Offering #37: Cold Moon Warmth
🌕 care for the last full moon moment of the year
Hi all:
If you’re new to this space, I post an offering each new and full moon full of writing prompts, practices from the yoga tradition, and a lil’ letter, usually kaleidoscoped through my yoga/ writing lens. In a noisy world, I’m hopeful this is a place of ease, magic, and care. Read on! xx.
Outside my window tonight the moon shines like polished bone. 🌕
December’s full moon is called the Cold Moon, a name marking the upcoming winter season of stillness, the dark hush before renewal. It shows us the truth of oncoming winter: clarity, quiet, and the source that comes from stillness.
This moon invites us to see without ornament, to listen through silence, to trust that everything essential is happening beneath the surface.
What is happening underneath it all for you right now?
What is still, quiet and potent for you as this wild year steers toward its end?
Scroll down for some practices and prompts to respond to in reflection. I always share a curation of images too—-I think of these images as visual prompts. Perhaps pick one you love and write about it, to it, from it.
Blessings at the end of the year!
(and if you want to celebrate winter, soon arriving, in community—I’m hosting one of my Donation-Based Seasonal Writing Rituals on December 21st for Winter Equinox. It’s online, low stakes, high magic—-come one come all. We write, meditate, and I’ll help you release what no longer is working to make room for what is.)
Prompts, Under the Cold Moon
Tonight, or whenever you read this, try this simple practice:
Turn off the overhead lights. Let your room dim. Let your eyes adjust.
If you can, step outside or stand by a window. Find the moon or feel for it, even if it’s behind clouds.
Take three breaths.
Then head back to the desk to free-write for 10 minutes on one of these invitations:
What is the bone of the story you’re trying to tell right now? Strip it to its essence. Can you boil your narrative down to one line?
TRY THIS ONE:
”It’s about X as illustrated by Y to be told in a Z.”X= the theme
Y= the plot/ what happens
Z= the form (essay/ poem/ book etc)
(note: this line and it’s magic comes from Marion Roach Smith—-it’s a great tool to help you clarify what your writing is ABOUT—-both for your own self and when communicating the project to others)
What in your life feels cold, necessary, clarifying?
What wants to rest? What wants to endure the winter to become something new?
Write a scene or memory illuminated only by moonlight. What becomes visible? What stays hidden?
Why This Moon Matters for Writers
This is the time of year when our culture pushes for sparkle, noise, perfect bows on everything. But the Cold Moon asks for the opposite. She offers a different rhythm:
Depth instead of speed.
Essence instead of excess.
Honesty instead of performance.
There is a fierce, gentle wisdom in allowing the dark to be dark. We don’t need to be sparkly party-goers under this moon—-we get to be real, grounded.
Sometimes the most important writing we do is the writing we do quietly, without showing anyone. Let yourself write a bit around the time of the moon out of the practice of WRITING AS HONESTY.
BELOW: From my Insta—-and somehow this post got of 2K likes—-so I GUESS IT RESONATES!
A Cold Moon Practice: Breath for Quiet Illumination
The Cold Moon is a moon of light without heat. This practice is meant to help you ground and cool the nervous sytem. Try the below for 3-10 minutes.
Cold Moon Breath
Sit comfortably.
Bring your right hand to your nose.
Close the right nostril with your thumb.
Inhale slowly through the left nostril (the Ida channel—the moon path).
Gently close both nostrils for a beat.
Release and exhale through the right nostril.
Repeat for 6–12 rounds.
Let the breath feel like silver moonlight pouring down the spine..
If holding the nose feels like too much, you can also work with visualization. Inhale through both nostrils, and then when you exhale IMAGINE you’re exhaling out the left/ the moon channel.
UPCOMING EVENTS + CLASSES:
Winter Equinox Writing Ritual: 12/21, online, donation-based. Sign up here. A recording will also be sent out to those who sign up!
The Mindful Writing Workshop: January 11-March 22, Sundays, online, noon-2:15 EST
(no class Feb 1st)
10 weeks of writing community, feedback and support. Each class begins with meditation. From there, we write or a share a small craft lesson. THEN we move into workshop. You will be able to get feedback every other week. Students have published in the NYTimes, LATimes, Yoga Journal, sold books to Hachette, Dial Press and other spots—-and also
explored new writing, found voice, community and joy. This is an anchor to your week, and mine.
The Portal: Writing + Healing for Women Creatives: Feb 3-April 14, main sessions: Tuesday nights, online, 7-9:15 PM EST
This is an immersive and caring program, capped at 10 women. This space combines one-on-one coaching with writing workshops and amazing guest teachers in both writing and healing spaces. You’ll also be paired up with a writing colleague and will have access to between-class support. Open to all. Info here.
WRITE ME BACK!
xx,