One balmy Bali afternoon some months ago, I was on Skype with my beloved friend Bec from Soul Sister Circle. We were chatting about, y’know, life, love and the universe, and then our conversation turned to the writing and publishing process for my Lunar Abundance book.
When I mentioned that the book would be published and launching soon, the question arose, suddenly, organically, simultaneously for us both:
Um … how would you feel about going on a book tour together?
It was an eager, whole-hearted, full-body YES from us both (you know when you FEEL those tingles?!).
The prospect felt aligned, fun, and filled with ease.
Bec has since done an incredible job pulling together some incredible events and so I’m excited to invite you to join us on the official Australian book tour for my forthcoming book:
An Abundant Life: Flourishing with the Cycles of the Moon.
The book will be published on 1 March 2017 – book ordering info coming soon.
These book tour events will be intimate evenings in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast, with connection and practical insights to help you create a more abundant life by following the moon cycle.
And…
These will be spirited sisterhood events, not just readings – we’ll have mingling, signings, and a dear friend joining us for a conversation at each event!
BOOK TOUR EVENT DETAILS
GOLD COAST
Dr Ezzie Spencer, Soul Sister Circle, and special guest:
Thursday 16th March 2017
Muse Clinic
6:30pm – 9:30pm
(all Bec’s Soul Sister Circle events are sumptuously designed, feel gorgeous – and sell out, so if you’re a big YES, then jump on it!)
If you live outside Australia — I’m working on publishing options for you. Also, I’ll be running a free live webinar shortly, and re-opening the online Lunar Abundance Salon later in January if you feel called – so we can mix and mingle with moon magic together, wherever you are around the globe.
In general, now that the book is written, I’m so looking forward to “getting out there” more in 2017 to share what I’m continuing to learn about lunar living, and creating an abundant life.
You’re always welcome to comment and share your experiences with this practice, and I look forward to connecting with you in various ways this year – online and In Real Life.
To find out more about these things, please sign up to receive an e-letter alert:
P.S. Have you downloaded your free Lunar Abundance Planner for 2017? It is a high-quality print file, which you can also set as your computer wallpaper (screenshot it) to stay on track with all the moon phases for the year. Click here to download your free planner.
If you’re in Sydney, Melbourne, or the Gold Coast, grab your book tour ticket here:
There’s also a Full Moon meditation for you to download at the end of this post.
Why release?
Terrible things do happen, of course. These experiences can be the fuel to create lasting change, for ourselves and for others.
In the Lunar Abundance system, the Full Moon is a time of “action”. So, take purposeful action at this moon phase.
On the personal development level, as you focus on what you want to cultivate in your life, you may benefit from letting go of that which is operating at the subconscious level — once you have fully felt and processed your emotions, and taken any appropriate action.
We can hoard all kinds of things, from emotion to physical possessions, from the old clothes (and goodness knows what else) in the closet, to the files clogging up our computer hard drive, outmoded ways of operating in the workplace, old money stories, and what happened to us in childhood.
And how to release? Here are three easy Full Moon release ceremonies.
I’m a lover of simplicity, so you will find that these cut right to the chase:
Wash it away
Allow yourself to fully feel what is coming up for you at this time.
Write it down, talk it out, allow your body to fully immerse in the emotion, then… Wash it off.
Take a shower, frolic in the ocean, luxuriate in the bath, dance outside in the rain.
And of course, the oldie and goodie: Cry it out.
Crying can be incredibly cathartic, transmuting grief and pain as you literally let it go.
How does it feel to have that weight lifted from your chest?
Burn baby burn
Write down on a piece of paper what is no longer serving you:
What are you afraid of?
What are you really afraid of?
Who are you angry at?
Who has slighted you?
What frustrates you?
What is holding you back from your New Moon intention?
Who do you need to forgive? (don’t leave yourself off the list)
// Get your pen and purge onto the page.
// Then grab your matches, your candle, and burn that list.
// Even better :: gather a group of your sisters and gather around a fireplace, campfire- or candlelight will do.
Thrust your lists into the flame and let ’em BURN.
Check in : how does that feel? Lighter?
Shake your booty
This one you can do at home with music cranked in your lounge-room, or get outside into nature – your backyard, the beach, or even the park.
Even better- get together with a group and have a good laugh while you’re doing it- the best medicine!
Go for it! Shake your booty, shake your whole body, get your whirl on.
Reflect
Return to your New Moon intention: what did you invite into your life in this lunar cycle?
Do you feel like you have now created more space to welcome this in?
And:
Observe
What comes into your life as a result? I’m a big believer in paying attention to results to determine effectiveness, so pay attention to whether things start to shift and change in your external world as a result of you letting go through these simple release practices.
Go deeper
Want me on audio guiding you through the process?
Download your free Full Moon abundance meditation here:
For more on practical strategies on how to let go at the Full Moon phase check out my podcast episode on this topic here.
Love,
Ezzie
Share in the comments below
How will you release at the next Full Moon (and do you have any Full Moon release rituals of your own?)
Does your personality lend itself to structure – or a lack of order?
Left to my own devices, I thrive in completely unstructured environments, one of the reasons why the law was an awesome first career for me (teaching me the benefits of structure and order), and also why I am ultimately so much more fulfilled by my current work. Given the relationship between the moon and the flow of the tides, this is perhaps one of the reasons why I have so embraced lunar living- there does appear to be a strong resonance, don’t you feel?
I find that when I’m in flow, work becomes effortless. Being completely in flow can actually be incredibly effective, for example, when carrying out creative work (a whole chapter of my book can seemingly appear on a flow writing day, and you’ll often hear me saying OOO! how interesting!! as I read my words back); people seem to show up to help and give guidance, and life feels oh so good.
However one of the things that took me some time to master is how to be in flow, enjoy life – and not just float off somewhere into the ocean on a proverbial Monday afternoon when others are relying on me.
In other words- how to be in flow, and not be flaky?
It is gorgeous and wonderful to trust and surrender in that flow, especially when there are no concerns about paying rent or meeting deadlines or briefing team members or delivering on client agreements or replying to emails and just generally turning up when you say you will, and doing what you said you would, like a successful grown-up person.
Things happen, of course. Sometimes you are on a roll and you just need to keep on rolling! Your health and family and work responsibilities will also mean that you will sometimes need to cancel or be late or postpone, and everyone worth having in your life or professional sphere will be forgiving when you apologise and explain and make amends or whatever is appropriate given the situation.
But if you are habitually flaky, never respectful of others time, constantly late or not turning up at the right time – and if you constantly write it off as flow (or some variation of this, Mercury retro another fave), then you will quickly squander the goodwill of others.
Following through on your word is an expression of personal power.
The simple fact remains that if you are consistent and reliable, you will be way more effective, you will engender more trust, and you will keep the worthy clients, colleagues, peers and relationships that you have drawn into your life.
So finding how to be in flow whilst also being way to be in the flow and also be reliable is something to which I have tried to pay attention over time.
So, how?
Remember, Rivers flow between riverbanks.
Riverbanks help to direct and contain the flow of rivers – from their genesis, springing from a mountain trickle or emerging from underground – and shepherd the flow down to the ocean.
I have almost lost my footing a few times, when work and life responsibilities have increased. My business has had increasing numbers of different channels demanding attention – and I had plenty of other responsibilities outside of business as well.
Not to mention : I wanted to have fun.
This is what I see in so many of the high achieving women with whom I work. We end up spinning so many plates that the one that gets dropped is the one of JOY, nourishing ourselves and our SELF-CARE as we spin faster and faster, trying to get everything done.
The way that I brought back a sense of freedom and levity to my life by setting up my proverbial riverbanks, which helps establish a rhythm. I need to think about the first time and then roll with, checking back in every now and again to make sure that the structures are still operating effectively, reinforcing and rebuilding where necessary.
My metaphorical riverbanks give me that overarching structure
and in turn, these facilitate peace and calm even whilst my responsibilities continue to increase.
I don’t want to give the impression that I live and work in a state of perpetual equilibrium. That is not an accurate representation. However, what I have found is that by setting up the containers (the dreaded systems) that allow me to flow in the day-to-day, I am able to find flow, regularly, in the unstructured periods.
In the Lunar practice that I teach, this manifests through the yin and the yang phases – a process which I teach indepth in the Lunar Abundance Salon, and which I’m writing about in my forthcoming book – a way to embed into your life creative and linear thinking, as well as restoration and productivity (which don’t always exist in contradistinction, by the way).
In practical business terms, those unstructured periods are scheduled on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.
Again: those unstructured periods are scheduled. Colour-coded, in my calendar, in amongst the more structured work.
This does not preclude space for serendipity,
Nor does it preclude magic, or flow that just happens spontaneously.
It is in the concept of riverbanks, a kind of freedom through discipline, that I am able to find flow on a regular basis – to allow space for creative flow, and fun flow! – and to ensure that I keep up with work and life, maintaining a semblance of peace.
Do you find it difficult to move between creative flow and structure – or, left and right brain thinking? Has this article helped? What techniques do you find to be most helpful in your own life?
If you feel that others would benefit from this article, please share:
In recent months I’ve done a slew of podcast interviews. And I’ve gotta say, I’m wowed by the well-researched and thoughtful questions on the part of my interviewers.
This one here is yet another one of my favourites: with the savvy Koren Helbig from the beautiful site She Makes Magic:
Listen in to discover:
+ How I turned my personal moon practice, developed over years of scribbling in my journal, into a thriving business helping hundreds of women worldwide.
+ What Lunar Abundance actually is – and why abundance is about far more than just money – and how to tap into it in all areas of your life.
+ Why women, particularly, need help with the yin side of life, the practice of resting and receiving.
+ How the heady, intellectual, masculine world of law took me away from feminine connection with my body, intuition, feelings and emotions – and how I used the moon to reconnect.
+ Why I call myself a “recovering over-achiever”.
+ Why I believe fear and discomfort never goes away and my personal practice for leaning into the uncomfortable parts of life.
+ How following the moon’s cycles helps me make sense of my own rhythms and emotional ebbs and flows.
Click the link below to listen – and drop me a note to let me know what you think. xo
This article is relevant for you if you are an entrepreneur, planning to offer an online eCourse or eBook or a new service offering.
There is an art to timing all such requests or offers.
But there is actually something that is more to the point.
This is usually glossed over in answers to whether it is “better to launch on a New or Full Moon…”
That is, you cannot game the universe. You’ll learn what you are ripe to learn.
(and anyone who has ever launched knows what an opportunity to learn it is!)
And a key element of your success remains with what you bring to the table : in other words, the core abundance principle of giving value still applies.
A general rule of thumb:
Launching on a New Moon (the first of eight moon phases) will help you seed a longer-term project, especially if you set an intention for how you want to feel. It’s a quieter energy, a time to plant seeds and wait for these to bear fruit.
On the other hand, there can be more ‘pop’ in launching on a Full Moon (the fifth of eight moon phases). The light may give you greater visibility.
Both are Yang phases, with the action-oriented energy that involves.
But that’s just the beginning.
Launches and so forth always need to be based in reality, meaning that you need to pay attention to things like the day of the week (do you really want to send out a mass email or contact your boss at 3am on a Sunday morning, even if you are keen on New Moon timing?).
And don’t put yourself under stress to make a deadline- that is the antithesis of what I teach in L.A., which is to be gentle with yourself.
But there’s something else, too. If you’ve been following along with your free Lunar Abundance planner and my Instagram updates, you’ll know that giving value is a core abundance principle in the Lunar Abundance technique.
And when you are considering your launch / request, the most important factor to consider is how much value you are giving.
Giving value is not the same thing as working hard, or sharing your passion, and doesn’t necessarily involve a lot of money to glam up your offering.
These may contribute to the value of your offering, but value is its own proposition altogether. That is determined by the beholder.
You can’t game the universe.
I know this first-hand, having poured months upon months of hard work, love – and cash – into developing online courses. My first course on the moon cycles was launched in 2013, and I am forever grateful to the small and committed group who joined the original Spencer Salon. I launched again in 2014, with a dramatic upgrade. The sales eclipsed those of the first course tenfold, making it a viable proposition to upgrade the course and run it again.
Both launches were timed by the moon. Both were important for me in that I learnt a lot.
Even though I gave my all to both courses, the difference between them was that between the two launches I worked out how to give much more value. And whilst the launch date was significant, it was not the most significant factor in what was a way more successful launch the second time around.
Giving value also applies in a work setting. When I first asked for a pay rise in 2007, buoyed by reading Dr Lois Frankel’s Why Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and discussions in the feminist law society that I was in at the time, I recall making a case around fairness- that I wasn’t paid as much as my colleagues, and I wanted to be paid more because I deserved to be.
My bosses were quite taken aback, I think, and gave me a raise. I was elated. But I tried a similar argument at the next year’s annual performance review, it failed, and I felt totally deflated.
I eventually learnt how to negotiate much more effectively, and to create, understand, translate and quantify the benefits of my work.
So by all means, launch on a Full Moon for visibility. Or, align your launch with the New Moon and feel your intention for that specific lunar cycle, L.A. style.
But don’t miss the vitally important point.
If what you are really asking is how to make the most money from your launch or your job, the answer also involves you demonstrating how you will give your client or your boss what she really wants- not merely your blood, sweat and cosmic tears.
xo Ezzie
If you know someone who would benefit from this piece, please share:
