Edition 03: A Full Moon, A Fire, and Letting Go

Tonight is a full moon. And if I’m honest, I never used to care much about astrology. It felt a little too woo, too out there. Or maybe I just thought I was smarter than it.

And now? I can’t say I follow astrology or even pretend to know what a rising sign is, but what I do believe now, what I’ve come to understand, is that everything is connected. Nature, our bodies, the moon. To think we aren’t impacted by the moon’s energy almost feels naïve to me now. It pulls tides. It affects cycles. In New York City, it definitely feels like people get a little more wild under a full moon. Even my mom was deeply convinced I would only go into labor on a full moon (This did not happen).

And now, when I look up at the full moon, I can feel that shift in the air. Like something is ready to be let go.

There’s a ritual my husband and I have used in the past, something our shaman once recommended to him during a rough time. It’s a burning ceremony. Simple, but powerful. The idea is to write down what you want to release: old patterns, habits, thoughts. And then burn the paper. Fire is cleansing. Symbolic. Transformational. And it’s most powerful on a full moon.

Hey, I told you this email thread was full of the witchy stuff I love. This one is a good one. Especially for breakups, recurring thoughts, or just a general release and surrender.

This idea of release has really been sitting with me lately.

I’ve practiced hot yoga for over 15 years, often the Bikram method: 26 poses, same sequence every time. The room is hot, sweaty, no music. Just breath and the teacher’s voice, nonstop. And honestly, I love it.

The other day, the teacher reminded us of something I’d heard before but needed to hear again. Between each pose, there’s a moment of stillness. A 30-second pause to simply rest. You’re supposed to be still. That is part of the practice - stillness.

But what usually happens in those 30 seconds? We reach for distraction. We wipe our sweat. Adjust our mats. Fidget. Fix our hair. Pull at our clothes.

She told us: Notice your habits between the poses.
When do you grab your water? When do you need to do something? When you’re hot, uncomfortable, tired - do you allow yourself to sit in it? Or do you reach for distraction?

It struck me, how often we do this in life, not just in yoga. When things feel uncomfortable or quiet or uncertain, we grasp. We scroll. We binge. We fill the space. We read stories we know will upset us.

(Last week, I found myself deep in articles about the Diddy case which was so disturbing and traumatic. Why was I reading it? It had nothing to do with me. But it distracted me from sitting with my own thoughts.)

Distraction can feel like relief. But more often than not, it’s avoidance.

So tonight, under the full moon, I’m thinking about what I want to burn. What I want to release. What old habits or comforts I’m ready to thank and let go of.

If you’re feeling this too, maybe take a moment. Write it down. Light a candle. Burn it safely. Breathe.

This is the beauty of these cycles.
We get to begin again.

With love and a little moonlight,
Monica