Aligning Your Life with the Lunar Cycle

Using the moon to track periods of productivity at work and establish wellness habits.

Today we’re talking about a hot topic of interest, which is how to plan your schedule around the moon, mainly when it comes to work and wellness. This information is helpful to know, because there are specific times of the month that are more conducive to advancing within your career, developing new projects, or establishing healthy habits, while other times of the month the energy just isn’t there. In my own life, I use the moon’s cycle to time business launches, pitch important emails, and try out new exercise routines. 

I will first be going over the general lunar cycle, and how to use the various phases of the moon to your advantage at work. Then I will be getting into another technique involving the moon, which is especially effective for creating wellness habits that actually stick. 

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First though, here are my recs for the month. 

Book:

Living the Artist’s Way: An Intuitive Path to Greater Creativity by Julia Cameron. This is a follow up book to the wildly popular The Artist’s Way, which I haven’t been able to get through fully, because writing three full pages of journal entries a day is actually pretty hard! Something drew me to this author’s latest book release though, which came out in January, and is a six week program that teaches you to write for guidance. This book has changed my life over the past month. Every morning and night I take out my journal and ask my higher self/guides for guidance on how to go about my day or how to get to sleep more easily. It’s a process of automatic writing, where I truly feel like I’m connecting to the spirit world through the words I’m writing down on the page. 

Podcast:

Writers on Writing. Whenever I’m done with a book, I like to look up the author on Spotify and listen to interviews that they’ve done. This is my latest podcast discovery, which features authors, literary agents, and people who work in publishing in general.  

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Working with the Lunar Phases

Let’s now get into how you can work with the lunar cycle to maximize your productivity at work. I’ve chosen to focus on work specifically here, rather than love, home, etc, because I believe that more of us need to realize that we don’t need to be forcing ourselves to work so hard every single day of the month. Knowing when to slow down and rest is just as important as knowing when to move ahead.

Before we start, I want you to pull up the list of the new and full moons for 2024 in the link below and familiarize yourself with the upcoming dates for these. 

List of new and full moons for 2024 

Each lunar cycle begins at the new moon. In the two weeks between a new moon and a full moon, the moon is in its waxing phase. And in the two weeks between the full moon and the next new moon, the moon is in its waning phase. Below is a more detailed breakdown of how to use the energy of each lunar phase to your advantage. 

New Moon

At the time of the new moon, there is typically not a lot of momentum going on at work. Instead, this is a period for laying the groundwork for what’s to come and reflecting on how you might initiate something new at your job or pivot in a different direction in the coming days. Use the new moon to seek clarity on what would be best to put your energy towards over the next month. Keep in mind that the new moon can also be a time of endings, as you clear out old energy in order to pave the way for what is next. In addition, the new moon is about solitude and going within, so I would not plan a networking event or group activity for this time. There’s more of a desire to be alone, so let yourself have that space to be by yourself. If you are trying to launch a project at the new moon or something is set to happen at work where you don’t have a lot of control over the timing, maybe don’t expect it to be fully recognized for a few days. In the days that immediately follow the new moon, you will naturally find that new opportunities begin to take form or new partnerships come together. They will be in the early stages though, and it is unlikely that anything is getting finalized quite yet. A key word to keep in mind around the new moon is patience. 

*For reference, the next new moon is taking place in Pisces on March 10. So you may want to start tracking the lunar phases then.  

First Quarter Waxing Moon

The first quarter moon phase occurs one week after a new moon takes place. At this lunar phase, whatever was initiated at the new moon really starts to come together. Whereas the couple days immediately following the new moon will still be fairly quiet, you may notice that projects or opportunities begin to feel more pressing and urgent once we reach the first quarter phase. This is the time of the month where you’re continuing to develop and build upon whatever has recently been initiated. For example, if an idea for a new work project came to you at the new moon, you will be taking those first steps to get the ball rolling there in the lead up to the first quarter phase. On the other hand, let’s say you applied to a new job or get approached about a work opportunity around the new moon. You may begin to set up an interview for the position at this time, and you’re likely receiving more support from other people in helping you to build a project at work or take the next steps in your career. It’s important to remember that nothing is finished yet. You are not seeing final results at the first quarter phase. However, this is a much better period for project launches or outreach at work. Ask for what you want at your job and assert your ideas during this time. 

*Following the March 10 new moon, the moon will reach its first quarter phase around March 16. 

Full Moon

Finally, we have reached the time of the month where you will be seeing concrete, visible results from whatever you’ve been putting energy into over the last two weeks. In the days immediately surrounding the full moon (I would say the couple days before and the couple days after), you may want to schedule an important announcement or launch at work. And it may be that these major events within your career are taking place naturally. For example, I had no control over the publication dates of both the UK and US editions of my book, but in the cases of each, they both came out a day or two before a full moon. A project I had spent so much time working on was finally made visible. Also, if you do any type of community building or group activities at work, the full moon is the best time of the month to organize these kind of events, whether they are online or in person. At the full moon, there is more of a desire to be around other people, whereas new moon events just don’t have the same energy and feeling of connection. In addition, it’s more likely that you will hear back about opportunities right around the full moon. So if you’re waiting to hear back about how an interview went or if you can move ahead with a project, expect to get news at this time of the month. People often ask if they can expect to hear good or bad news with the full moon. The house in which the full moon is falling in your chart and the aspects it is making to other planets will give you insight into whether that might be news you want, versus an answer that might be disappointing. Finally, you can think of the full moon as a period of release, where you could be letting go of one job to start another. Maybe you give your notice or actually leave a job at the full moon, but then you get a two week grace period before you start your new job at the next new moon. It could also be that you’re making important realizations about any changes or adjustments you want to make at work during the full moon period too.

*The next full moon will be taking place on March 25. 

3rd Quarter Waning Moon - Balsamic Moon

The days immediately following the full moon still carry the hyped up energy of that recent lunation, and can still be a period of being super busy and coming full circle with projects at work. Once we get a week out from the full moon though, we reach the third quarter moon phase, and you will notice that life starts to slow down a bit. The week going from the third quarter phase back to the new moon has the lowest energy of the entire month. This week long period is a time for rest and reflection. I personally wouldn’t do any major outreach, apply to new jobs, or try to launch projects at this time, but if you have absolutely have to, then I wouldn’t expect to hear back or build a lot of momentum there until after the next new moon takes place. Instead of trying to move ahead with new plans at work, you may want to take this time to reflect on your long term career goals, or tend to work that has already been going on for a while. You might be going back to make revisions and adjustments, and you will mainly be carrying out whatever has been started. This lunar phase is about winding things down. 

*The next third quarter moon phase starts around April 1 and the moon continues to wane until April 8. 

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Calculating Your Lunar Phase Return

Now that we’ve gone over how to use the general lunar phases in terms of work, I now want to briefly touch upon a technique that is more personalized to you. This is called your “lunar phase return.” Note that this is not the same as your “lunar return.” A lunar return is something different, and is when the moon returns to the same sign it was in when you were born. So if you’re a Cancer moon, every time the moon returns to Cancer (which happens once a month), that will be your lunar return. 

To contrast, the lunar phase return is when the sun and moon make the same exact aspect that they have in your birth chart. This aspect repeats once a month, and the sun and moon do not have to be in the same signs they were in when you were born. They have to be making the exact same aspect to each other though. So if you were born at a new moon, every single month when there is a new moon, no matter what sign it is in, that is your lunar phase return. Not everyone is born on such a distinct lunar phase, so this is where you’re going to have to do some math. You will be calculating the number of degrees between your sun and moon. Let’s look at the below diagram to see a visual.

Looking at the chart above, zero in on what signs the sun and moon are in. The sun is in Aries and the moon is in Leo. Now look at the degrees in which they fall. The sun is at 26 degrees of Aries, while the moon is at 17 degrees of Leo. Now we need to figure out how many degrees are between the sun and moon. We know that there are 30 degrees in each sign. So there are 4 degrees left of Aries + 30 degrees of Taurus + 30 degrees of Gemini + 30 degrees of Cancer + 17 degrees of Leo = 111 degrees apart. So every time the moon is 111 degrees in front of the sun each month, that is this person’s lunar phase return. You are always starting with the sun and counting in zodiacal order how far ahead the moon is. 

Of course, you don’t have to necessarily be this exact. Just knowing that when the moon is in the opening trine aspect ahead of the sun each month, this person’s lunar phase return is happeing. If the sun is in Taurus, that would be when the moon is in Virgo, if the sun is in Scorpio, that would be when the moon is in Pisces. 

Let’s go over another example to cement this knowledge. See the diagram below. 

Here we have the sun at 3 degrees of Pisces and the moon at 11 degrees of Libra. Let’s do the math. 27 degrees left of Pisces + 30 degrees of Aries + 30 degrees of Taurus + 30 degrees of Gemini + 30 degrees of Cancer + 30 degrees of Leo + 30 degrees of Virgo + 11 degrees of Libra = 218 degrees apart. Or you can know that every single month, when the moon is about a day or two away from reaching its 3rd quarter moon phase, that is this person’s lunar phase return. 

Your lunar phase return is especially important when it comes to your health. After all, the sun and moon both represent your physical body. I have found that the lunar phase return is the optimum time of the month to establish wellness habits and actually have them stick. When the sun and moon repeat the aspect they were making in your birth chart, it’s a great window for implementing fitness goals, changing up your diet, or getting into the regular swing of exercising.

Another area in which your lunar phase return is important to take note of is when you’re practicing fertility astrology. When your natural ovulation date aligns with your lunar phase return within a three day period, it increases your chances of conceiving that month. So you could make a list of your upcoming ovulation dates, and then in a separate column next to it make another list of your upcoming lunar phase return dates, and see which dates align the most closely. 

As a side note, fertility astrology is currently an area I’m doing a lot of research on, so I’m not going to elaborate on this topic until I feel more confident in my skills there. But if you are considering becoming pregnant soon, are currently pregnant, have had a baby, or have experienced trouble with pregnancy, and you want to understand what relevant transits are/were going on for you, feel free to email me and I’ll give you insight free of charge. More information on this topic coming at some point. 

Okay, that’s it for the lunar phases. Try using these tips to structure your upcoming month and see if it helps your work and wellness routines run more smoothly!