253: Lunar Abundance Rituals with Ezzie Spencer

Namaste.

It's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest involvement. If it is your first time listening, welcome. This is the place where we discuss all things spiritual and make it fun, easy, and relatable. So thank you for being here on your divine journey, and if you were here every week, what up? How are you? I am grateful for you. I see you thriving in 2020. I see you making those right choices. I see you get into alignment. Don't think I don't notice. Don't think I don't notice.

I see you.

I see you, and I appreciate you. So we are about to hit a new moon, and this new moon is taking place January 24th. And if you're listening to this episode after, you're still probably gonna be hitting a new moon within the next month, because they happen every single month. So just Google New Moon whenever you're listening to this, and you'll find yours. But this podcast is about how to manifest with the moon. So astrology is extremely trendy and popular right now, which I'm super grateful for. And in the past couple of years, I've also been interested more and more in astrology and seen how accurate and true it is. And a lot of us talk about the sun signs. I think a lot of astrology, we've been focused on, like, what's your sign? And, you know, that's actually related to our sun sign. And I've had conversations on this podcast with Vedic astrologers, but what we haven't talked about specifically are the lunar phases. And this is something that's really important in astrology because we are very affected by the moon. I mean, the moon is exactly what creates the tides of the ocean. So if you can see that the ocean is being pulled so deeply by the moon, and the ocean is water, we are 70% water, the exact same percentage of salt as the ocean. Then how can we not think that the moon doesn't affect us? It absolutely affects us. And there's so much science now that people are seeing that people are behaving differently on full moons. Actually, there's a statistic that shows that there are more murders on full moons, probably because people are going crazy. But in this episode, we don't talk about murders.

We talk about how to manifest good.

Things that we do want with the moon. So I met Ezzy Spencer when I was in New York during my book launch, and she was at a Mind Body Green dinner that I was speaking at and I absolutely loved what she was doing of teaching people how to have rituals according to the moon and the eight lunar phases which she talks about on this podcast, which is super interesting because again, most of us, myself including, think about the four phases of the moon, but it's actually eight and then the different energies related to each one. So how we can manifest according to what is happening in the moon at any given time. And then every single month we have the invitation to start fresh with a new lunar cycle and begin our new manifestation. So this is an opportunity for you to call in what you are manifesting for the new moon. And she will also be doing a live workshop in Rose Gold Goddesses exclusively with Rose Gold Goddess members. So you can participate if you're a member of Rose Gold Goddesses or you can become a member by heading over to rose gold again, that is rose gold goddesses plural.com I will have that link in the show notes. She'll be doing a live webinar on the actual new moon and this webinar will be recorded and available for you to do again every single month. So you will have her exact ritual at bay for you. And that in itself is so incredibly valuable because she is an expert in this topic and as she shares in this podcast, actually gave up her career as a lawyer to dedicate herself to lunar abundance rituals. So without further ado, let's welcome Dr. Ezzy Spencer to the Highest Self podcast. Oh my Goddess Sister Queen. I am so excited to share with you that Rose Gold Goddesses is officially open. We are accept for the most high vibe community on the interwebs and in real life as well. What Rose Gold Goddesses is is your sacred Sisterhood collective. We have our very own app with all types of content to support you.

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Welcome Ezzy, to the Highest Self podcast. It's so good to have you here. So the first question I would love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self?

Oh, it's when I'm just absolutely in alignment with what I'm feeling and also what I'm in the world. So when I'm really fully living on purpose and then really feeling totally lit up by whatever it is that, you.

Know, I'm doing or saying or operating it in any one way at any one time.

So true and so important in today's world, where we're often very scattered in many different directions.

Totally.

So I am obsessed with your new book and journal, Lunar Abundance, and it has really been educational for teaching me about the different phases of the moon in a deeper way and how to kind of like set up your schedule with the moon. So I would love to walk through just a lunar cycle and how we can optimize our lives, our calendars, our sex lives, abundance, everything. With the help of Mama Luna.

Yeah, exactly. And it's just, I mean, what I.

Love about the moon is just how practical it can be when we sync.

Up with it in that way where it really can enhance all the parts of our lives exactly as you've just described.

So I work with eight phases of the moon, which a lot of people, of course, I mean, people know about.

The new moon, people know about the full moon, but I love breaking down.

The moon phases in a way which is actually like a lot more practical and juicy and relevant. So it's not just something that we.

Check into once a month or twice a month when it's like oh my gosh. Why am I feeling so out of control at this moment? It must be the moon, but rather.

Really harness that energy and be able to live in the flow of life and really be able to tap into the ease and that real juicy femininity, creativity, sensuality, everything that the lunar cycle has to offer. So the way that it really starts is to tune in at the new moon. And I work with the moon as a natural timekeeper. And I also work with the moon as really a mirror, a trigger for us to come within. So when we think about the moon or when we see the moon in the sky, the invitation is always to come within. And the reason for that is because the moon represents the feelings, it represents the emotional world, it represents the feminine part of ourselves. The part of ourselves which is a little more hidden, but which is so real and so beautifully easy to access once we know how to do it and once we practice how to do it. So setting an intention at the new moon is the way to really start to harness this energy and to start to get into this contact, to get into contact with this beautiful sort of rhythmic energy. By setting an intention. What I mean is not just getting into our heads and thinking in a very goal oriented way, like, what is it that we want to achieve in the next month, the moon cycle lasts for a month, but actually reframing it and coming into how we are feeling, how we want to feel, and what it is that we want to receive in the month ahead. And this is really how we start to become more magnetic. This is how we start to really invite towards us the kind of opportunities which are going to support us to.

Live as our, you know, in our.

Highest self, be able to really actualize our purpose and whatever our dharma is. But to be able to, you know, be so intentional about what it is that are welcoming in what it is that we are attracting into our lives, and then taking very, very intentional, discerning action in the most effective and efficient way. So it's a dance between receiving and then going out into the world and taking action, but taking action with discernment and with simplicity, so that we're able to protect our precious reserves of time and energy. So again, starting at that new moon, by tuning into what our intention is in terms of what it is that we want to attract into our life, what we want invite into our life, and what it would feel like for us to be able to invite that in. By feelings, I mean the physical sensations in our bodies. So really dropping into the embodiment of what it would actually already feel like.

For what it is that we desire.

To already be here in our lives. But again, you know, giving ourselves that cellular memory by tuning into those physical sensations and then being able to, you know, really link it to pleasant emotional states.

So getting out of like the fear and the scarcity or, you know, I'm not worth that, you know, not worth worthy, who am I to be able to deserve that which I so desire?

But tuning into these states of like joy and gratitude that this is already coming towards us, this is already real. Like, of course it is something that we deserve if it's there as a desire in our heart, if our heart is yearning for it, you know, if our soul wants it, then, you know, that kernel, that seed is there for us. So planting that seed and aligning our intention with that seed, anchoring it into how it is that we want to feel, is the very first step that the new moon at the first day of this month long moon cycle. And then from that point there's a.

Lot to talk about. We can dive into the phases in depth and in detail.

But there's a rhythm in the lunar abundance practice which is around being and doing and dancing between this state of inviting in and receiving and then going out into the world in a way to take again that inspired intentional action to help to take us further towards what our dreams actually are. And so the way that I work with the eight moon phases is that those moon phases alternate. So the first moon phase, the new moon phase, that's a doing phase. And the doing there is actually the setting of the intention. Aligning our will, our purpose, getting that clarity around what it is.

And this is the phase immediately after the new moon. Right?

So that's actually the new moon phase. So that's. So the doing is exactly. Yeah. So we start off with the doing because we need to initiate. And so the doing doesn't actually need to be that.

The hustle and the grind and the go, go, go and the doing and the, you know, all of sort of the pushing the rock up the hill. So many of us, you know, are.

Sort of used to that busyness. It can be very, very simple. And simple doesn't always mean easy though, you know, doing the new moon intention setting process can often take a lot of courage to carve out that space and that time and to really go within to find out what it is that you are really craving at any particular not be what your mind thinks when you start to tune in and listen to your body and listen to your heart, the whispers that come through might actually be surprising to you. And so that's why it's a doing phase. Then the next phase, the crescent moon phase, the second of the eight moon phases is a being phase, so more of a yin phase. And so many of us, would you.

Consider each phase like one week, so from new moon to one week after, or like three days before? Three days after, with the new moon being in the middle.

So the way that the phases are divided up, so the moon cycle lasts for about a month. So it's 29 and a half days is the moon cycle. And then the eight phases of the moon tend to be three or four days apiece. So the new moon phase will last for three or four days. So that's the first of the eight phases. Then the second of the eight phases, the crescent moon phase again will be three or four days, and then the next phase will be three or four days. So in week, exactly as you say in a week, then there'll be that opportunity to have half the week as like the doing mode, and then the other half of the week as the being mode.

Got it. Okay. Because I think, Yeah, I feel like a lot of us get confused because I've always thought that new moon was like, you go inward and it's a time to be in your little yoni temple. So this is interesting how you consider it the doing phase, but the doing of it is the intention setting of it.

Exactly. Right. Now what's really interesting is that doing and being are always going to be relative to each other. So if someone is used to working with the new moon and the full moon, like two moon phases in the course of the month, then the full moon is going to be more doing in a relative way, and the new moon will be more being in a relative way.

Right. If you're only working with two phases.

If you're comparing the new moon with the full moon, then that's going to be how it will be broken down. What I found though, when I started to work with the moon cycle was that working just with two moon phases didn't have me really deeply connected to these themes throughout the entire month. So what I found is that working with the eight moon phases gave me more of a structured framework around how the moon could be relevant and the.

Moon cycle could help to inform my.

Calendar and my daily life. And so in that way, still working with the interchangeability with the doing phases and the being phases, but bringing in eight moon phases, there's more applicability to the way that we can work with those times of going within and being more quieter and always actually being connected.

With our intuition, that's something which is going to be consistent throughout the entire month.

But the new moon phase is actually going to have more of that doing element because of the intention, setting, process. But then the companion phase to the.

New moon phase, the crescent moon phase, so we can obviously see that crescent moon in the sky.

That's going to be the being phase. So that's going to be the time where there's an invitation to actually again come within, even more so than we do at the new moon phase. Then it switches again at the next moon phase. So the third of the eight moon phases is the first quarter moon phase.

And that's when the moon is a.

Quarter of the way around the Earth and it actually appears like it's half full in the sky at that time. Now that's going to be another doing phase. So again, these doing being phases are coming in pairs in this way. And so at the first quarter moon phase, there's often a real rush of energy. And this can be the time where we can really take again that intentional action to move us towards our dream and our wish. The seed that we've planted and the seed that we've been watering and paying attention to in our daily meditation practice, in our tuning in and really, you know, sort of plumping up that seed and getting ready for the kind of action that will take a one week into the moon cycle at that first quarter moon phase.

Love that so much. And I love just the subtleties of it, how we really are ebbing and flowing. It's like a wave goes in and out. And I really like how you've defined them into these eight stages that, you know, you set your intention and then you come back and then you take action on it and then you reclaim group. And then I'm sure the next one is like you really go into it.

Exactly right? And this is how I found I could start to live a really sustainable life. I started out as a lawyer, as a human rights lawyer, so I knew all about the hustle and the grind.

And what I found is that I was also consistently working, walking that line of burnout, right? Like, I needed to find a way where I had more ease and flow in my own life. But I didn't want to give up.

Being productive and effective and achieving as well. Right.

So I needed to find a practice which would allow me to really find that sweet spot of being able to take these permission slips really?

And that's what I find the being phases of the moon or the yin phases of the moon really are.

For me, they're permission slips. To say no to events, to say no to extra work, to say yes to myself. And drawing inwards consistently throughout the month.

Not just once a month, but consistently.

Throughout the month, and to build in that into my schedule so then I can live in a way which is going to be sustainable. But then I'm going to have much more energy for the times where it is time for me to come out into the world and take the action. And I'm also going to have the clarity of thought and intention for me to know what is going to be the smartest action for me to take in those times, so then I can get the greatest possible impact.

I love that. So beautiful. And when I read that you were a human rights lawyer, my dream was to become a human rights layer. So I was like, I so feel. And I think a lot of people listening to had that similar dream because we thought that the only way we could help people is through, you know, doing what we thought was possible, like working in a corporate setting in law, helping people in this way. And I think that so many healers just have this desire to help. And it's so fascinating how I see so many people, like, walk this line between, like, spirituality and activism and really how connected they are.

Oh, so much so, yeah. And it's so exciting that we have these opportunities and that we're all carving out these paths to walk now, because these careers didn't exist 10 years ago.

Or 15 years ago.

So I think it's just always about coming, you know, within and seeing what really turns you on and what lights you up, and to be able to show up in the world and be of service in a way that's going to be completely authentic to you, even if that doesn't necessarily make sense to.

The people around you. And that was the case for me. You know, my colleagues, my family were like, what is this that you're doing? You know, when I started to talk about the moon.

But you know what? It just felt so right to me when I was talking about it. And this is before Instagram, you know.

This is before the moon started trending on the Internet, anything like that.

You know, it's just something that I had this, you know, innate curiosity. I'd had fascination with the moon cycle ever since I was a little girl. You know, she just started to talk to me and to whisper to me and to guide me towards what was really, you know, something elemental that was missing from my life. And she's continued to open up a life of mystery and magic and so much expansion and abundance, which I couldn't even have planned it when I was.

Back working in the law, because I.

Couldn'T even have imagined how, you know, magical and amazing my life could be now. But the moon has been what has led me down that path. Up.

Wow, that's so beautiful. And for those of you listening out there who are like, I'm in this job that, you know, I was really passionate about and maybe it's not fully serving me, let this be such a beautiful example for you that that thing that you're curious about, maybe a fascination you've had since the time you were a child, can be that thing that is your dharma, that is the life's work that you put out into the world. So thank you for sharing that. One question I have is how did you make these lunar phases work when you had a job like being a lawyer? Like, you couldn't decide when your workload was coming to. You couldn't decide what your clients needed from you. Sometimes I struggle because, for example, I'm like, on my period, which is supposed to be a yin time, and I have to be on my speaking tour. So how do you make it work with just the happenings of the worlds that you can't control?

It's such a good question. And the answer to that is I created this practice when I was in that particular kind of environment. So I did need to create something practical that was going to work for me. So it was really born from that place.

And so, you know, the way that.

I would work with these being phases and doing phases, you know, sort of the yin and the yang. And originally was around just finding those spaces, those places where I was able to exert some personal agency and then also surrendering to the times where I didn't and just recognizing that, you know.

And I was working in a more.

Structured, in a corporate environment that we're just going to have to be those times where I just had to continue.

To show up and be a professional. Right.

And so what I would find point is that, you know, I would try to organize my own work life and then also my own personal life, you know, in as much integrity, as much authenticity as possible. And so I would find the ways where, for example, you know, I could say, you know, do block out some time on my own calendar. You know, were there meetings that I absolutely had to go to? You know, were There ways, even just within a very, you know, busy 12 hour workday with a lot of demands on my time, you know, were there ways in a yin phase where I could actually really say no, you know, that's something which, you know, I'm going to have to prioritize this other deadline, this other kind of work, and I know that I'll be able to, you know, get you a better result. You know, if I was speaking to a superior, you know, I'll get you a better result, you know, if I've got this amount of time, you know, to be able to deep dive into this. Because the yin phases or the being phases can be wonderful times to actually do more unstructured work, you know, the more kind of creative work, if you have that available. And yes, even as a lawyer, I would find those times where I would have those available. The other ways that I would make this work for me is, is not necessarily taking on extracurricular activities after work. So giving myself again, the permission to say no to things, even if, for example, something looked good on paper, it looked like it might promote my career, or indeed I would have this feeling of responsibility and obligation to go to something, I would really tune in with myself. And what I'd see over time is that if I continue to push myself in these being phases to try to continue to do all the things and try to complete all of the projects and just to keep saying yes all the time to everything that everybody was asking of me, then I was going to burn out. I wasn't actually going to do as good a job, you know, I wasn't going to be as effective. So when I was able to really acknowledge that, claim that, and then communicate that in an effective way, which demonstrated that, you know, I had a sense of, of knowledge about what myself, I guess, what my own needs were in any given situation, you know, in order to get to the particular goal or outcome that, you know, my employer wanted.

For me, or, you know, my friends.

Wanted for me, or my family wanted for me, me, when I was able just to really release any of my own guilt around having to try to do it all, all the time and just be able to, you know, communicate in a really clean and healthy way, then that helped me to be able to say no to things both professionally and personally. And I think there's a lot of fear around doing that, you know, partly because we are worried about missing out.

And you know, we're worried about missing.

Out sometimes in social settings, but obviously as well, when we can be career and achievement oriented, you know, But I think that what then happens when you are able to really, you know, take charge of again, like find these places within your schedule where you can have some agency, then what then can happen is that you're going to show up bigger and better in the other environments. You know, in the next phase, you know, in the next couple of days you're going to be able to, you know, deliver and on a report or a particular job to a client, do a much better job in a way which is going to continue to build up evidence, you know, for them that.

You are someone who, you know, actually does know yourself and knows your rhythms.

The nose, your cycles. And that you're able to, you know, to really understand, you know, where you can try to get the win, wins with people as well. And the other ways, you know, that this can play out can be, you know, as subtle as the kind of foods that you're eating. You know, in a yin phase, you know, pay a little bit more attention to eating perhaps more, you know, grounded, earthy foods and you know, consider how a yin phase or a being phase might be a different way for you to experiment with different kinds of meditation, different self care practices, perhaps, you know, different ways of working out. Consider going for, you know, a walk or maybe a yin yoga class or yoga nidra class, like something a little gentler rather than something which is more high impact or high intensity, you know, more sort of cardio strength oriented, which could be better suited for a doing phase. So there's plenty of ways where you can sort of experiment and play around with how you can make these being phases work for you, which is going to be realistic with the contours of your particular schedule and obligations.

I love that and I think it's really inspiring. Like if you as a lawyer were able to make it work, like a lot of us who feel like, oh well, my boss is not going to be okay with that. Like I feel like law firms having worked with clients who are lawyers is some of the toughest schedules. So that's really inspiring that you were able to make it work. So did you tell, for example, your superiors, did you tell them the reason why is because of the lunar fees or did you just say like, I'm not able to do my best work right now, but I can do it next week without explaining the lunar reason?

I love that question because I think that's actually a critical question because I.

Think it wouldn't have gone down as.

Well if I'd started to talk about the Moon in the more traditional environments that I was operating in at that.

Time, I feel like the most effective and potent way to be able to communicate is always to use the language which is going to really land and resonate with the people who are around you. So, for example, when I was working in a more traditional legal context, I would share that, you know, it was really about, you know, me and what my needs were in that particular situation or time in terms of my energy levels and that type of thing. And that tended to land a lot better. And of course, again, it's always about backing it up with action. So it wasn't about being, you know.

Flaky or, you know, always just being like, oh, no, you know, too precious, I can't do it.

You know, it was actually about, again, you know, taking the time that I needed in order to replenish and to restore and to reflect and then showing up again in that next moon phase in those coming days and doing my best work. So then what happens is that you're able to build up again this concrete evidence base that then you're able to point to. It's like, becomes a positive upward spiral of being able to say, hey, you know, see, I do know myself and I did undertake to get you that much better project or, you know, deliverable, shipped by Friday. And.

And I did, you know, and you were happy with.

So trust my process is that implicit takeaway there. The more that you do that, then, you know, the more receptive people will be around you to just being able to pay attention and listen to what it is that you're saying is important to you.

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Is there an app that you recommend so we can constantly see what cycle the moon is at?

So I tend to work more analog.

I'm sorry to say I don't actually use an app. I do have a lunar planner which I have created which is like a year at a glance, which people can download from my website if you're interested in taking a look.

I know there are a lot of moon apps, but I tend to kind of go old school, which is firstly to look up and to see the.

Moon in the sky and to try to really make that connection with nature because that's one of the beautiful things in working with the moon cycle, of.

Course, is to really be building that beautiful connection with these natural cycles. And for most of the month we.

Can actually see the moon.

And then failing that, I have got this lunar planner which is sort of an at a glance, one page PDF which has all of the dates of all of the moon phases mapped out in advance. And I recommend that people really use pen and paper and journal around how they're feeling and notice how they are feeling, how that correlates with what phase the moon is in. And the reason why that is so helpful is because never should any system take the place of our own connection with ourselves. Ultimately the best kind of systems are the ones that just point us home to ourselves. And so if the Moon is used as sort of a mirror, as a muse in this way, but really as something which is going to trigger that deeper self inquiry about what it is that we're feeling in any given moment, what is it that we need in any given moment, then that's I think, the real power and the takeaway of this system.

I love that. And that is so important to just have that intuitive relationship with the moon. You know, if you think of back in, before we had technology, people just look at the moon and we're like, you know, can be very digital about it. I think a lot of us live in cities that maybe we don't even see the moon often. So it is important to take time to even just like bathe, like moon bathe and be in nature where you can really feel her luminous light. I think most of us are missing.

That, oh my gosh, so much so. And when we rebuild that connection, you know, the, the depth of the intuition that we can start to access inside of ourselves, that deep embodied wisdom which exists inside of all of us, you know, inside of the temples which are our bodies. And to be able to connect in with that extraordinary wisdom of our heart and our soul. You know, the more we're in nature and the more that we connect with nature, even if we're in a city.

And I live in New York City.

And when I developed Lunar abundance, I was living in Sydney, Australia, which is another large city. So there is something elemental which is missing from so many of our lives. And so I think that connection with the moon cycle can be a really beautiful gateway to start to reclaim that connection with nature, but also with ourselves and where we fit in this grander cosmos as well.

So what if you're working on a big project like you're doing a launch or something that's taking a lot of your energy, it requires a lot of yang, a Lot of action. How would you work with the moon phases when doing so?

It's a really good question. And again, thinking about the doing and the being phases as being relative, it is the case the new moon is.

Going to be relative to the full.

Moon, for example, and each one of the moon phases will be relative to each other. But also each moon cycle can be relative to other moon cycles. So you can have a more doing oriented moon cycle, knowing then that it will actually not just something you can do, but it will be really important for you to make sure that you're building in time in future where you're going to allow yourself to replenish and restore. And so you can have a season of your life which is going to be more action oriented. But again, cultivating self awareness, self knowledge and deep self care, deep self love means that you're also going to have to have a little bit of foresight and to go, okay, right, I'll go all in in this particular phase of.

My life, this particular moon cycle, this.

Particular season of my life, because there is a greater objective, a big project, maybe a book that needs to be birthed, or a course or something else that is coming through. But you know, factoring in a little bit of time in the future where you're going to be able to, you know, lean back, you know, put that.

Switch down, you know, from the on.

On, on all the time down into, you know, just off for a second. Just allow yourself to relax at some stage in the future and build that into your planning process. And this isn't a nice to have, you know, this is actually a must have. Particularly, you know, if you're someone who is, you know, very, very goal oriented and loves that process of creation or of working and you can get a little bit lost in it. It's so, so, so important to be able to have that permission at the other end just to breathe and not just rest, but also to reflect and celebrate on how far you've come. And this is something which is very much built into the moon phases as well, is the eighth of the eight moon phases in the lunar abundant system is called the balsamic moon phase phase. And this is a phase which is, it's a being phase, it's a yin phase and it's very much around reflection and also celebration of everything that you did right as a way of sort.

Of rewiring this constant inner critic that so many of us have, which is so good at pointing out to us all the things that we're doing wrong, that we should be guilty about, you know, that we should be ashamed of, you know, that we're not going, you.

Know, fast enough and hard enough, but building in. You know, this practice is a way of, you know, the practice of celebration and reflection is a way for us to be, you know, very gently trying to, you know, rewire our brain into being kinder with ourselves and more compassionate with ourselves. So that's the first part of the question which is just, you know, zooming out a little bit, knowing you can have a more action oriented period of your life, but knowing you need to build in a more restful, being oriented period of your life after that, which could just be a couple of days.

Of doing absolutely nothing, you know, but.

It just needs to be them. And the other aspect of it, you know, if you're working on a, on a project which is a really big project and which requires your all, then to look at the kind of ways that you could divide up, you know, your tasks even on a weekly basis throughout that project. So an example here is when I.

Was writing my book, so when I was writing the Lunar Abundance book, which was a process which took a few.

Months, you know, of real sort of deep diving work then, which I had.

To balance alongside of running a business and you know, having other life obligations as well, it wasn't I, I feel you, girl.

It's a journey.

Exactly. It's like what is this fantasy of where you just get to go and just like do the thing that doesn't exist? It's not real. Or if it is, I have never experienced it. So, you know, again, like what's. This is a very practical way of.

Starting to navigate this. So, for example, in the doing phases, what I would do is then, you know, I would have, have the much more kind of structural aspects of the project. Writing the book project would be live for me. So this would be more of like the research or I would be using the Pomodoro technique, which is a technique where, you know, for a period of time, you know, 25 minutes or you know, whatever period of time works for.

You, you'd sort of do a sprint. You'd say, this is a period of, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to achieve, you know, try to write, you know, 500 words in the next 25 minutes and I'm just going to go for it. It doesn't matter if I don't want to do it, I'm going to work through that res. You know, it's a doing phase. I'm really going to get those words down on paper, you know, or to do things like put together the reference section of my book, which was a bit more fiddly and required a bit more, you know, sort of reference work. That was something I do in a doing phase.

And then, you know, and again the structural work. So really sort of putting together the structures of the whole book or on the chapter. Those are the kind of things that I would set up my week in advance. I'd plan and structure my week and I'd do those kind of things in the doing phase then by comparison, and in the being phases, I would allow myself, you know, these periods of time which would be a little more unstructured. So I might put, you know, two or three unstructured hours on my calendar on a being phase. And in that two or three hours, you know, I would give myself permission to, like, just write as many words as I wanted to. And if, you know, I wasn't really feeling the words coming through, you know, in that two or three hours period on that being phase, then that was okay. You know, I would allow myself just to go into a meditation or I would allow myself to close the laptop and go for a walk. And then what would often happen because.

Again, it wasn't like I was just in this full free flow of just.

I'll just see what happens.

The book will write itself.

No, it was actually really a structured process where I had the more doing phases as well. But in the context of that, in this broader container of the moon cycle, then allowing myself this unstructured time actually gave birth to much more creativity and, and, you know, these real sort of breakthrough ideas, the kind of epiphanies that.

You only really get, you know, when.

You'Re allowing yourself to just break free from a structure or have a routine or having to do, you know, a certain number of words or get to a certain number of outcomes within a certain hour. And I think everybody can relate to having, you know, been in the shower.

Or been on the bus or the.

Subway and being like, oh, you know.

That'S the breakthrough idea which is really going to be what is going to set that particular project or book apart. So.

So it's around creating that environment and the container to be able to do both of those things and whatever that looks like for you in terms of whatever your actual daily tasks are, something.

Which can be modified.

But the doing and the being aspect of the moon phases gives a really beautiful practical structure to support that and.

To promote that love that so much and yes, totally feel you. Sometimes you just have to carve those hours in. Even if it doesn't make sense, you just. You just have to do it for yourself. And it's always where your best ideas come through. And sometimes it's not, but you just have to. You owe it to yourself to not just be like in that machine, because then you're just constantly regurgitating that same information. You need that breath of fresh air or a different type of conversation or something else to just stir things up a little bit.

Yeah, just taking the space is. Is oftentimes what can allow just that.

Magic to emerge, just that serendipity, which can just be. Be so dark. Delightful.

So one question I have is, what if your menstrual cycle is not with the moon, like some women bleed with the new moon? Which, from my tantric readings, the woman who bleed with the new moon, I don't know if you've really looked, done a lot of research into this, but from what I've read, the women who bleed with the new moon, their bodies are more in that maiden phase. It's more of a fertile phase. So most women, at least back in the day before we had all this light pollution and were really moon bathing, would bleed with that new moon. But then the wise woman, the priestess, the witch archetype, who wasn't really at that stage to be reproducing, but more of like holding that space, would bleed with the full moon. However, now and for myself, I mean, sometimes I switch back and forth and sometimes I just start bleeding and it's like a crescent moon or something. So how would we balance with what's happening inside of ourselves with our own, you know, moon cycles, when it's different than what's happening with the actual planetary moon cycles?

I love the question, and you know, my answer to this when I'm asked this question is always, don't worry about it. And the reason why I say that is because I find I get so.

Many women who have contacted me over the years, literally thousands of women who.

Are in a state of, like, anxiety or worry that their bodies aren't doing it right. And so I feel like really the most important message that we can possibly say is, you know, just love and trust your body. There's no need to try to make your body to fit into a system or a framework, whether that be lunar or otherwise. And I would say that again, the vast majority of the people that I hear from tend to have cycles which aren't synced with the moon. And so again, the invitation is always just to tune in and if there's any kind of worry or concern that there may be a health issue or something along those lines, obviously than to seek professional medical advice, but always to really love and trust and honor your body. Having said that, when I find that people start working with the moon cycle so to even just start tuning into.

The moon cycle and just start paying attention to the moon cycle, then a.

Lot of the time, if they've had, say, issues with their bleeding, with their menstruation, I hear over and over and over again, like as the, oh my God, I had not had a period for three years and then I started working with the moon and so suddenly like the flow happened.

And I just think, you know, that's.

Such a beautiful takeaway from really, you know, what I think is the essence of the system which is tuning into ourselves, you know, listening to what our body is trying to tell us and what our body needs at any one time in terms of, you know, how does she need to be nourished, you know, how does she need to be spoken to, you know, how does she really need to be treated? And you know, listening to those signs of like, does she really need to, you know, does she need more nourishing food, which is just more aligned with, with her. And so, you know, this practice, the lunar abundance practice, is really what brings us so, so intimately into dialogue with ourselves. And there can be so many positive health effects as a result of that. And starting to bleed again or starting to bleed more consistently, more regularly, you know, without as much pain can often happen as well. I often hear that, that women who have been experiencing an enormous amount of physical pain in their menstruation again, once they start to live in a more sustainable, flowing way, find that then those kind of symptoms can fall away as well. And I just think that's actually what we should be paying attention to and celebrating. And if it syncs with the moon.

Cycle and that's meaningful for you, then awesome.

But I don't think we need to be sort of pushing our bodies to be doing any particular. I also think, you know, in the.

Modern age there's so many things, you.

Know, which can affect and which can, you know, really, you know, disrupt our menstrual cycles. But I think that, you know, one of the main things can often be, you know, this immense, like, you know, pressure and shame that we can put on ourselves, you know, for not doing it right. And so, you know, the takeaway is really that kindness and compassion and self.

Love Yeah, I think that's so important because I know I'm someone I could be like in my head about, okay, it's the moon cycles, but then my menstrual cycle and then what's happening astrologically and then my dosha and then, you know, my human design and my gene key and you know, my past lives and like it could be never ending. And I. And I think it's just a really important reminder to just, you know, like take what feels good for you. I think different times of your life, like maybe different systems, different people, different systems. Like for you, like this has been your life's work. For someone else, it might be something they do and then they come back to and it might be this like ebbing and flowing relationship. For others, it may be all about the menstruation and following that. And I think it's just, you know, offering your consciousness all of these different tools that are available to us that have streamed through the feminine and then having that feminine relationship with it of not holding onto it too tightly either.

Yeah, I love that.

Yes. So good.

Well, I am absolutely loving Lunar Abundance.

How can listeners get your books connect with you and learn more?

Yes, well, I'm on Instagram, so my.

Instagram handle is ezzyspencer, so that's spelled E Z Z I E Spencer S.

P E N C R. And then I have actually set up a special.

Page as well for your listeners which.

Has links to the free Moon Planner which I mentioned for 2020.

So all the dates of all of the moon phases coming up in 2020.

As well as a link to the Lunar Abundance book which is called Lunar Abundance Cultivate and Joy, Peace and Purpose Using the Phases of the Moon. There's the companion workbook as well, which.

Is around really sort of pulling out a lot more prompts and questions for.

Self inquiries, helping you to set up.

Intention setting ceremonies and full moon release.

Rituals and all of that type of thing as well. And these are available wherever books are sold. So the page which I've set up is ezzispencer.com Sahara so I'll send you.

The link and then maybe you can pop that L in.

But if you just go to ezzyspencer.com Sahari there's just one page and you can click and get all of the things.

Perfect. We will definitely have that link in the show. Notes. And when is the January New moon?

Oh, so the January New moon is on 24 January in the northern hemisphere.

So again that's an invitation to just.

Start the practice then even just by setting an intention and so you know, tuning in and getting very clear about what it is that you want to feel and what it is that you want to welcome into your life can be a really beautiful way to kick off 2020. So I invite you to start working.

With the practice at the New Moon.

In January and to start to see.

The magic of the practice emerge.

Love it.

That's such a beautiful invitation. Thank you moon for always allowing us each month to just start fresh and co create what it is that we really want and use the powers that are available to us to facilitate this process. So thank you Ezzy for being such a beautiful vessel, this divine knowledge and sharing with all of us today.

It's been such a delight. Thank you so much for having me.

So good. I know I'm going to be manifesting with that new moon. How about you? Do you know what you got in mind? I think I know. So she will be doing a live New Moon webinar with us in Rose Gold Goddesses so be sure to head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com to participate. Head over to Ezzy's website as well. Well ezzispencer.com Sahara to get her free PDF and make sure you use that moon. Put it to work. Bring it towards your goals. The universe is on your side. Astrology wants to be conniving with you for your dreams. So don't let your new moon go to waste. Manifest that shit. Let's rock the boat. So grateful for you and if you loved this episode I would love if you could leave me a review in the itunes store and as a free gift I will share with you the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your mind body type. Simply email a screenshot of your review over to Saharaetfieldfresh.com again Sahara S A H A R aatfeelfresh.com and I will send you over the first half of.

My unreleased book Eat Right for your mind body type.

Thank you and namaste.