Wide Awake under a Lunar Eclipse?

Some full moons are slow, rich and sonorous, making it easy for us to slip into meditation and communion.  But a lunar eclipse is more electric and unstable.  Its energy can rattle the nervous system and give you insomnia. It’s 3:00 am and you’re wide awake.  What should you do?  Calm your nervous system!

But first things first. What’s going on in your mind? All experiences can be doorways to enlightenment. Lying there, staring up at the ceiling, as your thoughts go round and round, is a wonderful place from which to witness the strange habits of your mind.  Watch without judging, as you slow your breath down.  Don’t jump into your thoughts, just watch them. Chances are these are thoughts you’ve had many times before, so you’re not missing out if you don’t engage.  Witnessing will slow your thoughts down of their own accord.

Once they’ve settled a bit, draw your attention into your body.  Next you’ll do a few rounds of breathing the length of your spine.  Inhale from your tailbone to your crown.  Exhale from your crown to your tailbone.  Do this 3 to 5 times.   Next draw your breath and awareness into your pelvis, inhaling and exhaling there until you feel this area relaxing.  Do this successively with your thighs, your calves, and your feet. Notice how these parts of your body become heavier and more relaxed. You’re now much more grounded than when you began.

Next lie on your right side, if this feels comfortable.  You don’t have to, but it helps to engage the calming Moon channel, as does the following Moon channel breath. Gently close your right nostril and inhale through your left. Close your left nostril and exhale through your right.  Do this for several rounds. You might even sense how the Goddess gently floats and falls in harmony with your inhales and exhales.  You are working magic. You are shifting yourself out of the active (sympathetic) nervous system, into the more relaxed (parasympathetic) state.

Next, ask the Goddess of Sleep, the Moon herself, to place her heavy blanket over your body.  In this still, weighted state, notice how her gentle moonlight moves through you, relaxing you, healing your trillions of cells.

If you don’t immediately fall asleep, this gift of relaxation will give you a much better day tomorrow.  If you’re still wide awake. There’s more you can do. Yoga nidra meditations are easily available and fabulous.  It’s said that 40 minutes of yoga nidra gives you the same benefits as 2 to 4 hours of sleep.

Should you need them, here links are two of my favorite yoga nidra practices by the fabulous yoga nidra artist, Ally Boothroyd.  Happy zzzzzzzzzzzzz’s.

 

 

 

 

Eclipses are an excellent time to ponder your chart. Feast on the 2024 sky stories in your chart with Steven Forrest’s Skylog report.

If you’re within three months of your birthday (before or after), Mary Shea’s Solar Return report is a delightful way to complete the picture.

And always–if you want to go really soulful with the moon, check out in my monthly moon workshop, beloved and ongoing for over 22 years.