Artful Life Moon Circle - New Moon!

Welcome back to the Moon Circle! I love New Moon days, my monthly opportunity to start fresh. Hosting this circle has already been a powerful experience for me; making the commitment to be here for you has allowed me to also be here for myself and commit to the process of intention setting. It's good.

Last month my intention was to begin to joyfully and consistently create sanctuary in my surroundings........ and watch what other gifts and lessons doing this might bring into my life.
How did that go for me? Well, my house is much shinier and more peaceful. And I've had some real insights into the reasons I held on so long to dis/order. And I have a manageable routine in place for continuing to make and keep my home shiny and sacred. All of that feels really good, and maybe what feels the best is that I kept an important commitment to myself by following through with my intention.

How did you do with your intention last month? I'd love to hear about your experience here in the comments. I believe your experience is valuable, whether it is the contentment of having kept that promise to yourself, or whether it is the frustration and disappointment of having fallen short of your aspiration. What is valuable is what really happened, and what you have learned from it. If your original intention was a good fit for your life now, if it was specific, measurable, and manageable, chances are you followed through with it. If you weren't able to follow through, take a look at the questions here and see what insight you can gain to make this month's intention workable:

• did you try to do too much too fast? this moon, think baby steps.
  
• were you vague? (ie "My intention is to get organized" wouldn't have worked for me last month!) this moon, try to keep your intention specific and measurable so you can measure your success.
• did you do an intuition check? this moon, take a moment to check in with heart and gut and see if your intention really feels like the right thing for you now.
  

My intention this moon flows out of last moon's intention. I want to continue to work with the theme of bringing gentle order & creating sanctuary; I'll continue to focus on my home, but my special intention for this month is to re-commit to the physical practices that I know support my well being. I have to be careful here to follow my own advice and not overcommit! What I believe I can manage is this: 15 minute meditation daily, at least 20 minutes of dance or yoga at least 4 times a week, and daily attention to mindful eating - that is, being aware of my food choices. My hope is to establish a manageable rhythm that is something I can maintain consistently. What I have noticed is for years now I pick up these important practices for months at a time, then drop them for months, pick them up, drop them, pick them up... so my New Moon intention is not so much about the practices themselves, but about finding a way to make them a consistent and ongoing part of my daily life. I think I can gain valuable self-insight from attempting this, because the picking-up-and-dropping pattern is a big sticky pattern in many areas of my life.

Now, to you! Take as much space as you want in the comments, anytime over the next few days, and share insights gained from last moon plus this moon's intention - there is power in this circle of women under the moon! Let's reach for it!