the moon isn't a biohacking bro bud

tuning into lunar cycles & your December subscriber gift

Photo by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash

This article is a lightly edited repost from around this time last year…but y’all loved it round one and it’s still totally relevant right now. But it also contains a brand new year-end gift for paid subscribers!!! (See the end for updated content.)

Not yet a part of the paid community? Upgrade now and you too shall get this awesome gift. Plus, I have some very generous plans in progress for the new year ;)

For more on the power of tuning into moon cycles at this time of year especially, see The 13 Holy Nights.

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The cult of self help has a particular flavor in the podcast realms…

A lot of the habit-tracking and goal-setting info that makes it's way around the bro-podcast circuits just doesn't work for me. I like the idea of 5am wake ups, cold showers every day, and pushing through discomfort to see change...

But ultimately, so much of the advice out there separates me further from body and intuition.

I'm cyclical. My energy levels are not the same throughout the month, or the seasons. I need the freedom to create space for my authentic needs without having my mind crowded over with "shoulds".

A lot of women suffer from the idea that we can hack our way to health and force ourselves into productivity…

Which brings me to an observation during a recent meeting of my weekly astrology class.

It’s an advanced class with just a small group of pretty badass women. We were practicing reading each others' charts, and a theme emerged…

We had all burned out. Hard. Enough so that half of us had quit our full time jobs for the sake of our health.

As above, so below.

I think a lot of us were drawn to astrology as part of our recovery.

There’s something incredibly comforting about seeing our human experiences reflected in the cosmos.

I have the fixed star Sirius conjunct my moon. Sothis to the Egyptians, many refer to Sirius as our spiritual sun—a portal to divine wisdom. Makes sense for me as my entire life has been a deep dive into mystical realms.

But Sirius is also known as “the Icarus star”. It blesses us with great inspiration and success…yet this success is almost always followed with a painful crash and burn.

Fortunately, rather than deciding my fate, this cosmic knowledge reminds me that I need to be extra intentional with my self care and energy levels.

AND it helps to not pretend that I will magically create consistent equilibrium in my life. My authentic blueprint inherently has cycles of success and burnout.

The question becomes, how can I work with these cycles instead of pretending they don’t exist?

For me, this means knowing that I will need periods of deep rest between creative projects. If I’m launching a new perfume or writing a hefty Substack series for example, I’ll need to put a few days of self care and rest into my calendar.

How Mama Moon Saved Me

To heal from the extreme burnout I experienced (by extreme I mean total adrenal fatigue, no cortisol spike at all, inability to digest food, horrible skin, and crying all the time and unable to get out of bed), I knew I needed to start taking more exquisite care of myself than I ever had before.

This meant resisting the pull of mainstream messages about endless productivity and growth and sinking into a slower, earthier way of being.

But here's the challenge: Committing to exquisite self care is one thing—actually doing the self care is another.

Because being totally depleted makes it really, really hard to take care of yourself in even the most basic ways.

As much as bro-hacking doesn’t work for me, I do need some accountability to keep myself healthy.

I will absolutely slip into later and later bedtimes, skip vitamins, and put off meditating until "tomorrow" if left completely to my own devices.

I needed help. So I turned to the moon.

In Hellenistic astrology, the Moon is considered to be the closest ally of our human experience. Her cycles directly affect our physical bodies and energy levels.

This is why consciously tuning into the Moon’s cycles can have a profound impact on our well-being.

So I made myself my own cyclical, nature-based habit tracking calendars.

These trackers are based on our monthly calendar system because that's the time my mind lives in.

But they incorporate moon cycles because that's the time my body lives in.

Rather than rigid to-do lists that reinforce a mind-over-matter mentality, these lunar calendars help me track and plan according to my authentic cycles.

Throughout 2023, I used these sheets to become more aware of my own energy levels and natural tendencies with the cycles of the moon, and I was better able to cultivate more sustainable habits on my journey back to health as a result.

I still plan and track goals like taking cold showers in the morning, getting sunlight on my skin within the first 10m of waking, morning movement, pranayama, yoga, vitamins, etc.

But I also plan on skipping cold showers during the first days of my cycle. I put in the best days for certain foods or supplements. I mark the weeks when I'll likely have the most energy to go on long hikes, as well as the weeks when I know I'll need more rest and a hot bath.

Calendar Updates (this part is new!)

I used these sheets in 2023 to literally save myself from chronic illness. They really can make a difference — I swear.

This is why I’m sharing them with you. And, the set includes more than calendar pages and tracking sheets. It also includes a guidebook for consciously working with the moon’s energy. The practices in this book alone have been life-changing for my clients.

Plus, if you got the 2024 version…this year has an update! I’ve included monthly rituals for every new and full moon to help you deepen into the zodiacal themes that ebb and flow throughout the year :) In short, you’ll get:

🌝 monthly habit tracking sheets
🌝 monthly lunar planning sheets
🌝 a 30-page moon-syncing guidebook
🌝 ritual inspiration for every full and new moon cycle

You can get yours here.

And here are pictures!

Using these sheets helped me:

🌚 cultivate more sustainable and nourishing habits, from drinking more water to recommitting to my pranayama practice
🌑 plan ahead for different types of self-care activities (saltwater baths at the new moon, socializing at the waxing moon, long solo hikes near the full moon)
🌒 align my schedule with my natural energy levels—sometimes I just won't be as naturally productive and that's ok
🌓 use different herbal tea blends and eat different foods as my body's needs change throughout each month
🌔 become so in touch with my body that I can more easily spot the first signs that I'm heading towards illness or imbalance, which helps course correct before its too late
🌕 get way happier!!!

Enjoy this life-changing gift :)