Full Moon Practice

Full Moon Meditation

Meditating with the full moon can be extremely powerful, especially if you have a place where you can see the moon rise from the horizon. The moon is the ruler of the emotional realm, intuition, and feelings. Its potency is strongest when full; a great time to check in with your emotional, physical, spiritual, and psychological wellbeing.

Set an intention for your practice, perhaps writing it down on a piece of paper, or a leaf. Finding a quiet space, maybe in the comfort of your home or in nature where you can see the moon rise. You could bring a sacred keepsake you would like to charge with the healing energy of the meditation – it could even be something that is relevent to the Capricorn-Cancer eclipse, such as a photo of your family, or a cause you have been working towards. If you have a japamala, holding it to your Anahata Chakra or heart space.

Eyes can be closed, or gazing at the moon as you repeat the following mantra: Om Som Somāya Namaha. Its translation meaning, I am my own self healer, or I can heal myself. Feel and embody the mantra, radiating the healing energy throughout your aura. If you have thoughts or questions that come up, write them down; they are giving you feedback about how to heal yourself and what you believe you deserve. Traditionally it is chanted, 11,000 times, but you could shorten to 108 or 21, depending on the time you have.

Om Som Somāya Namaha

I am my own self healer, I can heal myself

When you have completed chanting the moon mantra, quiet the mind. Bring the awareness into the sensations of the heart center, sitting with those feelings. Offer yourself compassion, acceptance, and forgiveness as you navigate your emotions. Understand that all of your feelings, as complex as they are, are a part of your process of self healing. You can have sorrow, grief, guilt and playfulness, courage, hope, pride, all at the same time. It’s ok too if this is overwhelming, and you just want to focus on one feeling at a time. Being aware that your feelings are complex and you need time to process them all can be a safer space than repressing or ignoring those complexities.

After exploring the heart space, draw your awareness down into the Muladhara Chakra or root energy. The center for our sense of security, belonging, our tribe, self-reliance, and trust. What sensations come up as you explore these areas? What is true and how much is a narrative you continue to feed yourself or your ego? Feel the sits bones and legs as they connect to the earth. As you close your practice, draw your awareness back into the space your body is occupying, your heart beating, your blood pumping, the feeling of the clothes on your skin, the air moving in and out of your body as you breathe, and any smells or sounds around you.

If you wrote your intention down, plant it in a pot or outside to grow alongside your plant. After meditation, take time for journaling about the past week and thinking about what you need to surrender and let go of, forgive, or offer gratitude for; how can you focus your attention and tend to the things that are overflowing right now? Are there any lingering issues that still need attention regarding your traditions, structures, or systems related to work/external/how you present yourself to the world or family/internal/how you present yourself to your confidants? What are the top 2 or 3 items you can devote yourself to over the next 2 weeks, and what items can you revisit later?

Let me know how it goes! I would love to hear your experience of full moon meditation and mantra.