Traditional Meditation A Bore? Try New Moon And Full Moon Meditation

Last year, when I was diagnosed with insomnia, my quick fix was a meditation class because research claimed it would help.

I joined an online group class where we learned a new meditation every day, for two weeks. My coach, Nupur Akotkar, urged us to be conscious of how our body and mind reacted to each meditation. This was to understand which meditation style offered the best solution to our problem (for instance, zen meditation put me to sleep within minutes).

After the sessions ended, I practiced it every day, but I missed the conscious aspect of meditating. When I told my coach about this, she introduced me to new moon and full moon meditations that changed my life, just by meditating twice a month.

During the first month, I attended the sessions without researching this style of meditation. I wanted to experience it before studying it.

Both sessions started with my coach, Nupur Akotkar, spiritual coach and the founder of Healsoul World, asking us how we had been feeling lately. While I hadn’t observed any emotional upheaval around the new moon that month, I talked a lot about my feelings during the full moon meditation. I had noticed a pattern of self-deprecating thoughts three to four days before the full moon.

I asked my coach how the moon could be responsible for this. “The moon has a gravitational pull that impacts the human body,” Akotkar shared. “The moon dictates the high tides and low tides too. Similarly, it influences us because we’re mostly made of water, and we’re a part of nature.”

After this emotional check-in, we moved on to a visual, guided meditation. For the new moon, we usually set an intention to welcome something into our lives (specific income, self-care routines, a partner, and so on).

On full moon nights, we focused on letting go of things that weren’t working for us (procrastination, a friendship, negative self-beliefs, and more). 

During one meditation, Akotkar explained why intentions differ on a full moon and new moon. “During the new moon, the size of the moon is set to increase. It stands for new beginnings, so it’s perfect to introspect on what we want to build, create, or do more of. During the full moon, the energies are high because the moon is in “full” power. So there’s a lot of emotional turmoil which needs a release.

Lunar meditation means meditating during the eight phases of the moon — from the new moon to the waning crescent. But for those who can devote less time, meditating on these two days, when the moon’s gravitational pull is the lowest and highest, helps us tap into the moon’s energies and work with them rather than brushing the effects (like emotional overwhelm) under the carpet. Meditation is introspection and lunar meditation is an opportunity to analyze our energy and balance it.”

My favorite lunar meditation is the new moon for two reasons. One, because we visualize our goals, our dreams, and our ideal life in high definition. And we experience the emotions we have them. This pumps me after every new moon meditation and motivates me on days I get lazy. It makes me a better performer, something again, research has proved.

Secondly, this meditation helps me tap into my body’s needs. Most of the time, I decide what I want to welcome or let go before the meditation. But the meditation has different plans. For example, once I’d decided to manifest healthier sleeping patterns. I was sleeping four hours every night, with consecutive dreams. As I meditated, I visualized having a rested mind. I realized that sleep wasn’t the answer to resting, a peaceful mind was. That month, I started practicing breathwork whenever my mind felt cluttered.

In every meditation, we focused on inviting or letting go of one thing instead of many. This made me extra attentive to my mental, physical, and emotional needs.

It also answers the ‘why’ behind emotionally turbulent times which makes it easier to pacify them.

Last month, when I expressed how ‘in control’ I felt because of these guided meditations, Akotkar told me how they help in personal growth. “These meditations help because you adapt and balance. You can understand and manage your emotions better because you’re in sync with your inner self and nature.

Once you know why you’re feeling what you’re feeling, healing becomes easier. The moon is one powerful way to do that”, she said.