Perhaps one of our most asked questions, we are excited to share with you how to sync your menstrual cycle with the new moon!
Why with the new moon?
Well, most traditional cultures around the world showed women menstruating with the new moon time. The new moon is a time of releasing, letting go, intuition and self care. In many cultures, women entered the Red Tent during their time of menstruation and were relieved of their duties and chores. In this sacred space, women sang, weaved, danced, rested, discussed and bled into the earth.
Many women choose to menstruate with the new moon because it was how many of our ancestors menstruated. If you want to learn more about how to treat your menstrual cycle as sacred, you can read that here.
So if you have felt called to sync your cycle with the new moon, this is for you!
Important: Women on hormonal birth control may be unable to change the time of their menstrual cycle. Please consult with your physician before getting off of birth control or changing your use of birth control. This blog post does not replace medical advice.
Syncing with the New Moon~
Step 1~ The most important step in syncing your cycle with the moon is to sleep in complete darkness. Sleeping in complete darkness is incredibly healthy for the body and should be done anyway, so this is a good step to take for syncing your cycle and for general health. So what does this mean? This means no night light in the bathroom, no hall light on with light peaking in underneath the door, no light coming in from the windows, etc. You should be sleeping in complete darkness. Black out blinds can be a good option. Do note that our bodies have light receptors all over the skin and so it is not effective to simply wear an eye mask.
Step 2~ Be aware that during these three months you cannot simply turn on the bathroom light in the middle of the night as this will undo what you have been doing. Red does not trigger the same response in the body as white light and so scientists have said that putting a red nightlight in the bathroom or having a separate switch for a dim red light is key! Do not turn on a bright light in the middle of the night as you'll have to start over the three month process.
Step 3~ On the fourth month of sleeping in complete darkness, you will leave a small light on in your bedroom or in the hall for the three days around the FULL MOON. Our bodies were used to feeling the glow of the full moon when we slept outside or in tipis. This helps our body reorient to when the full moon time is. Having a salt lamp on in the corner, or a night light in the bathroom or the hall light on with some light underneath the door is all you need. It's not necessary to keep a lamp on or the overhead lighting. Your body is very sensitive to light!
If the full moon is on Wednesday the 22nd, you would leave the small light on the following days- Tuesday the 21st, Wednesday (Full Moon) the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd.
After those three days, you will go back to sleeping in complete darkness.
Step 4~ For the next three months, you will complete this process. During the three days around the full moon, you will keep a small light on and during the rest of the month you will be sleeping in complete blackness.
Step 5~ After 6 months of this process (3 months in darkness and 3 months of light around the full moon) your cycle should be synced with the new moon. For women who have been on hormonal birth control for most of their lives, the process may take longer.
Some women choose to continue this process because it is healthy to sleep in complete darkness and this helps their cycle stay synced with the new moon. Other women choose to go back to sleeping with some light and may notice their cycle migrate around. It's all a personal choice for each individual woman.
Let us know how this works for you! We have seen this work beautifully for many women.
