Full Moon Practice

This embodied meditation helps you draw on the full moon's nurturing, illuminating power anytime you need it. A combination of gentle movement and deep relaxation, it's a perfect practice to do in the evening—even right in bed, before you drift toward sleep.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Paige.

This embodied meditation is a gentle full moon practice.

You can do it during the full moon or anytime you want to invite in the nurturing and illuminating energy the full moon symbolizes.

It's also a perfect bit of simple movement and guided relaxation you can do right in bed before you drift off.

So settle in wherever you're comfortable and we'll begin in a pose I call moon bathing pose.

Simply let your body stretch out,

Your legs can gently widen,

Your arms can widen away from the body,

Taking up a little bit of space,

Allowing yourself to rest in,

Settling into this time and letting the sense of moonlight shine on your body.

Your breath is easy,

Gentle rise and fall,

Your body soaking in this illuminating,

Nurturing energy.

From here we'll gently shift into a crescent shape so you can keep your left leg wide.

Just cross your right ankle over your left ankle so that right leg will simply cross over,

Hook itself over your left ankle so the lower half of your body is starting that little half moon shape and then stretch your left arm up alongside your ear.

Let your right arm reach over so you could even grab a hold of your right wrist and then not tugging,

Just gently guiding.

You can guide that right hand over to the left.

So now the whole body is in this little half moon sort of shape with the right side feeling some opening and the left side a gentle hug.

If you had to lift up in the chest to get into this shape simply allow everything to rest back and down.

A couple of easy breaths here you might imagine that inhaling breath slipping up the right side body,

The exhaling breath gently hugging in on the left.

One more breath like that.

Then bring yourself all the way back through neutrals.

You can uncross that right leg,

The arms can open wide again.

Perhaps a gentle inhale here through your nose and an easy sighing exhale through your mouth.

We'll take that little crescent moon shape to the other side so the right leg stays wide.

Left ankle crosses over the right ankle beginning that half moon shape in the lower half of the body and then stretch your left arm up alongside your ear.

Reach up with your right arm.

You could grab a hold of that left wrist gently and just coax that left arm over to the right.

You're not tugging on the body again just guiding yourself into that crescent moon shape.

Rest anything down that had to effort to arrive in this shape.

And again just a few easy breaths here imagining the inhale slipping up the left side body,

Exhales gently hugging in on the right.

Once more like that.

Bring yourself all the way back through center.

Release the hook of the ankle,

The arms,

Another inhale here and a gentle open mouth sigh if you like of an exhale.

Gently scoop your knees up in toward your chest and begin to circle your legs around.

The knees are still bent.

It's almost as if you're stirring the bones of the legs and the sockets of the hips.

Slow most dreamy circles really taking your time.

They can be swirling around in the same direction or in opposite directions.

You might switch the way they're stirring almost as if you're tracing the shape of the full moon with the slow circling of the legs.

And at some point it'll feel nice then for the legs to get still again.

Move that circling action into your ankles so it's still slow really taking its time feeling the full circumference of that full moon shape as the feet stir,

The ankles circle.

You can switch the direction and then let your feet and your ankles be still.

It's still here on your back with your knees gently hugged in.

Scoop your shoulders forward and way up to your ears and then let them circle around and back and down and do that a few more times.

That same shape of the full moon.

Now you're swirling your shoulders and their sockets and maybe tracing those circles the opposite way with your shoulders a few times perhaps letting that circular action seep up into the neck so you release any tension there.

Allow your shoulders to be still.

Let your legs extend out long again and now simply float your hands up toward the sky so your arms are suspended.

Floating your hands up toward the sky and here we'll circle the wrists.

The same thing we've been doing really slow almost underwater like circles tracing the shape of the full moon as the wrists gently slowly swirl.

Let them stir around the other direction a few times.

Let that movement be still arms and hands just floating.

Rest your arms back down.

Put a very easy bend in your elbows so your arms kind of making the shape of a cactus.

You can rest the backs of your hands on the bed or on the floor.

So gentle bend to your elbows and as your arms rest here by your sides with that gentle bend in your elbows and bites a little bit of space and opening across the chest and simply begin to roll your head side to side.

Just massaging the very back of the head in the very back of the brain.

Just a slow float of the face in one direction and then the other.

And as you do this another time or so you might feel the hinge of your jaw soften and the skin around your eyes melt.

Whole face,

Jaw,

Throat and neck relax.

And as you're ready to be still again be still.

Simply relax back into that moonbathing pose that we started in.

Legs a little wide,

Arms effortlessly wide,

Whole body resting back and supported.

Allow yourself to bask in the fullness of the moon's light.

It's a different quality than the radiance of the Sun.

Begin to feel your breath as if it could easily fill your belly on your inhales and effortlessly empty it on your exhales.

Your belly filling as if it were the full moon each time you draw in an inhale and then gently relaxing and receding on your exhales.

No effort involved.

Simply the gentlest sense the belly is filling like the full moon on your inhales.

Relaxing,

Receding on your exhales.

In Chinese philosophy and various systems of energy medicine the moon is said to be more yin or quiet,

Subtle,

Feminine compared to the bright fiery energy of the Sun.

The moon has come to symbolize the point each month when creativity is abundant.

Imagination and intuition are thriving and projects and plans can come to natural fruition.

As you lie here basking in the time of the full moon,

Breathing gently into your belly,

Allow yourself a more yin approach.

Rather than reaching toward or even calling in these qualities,

Let yourself simply rest into a natural rising tide of creative energy,

Of imaginative play,

Of easy inner knowing,

Insight,

Intuition.

Allowing yourself to drop into the metaphor that what's been covered over or hidden can be illuminated like the full moon illuminated by the Sun.

That there are times in the natural cycle of things when we can relax our striving and simply allow projects and undertakings to reach a point of fullness and completion.

If you're still imagining the breath filling and emptying your belly you can relax that now.

Allow yourself to be at ease,

Your breath just as it is,

Like waves moving in,

Waves moving out as the moon gently tugs.

If you're able to drift off to sleep from here,

Simply rest more fully into the full moon energy and invite it into your subconscious,

Maybe your dreams.

If you're moving on to a few other things before your head eventually finds its way to a pillow,

Let yourself transition easily then maybe tap back in with a quiet breath or two before you head to bed later.

Thanks so much for making this time.

I'll be with you again soon.

Reviews

Paige’s instructions are so specific and thorough. I loved how she worked in the full moon shape and illumination throughout the meditation.

This was marvelous! So relaxing and healing. Perhaps my favorite of your meditations though I love so many of them! So grateful for you!

I’ve just done this for tonight’s full moon. So creative - helps you connect with the moon throughout. Thank you.

Beautiful and completely new for me. What a nice way to unwind before bed on a full moon. 🌕

I don’t think it’s a full moon tonight, but I thoroughly enjoyed this meditation! I will revisit this on a full Moon