The full moon does this to me, and it lingers for days.
I shift on the couch, uncomfortable. The moon is bright above and something feels strange. Heavy in my body, cloud in my head.
The old me would sit and scroll, letting the feelings run their course until they settle… however many days later.
The new me knows what this is.
A call to go inward, to light the candle, sit in prayer, honor my soul.
The phone or the candle… who will win tonight?
Every practice I’ve built has met this moment.
The evening I’m tired, the week I’ve been travelling, the day I just don’t feel like it, which is often exactly when I need it most.
I would often sit in ritual for an hour and that would fix me, until the next meltdown of emotions. And it wasn’t until I realized that I needed to do it on both the days that I felt good and the days I felt less than so. Because it’s the repetition that makes a difference, not the length of time.
So if you have five minutes today, will you do this with me?
A five minute ritual
Find a moment where you can be by yourself, even if it’s five minutes.
Light a candle. Sit where you are.
One hand on your heart, one on your belly. Three slow breaths.
If you like, call in the elements: earth beneath you, air around you, water in your body, fire in the flame.
Ask yourself: what am I ready to release?
Say it out loud, or write one line.
Close with gratitude and blow out the candle.
Why coming back matters
A short practice you repeat weekly will change you more than a long one every now and again. Five minutes on a hard night counts. It is how you let your soul know you’re still here, listening.
A place to come back to
I’m opening a weekly space for this on 1 October. Fifteen to twenty minutes, live, so the candle keeps winning on the nights it’s hard. If you’d like to hear first, the founding list is here: Join the founding list here.
