Breathwork & The New Moon

New Moon

  • Saturday, March 29th in Aries, Partial Solar Eclipse

    • Aries themes: Fire element, Cardinal sign (leader), symbolized by the ram, headstrong, dominance, leadership, confidence, impatience, determined, impulsive, energetic

  • The New Moon is when the Moon and the Sun are aligned and it is not illuminated by the Sun because the light is all reflected off the backside of the Moon back to the Sun.

  • The New Moon is the beginning of the Moon phase and as such is the inhalation and a time to call in intention setting practices. During this time manifestation energies are amplified as the Moon shifts into its waxing stage. This beginning is a good time to refresh your dedication to your dreams and desires. Use New Moon energy to start a new project and get working on manifesting your goals. Take the time to reflect upon your goals, set new ones, or allow your goals to transform with the moon phase. Use the darkness of the New Moon to take time for yourself and for quiet contemplation and meditation.

  • Dark Moon vs New Moon:

    • In astronomy/almanac New Moon times technically occur during the Dark Moon, usually about 3 days where the Moon is invisible to us.

    • New Moon is within the Dark Moon time when the Moon catches up with the Sun and is aligned, usually ½ way in the Dark Moon time. The beginning happens in the Void of the Dark Moon, in the Dark, Womb Time, conception. Difference in this vs right before which is more “tomb time.”

    • Crescent Moon time is different, it’s the pregnancy stage of the Moon, visible, and tangible. 

  • New Moon ritual:

    • Cleanse your space, house, altar, bedroom, and any other place you spend lots of time.

    • Set up an altar or sacred space - you can put out crystals, Oracle or Tarot Cards or anything that represents your intentions.

    • Do a Moon Yoga Flow and meditate to find clarity.

    • Write down your intentions.

    • Ask yourself: What do you want? What dreams are you hoping to manifest? What seeds are you planting?

    • The intentions you set during the New Moon can start to manifest immediately

    • Physically plant your intentions in the ground with a seed and watch it grow!

Partial Solar Eclipse

  • A partial solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun, but doesn't completely cover the Sun's disk. This creates a powerful portal for new beginnings, fresh starts, and setting intentions. It represents the planting of seeds for future growth and marks the start of new cycles.

  • Occurs only during a New Moon

  • Associated with new opportunities and initiatives

  • Great time for starting projects or making changes

  • Effects can be felt about 2 weeks before and after

Initiation Invitation

  • During the upcoming New Moon, drop into the Inhale that it represents.

  • What are you creating space for in your life?

  • Create a ritual for yourself for the New Moon.

  • Take time to journal about your experience and notice how creating ritual and practices around the cycle of the Moon connect you more deeply to it’s transformation month after month.

Recording

  • Monday, March 24th

Breathwork

  • Act of altering the breath pattern, regulation of breathPranayama - our primary means of amplifying prana (animating force in the body which is primarily activated by the movement of the respiratory diaphragm)

  • Distilled and rarefied prana is consciousness (citta)

  • Pranayama is the means to enhance the presence of the divine, life-sustaining force

  • Different Styles:

    • Yogic Pranayamas

      • Pause Style:

        • Bliss Breath - nose only in and out

        • Blow Breath - through the mouth only in and out

        • Pulse Breath - pulse through nose and out through mouth

        • Halo-Active Breath - in through nose/out through mouth

        • Tri-Active Breath - 2 pulse in and strong exhale through mouth

    • Rebirthing - nose breath, deep unconscious releases

    • Holotropic - mouth breath, active breath, catharsis release, screaming, dramatic release, designed to induce altered states of consciousness

    • Transformational - uninterrupted full and relaxed breath, circular breathing, no pause between inhale and exhale, in and out through the mouth

    • Wim Hof - activating, 30-40 breathing through mouth, out through mouth, emphasis on hold and how long you can hold at the end of a cycle

  • Anatomy of breathing

  • Breath retention techniques:

    • Top Hold - provides a burst of energy

    • Bottom Hold - grounds the energy into the Earth

  • Trauma Informed:

    • Safety - facilitator feels safe and creates a safe space for others

    • Grounding & Orienting - physically grounding and feeling our weight, using props to amplify, orienting to a sense of time and space to connect to here and now

    • Empowerment -  encourage people to listen to themselves, self-consent, autonomy, and agency

      • Titration and Agency - pushing past resistance can cause re-traumatization, empower practitioners to set their own boundaries

        • To expand our window of tolerance/capacity we have to meet our edge while anchored in safety, here and now, and then see that we can meet our edge a little further out, helps build capacity over time.

      • Informed Consent - give breathers enough information to make a choice for themselves about how far to go

      • Invitational language - “I invite you to, you are welcome to…”

    • Pacing - breathers choose the right pace for them

    • Connection - attuning to the needs of body