Julie Rae

How Chakras & Crystals can Influence your Wellbeing

Unsure what chakra influences which aspect of your wellbeing? Then this guide is for you as it gives an overview of each chakra and which crystals are ideal to support them.

Root Chakra

The Root Chakra, the first of the seven main energy centers in the body, is the foundation for our overall wellbeing. Located at the base of the spine, this energy centre is associated with our sense of grounding, stability and security. It is the anchor connecting us to the physical world and shaping our feelings of safety and survival. When the Root Chakra is balanced, it fosters a deep sense of rootedness and resilience, enabling us to navigate life’s challenges with greater ease.

Use black crystals such as Black Onyx or earthy Red Jasper to help balance this chakra.

Sacral Chakra

The Sacral Chakra, residing in the lower abdomen, is a vital energy centre that governs our creativity, passion and emotional wellbeing. As the second chakra in our energy system, it holds the key to our capacity for joy, pleasure and connection. The Sacral Chakra is linked to our creativity and sensuality, encouraging us to embrace the flow of life with enthusiasm. When balanced, it empowers us to express our emotions authentically and experience joy. By nurturing the sacral chakra, we unlock the potential for a more vibrant, expressive and emotionally fulfilling life, allowing our creative energy to flow freely to improve our overall sense of wellbeing.

Use orange crystals or Tiger’s Eye to alleviate fear, enhance your creativity and bring about courage.

Solar Plexus Chakra

The Solar Plexus Chakra, situated in the upper abdomen, plays a role in our drive, confidence and self esteem. It empowers us to assert ourselves in the world and navigate challenges with courage. When balanced, it fuels a strong sense of self worth and integrity, enabling us to pursue our goals with clarity and determination. Exploring and nurturing the Solar Plexus Chakra invites us to embrace our inner strength and make empowered choices. By connecting with this energy centre, we can unlock the potential for greater self confidence, resilience and align with our authentic selves.

Work with citrine’s positive influence to improve your motivation and support feelings of self worth.

Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra, residing in the center of the chest, holds the key to love, compassion and emotional balance. Serving as the bridge between the lower and upper chakras, the Heart Chakra supports connections with others and with ourselves. When in harmony, it allows us to experience unconditional love. It allows us to feel open and deserving of love, to love ourselves and to give love openly. Nurturing the Heart Chakra opens the door to healing emotional wounds, promoting forgiveness, building empathy and embracing a more compassionate way of being.

Rose Quartz radiates the healing frequency of unconditional love and green crystals such as Aventurine or Malachite support the Heart Chakra with their healing, forgiving energy.

Throat Chakra

The Throat Chakra, positioned at the base of the throat, is the fifth chakra responsible for communication, self expression and our authentic voice. Acting as the gateway between our inner thoughts and the outer world, the Throat Chakra empowers us to speak our truths and express our creative ideas clearly. When balanced, it encourages open and honest communication, allowing us to speak our truth with confidence and integrity and to listen well. By aligning this energy centre we unlock the potential for improved communication and better connections.

To support this chakra use light blue or crystals such as Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate or Amazonite which encourage truth and calm the mind to improve communication.

Third Eye Chakra

The Third Eye Chakra is located in the centre of the forehead and governs intuition, insight and spiritual awareness. It allows us to tap into our inner voice and listen to our gut feelings and learn to trust our inner knowing. When in balance, it fosters clarity of thought with a profound sense of inner guidance. By awakening this energy centre, we tap into our inner wisdom, unlocking the potential for spiritual awareness, intuitive clarity and a deeper connection to our inner selves.

Use dark blue or indigo crystals such as Lapis Lazuli and Sodalite to support mental clarity and inner vision.

Crown Chakra

Use dark blue or indigo crystals such as Lapis Lazuli and Sodalite to support mental clarity and inner vision.

If you are looking for crystals to support your Chakra work, take a look at the selection here.

If you want to delve deeper into the work of balancing your chakra wellbeing, take a look at My Wellbeing Chakra Journal here.

Listening to your Inner Voice – How to Develop your Intuition

Are you aware of your inner voice? Do you pay attention to it? Ok, so you probably have two inner voices – the one that softly whispers ideas and suggestions to you and pulls at your gut to do something (or not do something) and … the other one. This second one makes you question your first thoughts with cries of “are you mad?!” and wants you to stop before you step outside of your comfort zone, even if that means living a life of mediocrity instead of one of your dreams.

Sadly, the latter voice is the one most of us are aware of and pay attention to. The more gentle one, that one is our intuition and is often ignored (if we can even hear it at all). The great pity here is that it’s out intuition that really has our best interests at heart. Of course the other voice, our shadow voice, also has our welfare at heart too, but in a more protective way, it wants to keep us within our comfortable limits. Obeying this voice can lead us to feeling unfulfilled at a soul level and slowly you may develop a nagging feeling of general discontent, which can have a rippling effect on your mood, self esteem and ultimately your physical and mental health as you feel that something is missing and that you are not reaching your full potential.

The gentle voice of your intuition will, if listened to, stretach you beyond your comfort zone, but never more that you are capable of. It will challenge you, but also support you. It always has your best interests at heart, at every level: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. It will not only gently nudge you in scary directions which will yield huge and unimaginable rewards, but it will also gently nudge you when it’s time to stop or turn around.

When you tune into your intuition and allow yourself to be guided by it, you will be surprised at how much easier things become which you may have previously considered challenges. Also, how good it feels to be at ease with yourself and all your life experiences, even the ones you wouldn’t choose!

If you are not listening to your intuition, learning to tune into it will require time and patience. At first, you may be unsure which voice is which (especially as your shadow voice often sounds very reasonable) and using your intuition is very much like using a muscle – you need to use it regularly in order for it to be in the shape you want.

So how do you get to know your intuition better? First of all, start to watch out for hunches, feelings or ideas that crop up. Pay attention to the voice that accompanies it. Is it gentle, positive, supportive? If it’s aggressive, domineering or demeaning, it’s more likely to be your shadow voice. Maybe you are getting a warning feeling, is it a loud and threatening one (shadow) or an insistent knowing one (intuition)?

The scary thing about trusting your intuition when it’s new to you, is that it’s not based on any logic and often what it suggests to you cannot be justified, making it seem irrational. But with practice and trust, you’ll learn that knowing that something isn’t the right thing to do, is in your best interests. It’ll be easier to shrug off your own shadow voice and that of others and allow you to pursue dreams and avoid heartache.

Woman sit outside in a plain white tshirt and her hands on the side of her head as if to quiet her mind

The key to developing this essential trust in your intuition is to start small. Don’t make life changing decisions based on your intuition if you are not familiar with it (you might still be confusing your two inner voices). Do ask your intuition to guide you with smaller decisions and wait for the gentle knowing feeling to arrive. Don’t expect an instant answer, but watch out for it as it will come and you will know it when it does. Over time, as you tune in more and more, you will find you suffer less and less with worry or anxiety. You’ll trust all will work out well and often you will find it works out better than you could ever have imagined.

How to unlock your intuition

When you feel strongly about something without really understanding why, that’s probably your intuition. Sensing something clearly is basically what we refer to as a “hunch” or “gut feeling”. This is the time when you are overwhelmed with a feeling and you just can’t explain it and all you can say is “I just know”.

Why not try these ideas to help develop your intuition:

Meditate

Meditating means finding peace in yourself. If your mind and heart are cluttered with too much baggage and hurt, you wouldn’t be able to quiet that part of you that could eventuallly initiate intuition. There are so many ways to meditate: take a yoga class, or just simply practice some breathing exercises. Take a look at my meditation and breathing blogs for more on this.

Think Positive

A worry free, fear free state could do so much to improve your intuitive ability. By staying positive, you attract good energy and are more able to easily recognise imminent feelings, events and opportunities.

Let Go

What does this mean? If you are on the brink of making a huge decision, let go of all the inhibitions and head to a quiet place where you could find letting go has brought you. Sometimes you just have to listen to the voice within you and that voice won’t come out unless you let go.

Don’t force it

After letting go of the inhibitions and all those things that stop you from thinking and feeling clearly, never exepct an answer right away. Never expect that the “hunch” will fall on your lap immediately. Give it a little time, then you wil be surprised that suddenly you have your answer.

Trust your first impressions

When you see someone for the first time and have an impulsive thought about them (good or bad), chances are that impression actually holds true for you. Most of the time, first impressions are brought by intuition.

Stay happy

Happiness attracts immense power and such power includes intuition. In tapping into your intuition, your motivation must be happiness and contentment. Given that premise, intuition will fall to you easily.

Intuition is helpful, because sometimes it leads you to something that cannot be achieved otherwise. Decisions are easier done if armed by this gift. Develop intuition now and reap the benefits you could have never imagined.

What is Spiritual Wellbeing and why it isn’t woo-woo!

There was a time when spirituality was regarded as a bit “airy-fairy” and conjured up images of someone wearing a flower crown and dancing hippy-like in a field (which sounds fun by the way – no judgement), but I am pleased to say we have come a long way since then.

Spirituality is a pretty general term and is sometimes associated with religious beliefs, but most commonly describes a sense that there is something greater than yourself and is about building a connection with the wider world and your place in it. You might not even feel that sense of a higher energy, but you may feel a deep connection to life through yoga or art for example, it’s a pretty fluid concept.

Self care practices that help you understand yourself better and to help you find contentment would be referred to as spiritual wellbeing and can allow you to:

🧘 Develop a sense of belonging

🧘 Have more clarity in making decisions

🧘 Experience better health

🧘 Feel calmer and more optimistic

🧘 Gain confidence and improve self esteem

🧘 Build resilience

Have you ever looked at your life and thought that you had everything you needed, yet you still felt like something was missing? You felt unfulfilled and perhaps a bit lost? Did you ever ponder what the meaning of life was? Then you have been exploring your spiritual connection and what your purpose here might be and it’s time to take care of your spiritual wellbeing.

Woman sat on a bed with legs crossed and hands on knees as if to meditate. She has her eyes closed and relaxed.

Spiritual wellbeing can be broken down into three main elements: Purpose – Self-Awareness – Connection

Self-Awareness

Primarily, being spiritual is about understanding your true self, your personal set of values and beliefs so that you can live a life that aligns with you. When you understand yourself fully you can make better decisions that are consistent with your beliefs and, if you can do that, you will feel fulfilled as you are honouring your authentic self. Sometimes we are swept along with our lives and busy with the expectations of society that we forget who we really are deep inside.

Journaling offers a great way to delve deep into your mind to find out about how you feel about things and what your dreams and aspirations are to see if you are following a life path that satisfies these. Ask yourself “What would I do if I knew I would succeed?”, “When am I at my happiest?” or “What would I do today if I had no commitments?”. If you understand what drives you and can incorporate this into your life, you will have greater fulfilment and ultimately a deeper sense of inner peace and contentment.

Connection

Humans are social animals and thrive on connection with like minded people and so building community and social connections are important to your wellbeing, but you can also nurture your connections to nature and the universe as a whole. Getting out in nature and walking barefoot can allow you to feel that connection.

Do you feel that everything is connected to one source or something much bigger than ourselves – even if you have no idea what that something is? You don’t need to get too deep here, you can satisfy that sense of belonging through whatever drives YOU – be that a religious faith, immersing yourself in a meaningful career or nurturing a beautiful garden.

Often we are lacking that connection with ourselves as, especially with social media, validation is sought more and more externally, rather than internally. Modern life sees us so busy that we often neglect taking the time to discover more about who we are. Meditation and breathwork offer perfect ways to get back in touch with yourself and need only take a few minutes a day to begin a practice that you can build upon. It’s about allowing the mind to quieten so you can listen to your inner thoughts. You can find out about the basics of meditation in my blog here.

Purpose

If you are spiritually fulfilled you feel you have meaning in your life and a sense of purpose. This doesn’t have to be a major mission to change the world, it can be to be a great parent or an amazing listener, whatever it is, it is what reminds you that you are an individual that is needed and valued by others.

Feeling that you have a purpose is your motivation to get up each day. It’s what drives you and ultimately provides a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment. Your purpose and motivation may change many times throughout your life and life stages and that in itself can keep you feeling valued.

If you feel like you have no idea what your purpose may be, allow yourself to be creative and explore your passions and start a gratitude journal to remind yourself of what lights you up.

When you have developed your self-awareness and connections to others, you will naturally feel a sense of purpose in your life. You will feel useful and needed and that is ultimately what drives us forward.

Exploring your spiritual self starts with discovering your own identity. Start doing what your enjoy and feed your passions. Build connections with your community by giving what you can in gifts or time to build your own self worth and bring value to your life (not to feed your ego!). Connect also with nature and try meditation as a way to slow down and allow your own thoughts to surface away from the noise of outside influence.

Back of womans head as she walks through a field of sunflowers. Woman has long brown hair and looks to be naked as if a hippy.

Woo-Spirituality

The term “woo-woo” first came about in the 1980s to mock new age culture stating that there was no scientific basis to the practices they were following. There is now the science to back such things as meditation, mindfulness and many holistic therapies and more and more people are turning to these as a form of self care and support in their life. Many people appear to be disillusioned with the modern world, politics, media, conventional medicine routes and are being proactive in taking care of their own health and wellbeing and, whether they realise it or not, are paying attention to their spiritual wellbeing.

Being spiritual isn’t a new age thing or a hippy concept, nor does it mean that you are out of touch with reality. You can be grounded as well as spiritual – in fact I encourage it!

Mindful Breathing

Ok, so we can all breathe, we do it without thinking, but how can we train ourselves to pay attention to it? Commit just a few minutes a day, or even a week, to practice mindful breathing and you will feel the benefits of a calmer mind.

🧘Get Comfortable – Find a position, sitting or lying, where your back is straight and relax into your body, noticing any areas that are holding on to tension. Where you feel that tension, tense that area and then release it and notice it feel lighter. Feel your feet on the ground, or your back on the bed so that you become aware of yourself and not your surroundings.

🧘Breathe – Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a couple of seconds, then exhale through your mouth. You may find it easier to count to, say, 4 for each action.

🧘Focus – Notice your breath as it flows in and out naturally. Focus your attention on where you feel your breath, is it your throat, your nostrils, your chest? Pay attention to where one breath ends and a new one begins.

🧘Your Mind – It is natural for your mind to wander, when it does, acknowledge your distraction and let it pass as you return to focus. The more you return to focus on your breathing, the easier it will become to maintain presence in it.

Mindful breathing is beneficial at times of stress or anxiety to refocus the mind back to the present and a useful tool you can do anywhere.

Chakras – What are they and how do you balance them

The word chakra is sanskrit for wheel or disc which illustrates how the chakras are spinning energy centres of the body. When your chakras are aligned and spinning evenly, your body is in harmony.

There are apparently many of these spinning energy centres located in and around our body, but there are seven main chakras which we will look at here.

When your chakras are functioning correctly and in balance, you will feel the benefits physically, mentally and emotionally as your body will be in harmony. If one is out of sync or blocked, you may notice parts of your life needing attention. But how do you know and how do you attend to it? Below is a brief introduction to the seven main chakras, what they relate to and how you might feel if they are not in balance and, finally, several ideas on how to rebalance them.

🔴 Root (Muladhara)

Colour – Red

Location – Base of the spine

Connection – Basic needs, survival and instincts

In balance – You will feel centred, grounded, safe and secure and generally content

Out of balance – This will encourage feelings of instability, anxiety and fear

🟠 Sacral (Svadhistana)

Colour – Orange

Location – Just below the naval

Connection – Sexuality, identity, passion and optimism

In balance – You will feel joy and pleasure, be sensual, nurturing and in touch with your sexuality

Out of balance – You may have lack of sex drive, a fear of intimacy or feel loneliness

🟡 Solar Plexus (Manipura)

Colour – Yellow

Location – Above the naval

Connection – Self esteem, willpower and motivation

In balance – This is your drive, your get up and go and feeling that you are in control of your destiny

Out of balance – You may have low self esteem, feel powerless, submissive or have an inferiority complex

🟢 Heart (Anahata)

Colour – Green

Location – Chest, near the heart

Connection – Compassion, acceptance and love

In balance – You feel unconditional love and have healthy relationships, practise gratitude and forgiveness

Out of balance – You may experience feelings of bitterness, jealousy, have trust issues and a lack of empathy

🔵Throat (Vishuddha)

Colour – Blue

Location – Neck and throat

Connection – Communication and being your authentic self

In balance – You are able to clearly communicate with confidence, have creative expression and truly express your inner self

Out of balance – You may be unable to express yourself, have misunderstandings, hold secrets and have poor listening abilities

🟦 Third Eye (Ajna)

Colour – Indigo

Location – Between the eyebrows

Connection – Intuition, ability to manifest, inner wisdom and psychic abilities

In balance: You will feel in tune with your intuition, trust your gut feelings and feel creative

Out of balance: Feelings of being out of touch with your intuition, having delusions or mistrust

🟣 Crown (Sahasrara)

Colour – Violet

Location – Just above the head

Connection – Consciousness, spirituality, belief and understanding

In balance: You will feel understanding, spiritually connected, appreciate the little things, enjoy nature and have a sense of knowing

Out of balance: This may make you judgemental, feel ungrounded and lost

If any of the chakras are overactive, you will express exaggerated traits of the chakra which may become overbearing.

How to balance your chakras

Affirmations – positive affirmations which directly relate to the area of imbalance, such as “I express myself with confidence and from the heart” for throat chakra issues. Affirmations work better if they are said with intention and repeated multiple times a day.

Crystals – Generally speaking, if the crystal is the corresponding colour of the chakra point, then you can use it to help balance the energy of that point. However, there are a few specific crystals that work well with each chakra point – find out more about crystals here! Just place the crystal in your pocket for the day, or hold it whilst reciting your affirmations.

Dance – Put on your favourite music and dance like no one is watching. While you are moving your body around you are releasing and shifting the energy within your body, so thrust those areas where you feel you may have a blockage or imbalance.

Meditation – try laying on the bed visualising the energy centres of the body one by one as you work your way up through your body. As you visualise each one, feel the energy over the area. Placing a corresponding coloured crystal or meditation stones on the chakra points also works well to aid balancing and give focus to your practise.

Colour Therapy – Each chakra has its corresponding colour shown above, so throw on something in the colour of the chakra you want to work with, burn a coloured candle, hold the relevant coloured crystal and immerse yourself with that colour.

Yoga – There are certain yoga poses that help with moving the energy around your chakra points. YouTube has many you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Why not combine a couple! For the ultimate root chakra balancing, wear some red, burn a red candle, hold a piece of red jasper and move those hips to some music.

Of course, you can also work through My Wellbeing Chakra Journal, the ultimate way to learn about all the chakras and how they impact on your wellbeing. With guided prompts to help you discover how each chakra influences your life. Find out more here.

The How and Why of Diaphragmatic Breathing

The diaphragm is a muscle below the lungs and heart and above the abdomen, which contracts as we breathe in and out. It also applies pressure when we need to go to the toilet or vomit, so it’s a pretty important muscle which gets little to no attention! The benefits of working this muscle can have an impact on you physically by building stamina and helping you maintain optimum body function as you age or in times of illness, as well as inducing calm and aiding your mental health.

How to do diaphragmatic breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing is essentially steady deep breathing by inhaling in through the nose and out through the mouth. Let’s break it down in stages:

1. Sit or lie in a comfortable position

2. Relax your shoulders and breathe as you would normally

3. Place one hand on your abdomen and one on your chest

4. Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose feeling your hand rise on your abdomen until you feel your lungs are full

5. Hold for the count of two

6. Slowly exhale through the mouth, blowing out the air steadily and feel your abdomen flatten

7. Repeat several times

For best results practice this at least once a day, or several times if you can. It only takes a minute or two.

Why do diaphragmatic breathing?

There are many benefits to improving your breathing technique and strengthening your diaphragm and these include:

🧘 Improved core stability

🧘 Increased calmness and reduced stress

🧘 Maintaining a healthy heart rate and blood pressure

This technique can be useful in times of stress to help your body and mind relax and manage stressful situations. It can be used as a distraction when undertaking difficult procedures, such as an injection, or be a focus to take the mind away from negative thought patterns. There are a couple of techniques you can use as a prompt if you wish to add a visual focus to the breathing such as:

Breathe around a rectangle – No matter where you are, you can normally find a rectangular shape to trace round with your eyes, such as a window, door or picture frame. As you scan the edge of the shape, breathe in through the nose on the short edges, pause at the corner and breathe out on the longer sides of the rectangle.

Visualise a feather – As you breathe out, imagine you are blowing gently down the length of the feather and imagine it flowing in front of you.

Diaphragmatic breathing is portable – you can do it literally anywhere so it’s another useful tool to have in your wellbeing toolbox.

Self Care – The Act of Nurturing Yourself

If you are feeling under intense stress or not managing your mental wellbeing, it is important to try out some coping strategies and practice self care. Self care can put you in a place where you feel more able to manage your emotions – and if you are managing your emotions, you can function better, which puts you in a better position to deal with your challenges.

Self care can mean different things to different people, for many it’s time alone with a book and good food (yes, I mean chocolate….) and for others it’s letting off steam with friends and a night out (no, I don’t mean alcohol!). It can take many forms, but essentially, if it allows you to bring your mind into the present and forget about future worries or past mistakes and you enjoy it, it’s a form of self care. There is some pressure to feel that in order to fully indulge in “self care” you “should” be doing yoga or meditating and, well, yes please do that because it is so beneficial, but really if your heart isn’t in it and you need immediate relief from a stressful time, what you really need is something personal to you and that might well be meditating or it might be strumming a guitar.

Self care isn’t always the fluffy stuff either, it can also be facing some truths and shedding toxic relationships. Anything that betters your life and makes you live more authentically is a form of self care. Do you need to tackle that to do list so you can free up some mind space and time? Do you need to spend less time with that friend who brings you down? Do you need to tell your partner that they need to help out more around the house? Just do it already! Imagine how much easier life will be without the added pressure of these niggles rattling around your brain?

If you are feeling that life pressures are becoming overwhelming, there are four immediate aspects of self care that you need to attend to:

MOVEMENT = Walk, dance, run or do whatever raises your heart rate and spirits at least three times a week, preferably more

SLEEP = Adults need around 7-8 hours a night. Bedtime rituals or meditation can aid a peaceful nights sleep if you are struggling

DIET = Eat three meals a day, of nutritious and well balanced meals – you are what you eat

BREATHE = Practice deep breaths, fill your abdomen and learn diaphragmatic or mindful breathing

Now you must find the time to do that thing that fills you with joy, whether that is reading, crafting, baking something or playing a board game. Build a toolbox of strategies and use them regularly. Here a few more coping strategies to try out to see what works for you:

· Take a walk in nature

· Create a calm environment to escape to, such as in your bedroom

· Start journaling

· Take a bath

· Try meditation

· Practice gratitude

· Catch negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones

· Get in touch with friends/family

The more you practice self care, the more it will work for you.

What are Mudras?

Mudras are most commonly positions of the hands and fingers, it means “seal”, “gesture” or “symbol”. They help with your body’s energy flow and can be seen used in traditional Indian dance, yoga and meditation.

Why Use Mudras?

Using mudras helps deepen the mind / body connection and can improve mood, focus or vitality. They can deepen your intention during meditation so, for example, finding a mudra that improves focus or builds confidence can assist your body and mind to create this reality.

The Five Elements

According to Ayurveda, everything is made up of the five elements and each element is associated with certain characteristics and body systems. Using certain hand gestures will connect different elements and aid flow of energy around the body.

FIRE – Thumb – Willpower, inner strength & energy – Digestive system & sight

AIR – Index Finger – Intellect, love & compassion – Touch, cardiovascular & immune systems

ETHER – Middle Finger – Communication & unity – Hearing, endocrine & nervous systems

EARTH – Ring Finger – Grounding, materiality & connection – Smell, spleen & large muscles

WATER – Pinky – Pleasure & adaptability – Reproductive, urinary & lymphatic systems

There are mudras that correspond with chakras and can help clear blockages in those chakra points, so if you are wanting to feel more grounded, for example, look up those associated with the root chakra. For more information on chakras, take a look at this article.

How do you perform mudras?

You can pretty much perform a mudra anywhere, seated, standing, walking, on the bus! However, to really engage with the connection, lie down or sit cross legged and meditate or practice deep relaxation. Keep the spine straight, shoulders relaxed and take slow deep breaths to allow energy (chi or prana) to flow freely around your body. Now adopt a mudra and commit to the position of the hands, giving enough pressure to any connections to feel them, but not so much that you turn your fingertips white.

Energies of the New Moon – Manifestation and Rituals

The moon is known for its cycles, for its ebb and flow and influence over the tides. A new moon has a quiet retrospective energy as opposed to the full moon’s physical action energy, but what can we do to take advantage of the energy of the new moon?

Firstly, it’s useful to see what astrological sign the new moon is in because as the sun and moon now lie in the same zodiac sign, these energies will be emphasised for you to claim. These are:

♈ Aries – Passion and courage

♉ Taurus – Determination

♊ Gemini – Social and lively

♋ Cancer – Calm and romantic

♌ Leo – Radiance and articulation

♍ Virgo – Compassion and grounding

♎ Libra – Harmony

♏ Scorpio – Endurance

♐ Sagittarius – Courage and optimism

♑ Capricorn – Resilience and discipline

♒ Aquarius – Intelligence

♓ Pisces – Unpredictability

Spiritual Meaning

New moons symbolise the end of one phase and the start of a new one, so within the darkness of the moon there holds endless possibility. Sometimes the dark can be a cause of anxiety, but it is a time to set clear intentions and put those out to be manifested into effect as the new light comes into sight.

New moons traditionally symbolise a time of new beginnings and rebirth and a time for rest before the next phase of activity. It is the perfect time to reflect and assess your current situation and set intentions for what you would like to happen next. They are cleansing and an opportune time for personal healing.

Scene looking over hills. Darkening sky with small crescent moon showing behind a wispy cloud.

New Moon Rituals

You can work with the energy of the new moon by carrying out certain rituals or tasks over the three days of the new moon cycle. A moon ritual can be anything you want it to be, from lighting a candle or gazing out of the window at the moon manifesting, to creating a dedicated alter and spending time celebrating and honouring the new moon phase.

Start a Moon Journal – Write out your intentions for the new moon and, with each new moon, take time to go back on your writings and reflect on these as you set your new ones;

Create a New Moon Alter – You could place an envelope holding your written intentions on the alter and surround it with anything that reminds you of the moon or things you find beautiful and sacred;

Cleanse your home – smudge your home using white sage, open the windows and clear out the old energies ready for the new;

Start something new – a hobby, class or a job that you need to get stuck into;

Have a cleansing bath – relax with lavender essential oils and/or bath salts and clear your mind. Surround yourself with crystals and anything you find as a calming influence.

Manifest under the New Moon

🌙 Cleanse your space

🌙 Ground yourself

🌙 Set your wishes out, by writing or saying them

🌙 Believe that you deserve your desires

🌙 Visualise your dreams coming into fruition

The Basics of Meditation

Have you ever tried to meditate? It can take practice, so don’t give up if you have been struggling to switch off the mind chatter. Meditation is such a powerful tool to help calm the mind and body and there are many different ways to get started. If you search online you will find many guided meditations for all sorts of situations, but these can often feel overwhelming if you aren’t used to trying to switch off and quiet the mind.

Start small with just a a minute a two a day and build up from there. If you are still struggling, take up a repetitive hobby like cross stitch, knitting or crotchet as the repeating patterns of hand and eye movements can often be meditative, especially once you become adept at it and lose yourself in the craft.

If you are new to meditation, why not start with this simple practice:

🟢 Sit comfortably or lie down on your back.

🟢 Take a deep breath in, hold and breathe out slowly. Repeat.

🟢 Take your mind to a happy place. Is it your home, a beach, a sunny woodland? Sense the surroundings, smell the air and imagine the sense of wellbeing you feel when in this happy place. Can you feel the change in sensation in your body? Take a moment to really feel how your body adapts.

🟢 Say the following mantra:

May I be safe and happy

May I be peaceful and calm

May I be strong and healthy

🟢 Now extend the words to others:

May you be safe and happy

May you be peaceful and calm

May you be strong and healthy

💞 Radiate love in all directions.

🟢 Concentrate on your breathing once again as you bring yourself back to your space.

A calm mind aids a healthy body as the mind and body are intrinsically linked. If we are feeling out of balance and harbouring stress, our physical body will respond to that with physical changes, putting us in a fight, flight or freeze mode. When the mind is calm, we feel safer and more able to respond to life’s challengs without putting ourselves into a place of stress.

Why not try the above, and let me know how you get on.