Something amazing has been happening to me over the past year. Let me start from the beginning. As a moon lover and yoga teacher I encourage my students to draw on the energies of the moon phases in their practice.
I also like to encourage them to develop their practice at home. So I created Moon Journal 2017 for them to do just this: a lovely book filled with thoughtful images, meditations and affirmations – and space for writing. It’s a lunar meditation companion, with meditations for every new and full moon, as well as for every seasonal change.
I try to practice what I preach so I have been using the Moon Journal myself. Now we are coming towards the end of 2017 and I always like to spend some time meditating and reviewing what I’ve been doing the past year.
This is a little ritual of mine that helps me make the most of my time. Through reviewing my year I’m able to see what’s worked for me and what hasn’t, I can look at reasons why and perhaps plan differently for the next year ahead. I also get to see how I have grown and changed through the year.
When I wrote Moon Journal 2017 I knew it would be useful, but I didn’t really understand how useful until I started reviewing my year. The book gently brings your awareness to different aspects of yourself with each entry. I like to spend two weeks reading the meditations for the to the full moon, then the next two weeks meditating on the new moon. This way I have two weeks at a time working on the same meditations and affirmations.
Looking back through the book – which is now filled with my notes – I realised how important it is to do this. I have meditated on “I stand in my power” and “I make healthy decisions” and I’m telling you this has done something to me.
I think it is a bit unusual for the author to be writing a ‘hey this is really awesome’ review of their own work but there’s a method in my madness here. Because the real work isn’t meditating on what’s printed in the book – it’s writing your own thoughts and intentions. Now my book is nearly complete, and I can read what I’ve been spending my energy on for the past year.
And I can see that I have become more compassionate, more relaxed and confident. We all have our individual issues and one of mine has been how to tell the difference between when I’m being stubborn and when I actually know best. When should I back down, or give in, and when should I stand my ground? Because sometimes I can be just stubborn, and sometimes I do know best.
Now, all these months later, I can see that I have been journeying through the most beautiful development. I wrote down my intentions of how I wanted to feel, reviewed them and repeated them for as long as necessary. Now I am harmoniously confident that I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Now I know my worth and I trust my decision-making abilities. Don’t get me wrong there is still stuff to work on but this issue is resolved. I have really blossomed and am feeling more fulfilled than ever. Isn’t it amazing?
Through the year I’ve been getting great feedback from other users of Moon Journal 2017 and this enabled me to revise and expand it for Moon Journal 2018. I even had a team of volunteers help me suggest improvements, and so much thought and consideration has gone into writing this book.
There is more room for your notes – because this is after all what the book is about. There are carefully selected photographs designed to encourage moods and feelings of particular times of year.
It is clearer what are meditations and affirmations – these are different for each entry – and what is the continuing work of reviewing your intentions from the last month, and setting new ones. This is the real work, and this is what has brought about such wonderful changes within myself. Others are telling me the process of using Moon Journal 2017 has done the same for them and I’m so excited to hear what using Moon Journal 2018 will do.
Another change I have done is in the Wheel of the Year. Celebrating the Triple Goddess and focusing on how the archetypal elements can be incorporated into everyday life, this is something I am really excited about. It is continuing the work I’ve been doing for many years both on Cycle Harmony and elsewhere, and it is an honour to do my bit to promote the value of women in all stages of life.
I am so proud of the book, and considering it grew from a desire to better support my yoga students here in Bergen, Norway, it is truly humbling that Moon Journal 2018 is selling all over the world.
I would love to hear from you! Please send me your experiences with using Moon Journal 2017 and Moon Journal 2018. I’d love to know what difference the book has made for you and where your journey is headed. You can buy this wonderful lunar meditation companion online: At Amazon or Createspace.
Vild Prestegard, Blogger, Community Leader
Vild is from Norway. She is a Dru yoga teacher, social anthropologist, Reiki Master and holistic therapist specialising in health, chronic illness, recovery and healing processes. Vild shares her personal experiences, learning and insights in our Red Tent Column. She is also the author of Moon Journal 2018. Vild’s website: www.allmenningen.org.
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