3 Strawberry Moon*

Last Quarter Moon: 6/10

Happy greetings to your beautiful heart and soul 💜

I hope you're finding life a bit easier, perhaps even a little lighter, after this last lunar cycle. What were you able to discover or try in order to create more alignment for yourself? 

It rattled some stuff loose for me, and I find I’m feeling myself more than I have in a while. Here are a few things that left me changed 💫 💟: 

• 📖 Listening to Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey, founder of the Nap Ministry 

  • Inspiring is too small of a word for this. There’s a lot of rich perspective and education regarding our cultural systems. Even if you think you know, read this or borrow the audiobook from the library for free. Get on that waitlist!

• 💤 Integrating a 10-minute rest period in my day (most days)

  • I don’t have to snooze, but I shut off the ringer on my phone, close or soften my eyes, and just listen and let what happens happen. This has mainly been inspired by Rest is Resistance, and it’s an excellent starting place for me. I love listening to all the birds and squirrels in my neighborhood! 

• 🏆 Transitioning to the Notion Holy Grail HQ business system created by Brigitte Marie Energy Design 

  • It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Brigitte’s work, and using her products has changed my life and my business on so many levels. She is magnificent and her work is infused with powerfully supportive magic. If you’re curious, shoot me a message and I’m happy to share my experience!

• 🛼 Roller skating

  • Crazy. Awesome. I haven’t done this since I was a kid, and it’s already been a journey in the short time I’ve spent on wheels. I’ve gone from absolutely zero confidence and falling on my ass, to feeling more free in body, mind, and spirit. I'm a sucker for anything that puts the wind in my hair.

• 💫 Thinking in new directions for Zenful Mindings

  • I’m making sure my offerings and content are meaningful and aligned in ways that rock my sweet ever-evolving soul. Stay tuned over the next few months for more!

Now how about you? I’d love to see you make your own list and share! Send it to me in a message or 📲 share on FB or IG and tag @zenfulmindings. 

Whatever is on your list 📃, I hope the experimentation is leaving you richer and even more curious 💜

Up Next: 🍓 Strawberry Moon

We’re now moving into the Strawberry Moon* lunar cycle and toward the start of summer, which means strawberry harvest time is upon us! They’re delicious, bright, overflowing with the sweet sun-ripened juices, and I cannot wait to savor them. Because when we savor things, we slow down without even trying. And that’s what I’m all about this lunar cycle: more savor, less effort 🎇.

When you savor a bite of your favorite food 🍰, your body experiences this prolonged pleasure that surpasses time on any clock. Your mind shuts off. You take in and appreciate more sensual detail. You are being mindful and present without trying in the typical ways. It feels so much more organic.

I’m definitely one of those people who defaults to running on the productivity treadmill 🏃‍♀️ full force, and I’ve long been on a mission to curb that habit. I miss an awful lot rushing through things to check them off my to do list, and I’m tired of that. I want to live a fuller, more aligned life, just like I want that for you. 

Instead of worrying about what I should or could be doing to produce results, I want to use that energy to absorb everything my daughter wants to share 🫶, I want to hear the birds and the leaves rustle, I want to relish the feeling of walking in my grounding sandals, and I want to exhale more fully, more often.  

To do all this, I need to slow down and consciously savor those moments. Which means when that productively beast 👾 comes traipsing through my brain like it owns the place, I have to learn to shut that the fuck down. I need a plan.

I’m working on building less into my schedule and allotting more time for what still has to be scheduled 📃. Because this frees me up to make things that bring me joy bigger priorities. That’s a HUGE part of the work — making sure those things don't get lost in the mix. And once I’ve done that, I have to be available to fully be with those things and experience them with my body. I think that’s the key to really savoring anything. 

So when I’m in these moments or I find myself trying to rush through them, I’m going to whisper SAVOR to myself and invite you to do the same. 🪄 Whether it’s a reminder, a mantra, an intention, a spell, or an affirmation for you, savor the savoring. Let it get juicy and fulfilling. Let it be pleasurable.

Need some extra accountability? Put it somewhere outside of your body so you have to see it or hear it. Maybe at the end of each day you jot down one thing that you savored. Tell your partner or friend. 📲 Track it on FB or IG and tag @zenfulmindings. Show your friends what it’s all about, and most importantly, show yourself how much of a difference it makes. 

Figure out a small and quick system that can help you keep showing up for this practice. You do you. We have #29daysofsavor this lunar cycle — will you join me? Drop me a line if you’re in 💌
 
🍃 Before I close this cycle’s letter, let’s all take an asynchronous communal breath to seed and sow our intentions — slow and deep in through the nose — and slow and steady out through the nose. May our good energies meet in all forms ✨

Wishing you all the brightness your heart desires 💜

*The moon names and phase details given here are as given on the Farmers' Almanac website. There are many other moon names and stories from other cultures that are not included here, but I encourage you to do your own research. It’s fascinating!

All resources mentioned in this newsletter are included for research purposes only and are not affiliated with Zenful Mindings LLC.