Do you have some morning rituals to set yourself up for a great day?
Do they ensure you’re feeling calm and yet excited for your day or do you feel tired and stressed and possibly, worried about the day ahead? If you’d like to introduce a few little things that could make a huge difference to your day when practised over a period of time, why not get my 7 Simple Morning Rituals For a Beautiful Dayusing this link.
If we think we can’t function before that first cup of coffee then we are giving our power away. Set your intentions for a beautiful morning and day ahead with these very easy steps and of course, you don’t have to do them all. Try some on and see how they fit and just have fun with them.
I mention having a gratitude practice as one of my 7 morning rituals – find out here why gratitude is such a game changer – here’s the link
Each day can be like starting a whole new year. You have another chance to start over. And yes I know, 2021 was another tough year and for some really, really tough.
With this in mind, it would be easy to look at the new year and even each day with a sense of – here we go again! But I have discovered over the years that by focusing on the positive, we can attract more of what we want into our lives.
That is why I changed Maya Angelou‘s beautiful quote – “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before” to apply for this new year. We’ve not seen this one, let’s look at 2022 with the excitement of a small child and see what unfolds for us. In fact I have added this quote to my morning rituals as it’s sets the tone for the day perfectly, don’t you think?
So are you up to starting your morning so your day feels magical within the first hour of waking? Yes, honest!
So, the new year – 2022 is nearly here, and I just wanted to say thank you.
Thank you for being part of my journey of sharing Louise Hay’s work this year – however that has been. ✨
I wanted to let you know how grateful I am for all of your amazing notes of gratitude telling me how much this work has meant to you.
I am grateful to all of you who have trusted me to work with you so I can do what I love doing most. ✨
I am grateful to those of you who I have worked with and referred me to others so that they can also start to make those positive changes in their lives.
I am grateful to those of you who have read these blogs, joined my taster sessions, participated in my FB community, engaged with me on LinkedIn, read my love letters, and also watched my YouTube videos (here’s my video of Number 1 of Louise Hay’s 12 Ways to Love Yourself) ✨
I am grateful to all of the publications, podcasters and other hosts who had me on as a guest so I can share with others what I do.
I am grateful to Jo and Maggie for all they do to help me in the background to enable me to impact women’s lives. ✨
I am grateful to all my teachers who have guided me this year and of course, especially, Louise Hay who continues to guide and teach me.
To all of my supporters, friends and family – I am grateful that you have continued to help in all the ways you have so I have had the experience of helping women change their lives. ✨
And lastly, to my daughters. I am grateful that Julia, Lydia and Grace have honoured me to be their mother. They continue to make a difference in my life every day and the joy I get from seeing them make their way in the world is beyond any words I can share here.
To close this is a perfect Louise Hay affirmation for you ♥️
“May you have so much to be grateful for this year and always.”
With so much love for a healthy, peaceful and joyful New Year
Liz ✨
P.S. I am taking bookings for my very special "Intentions Setting for 2022" session during January - get in contact here for more info
I still suffer from social anxiety at times. There’s my hot confession for the day! It’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be but, I think, because I haven’t seen so many people over these crazy months, it has led me to be more anxious when I do. So, these weeks leading up to Christmas are feeling a bit daunting. Do you feel anxious or suffer from social anxiety?
Below are some things I do if I find myself in the middle of a very anxious moment (this is also really helpful if you’re with someone who might be feeling frightened, agitated or worried about having a panic attack too). The important thing is to feel safe and calm.
My top 6 tips help:
1. Breathe slowly and deeply
This may seem obvious, but how many of us start to breathe high up in the chest in a shallow way when we start to become anxious? So, count slowly to 5 as you breathe in filling the lungs completely, and then 5 as you breathe out. If this is too much, try starting with 3 counts. If it works, gradually breathe out for 1 or 2 counts longer than you breathe in. This will automatically help the body to relax a little.
2. Try to think of a safe and relaxing place
This could be a favourite place in nature, somewhere you’ve been on holiday, or a beautiful garden (mine is a beach on a Greek island and Louise Hay’s was a vase of yellow roses). It helps me every time, I’m not even quite sure why!
3. Try using all 5 senses
Connecting with what you can see, touch, hear, smell and taste can bring you closer to the present moment and reduce the intensity of your anxiety. By saying out loud what you can see, hear etc really helps. By touching my sleeve or my skin when I’m really anxious, it brings me back to the now.
4. Sit with someone if you can or cuddle a cushion
Feeling someone nearby, or holding their hand or having a cuddle if it’s possible, can be calming when there is any anxiety. If you’re alone and have a dog or cat, try to stroke or even cuddle them for some physical reassurance. If that isn’t available to you either, I find cuddling a cushion is so soothing.
5. Reassure yourself that the anxiety will pass and that you will be okay
I also repeat different positive affirmations and they have helped me incredibly, especially recently with some bouts of vertigo I have been going through which have been extremely distressing – “I am safe”, “Things are always working out for me” and “I am feeling better and better” are my favourite go to affirmations.
6. Do something that helps you feel calmer
This could be going for a run, getting outside and having a walk in nature, listening and maybe dancing to music, writing in a journal, watching a favourite film or something funny on Youtube. Laughter is definitely the best medicine for so many situations and helps me get out of an anxious moment.
Let me know how you get on with the above suggestions of what to do when you feel anxious. Have you some other ideas that have helped you or someone else? If so, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me an email at; hello@lizdoyle.net.
We often hear that practising gratitude is good for us and promotes wellbeing in so many ways, don’t we?
I must admit, at times in my life in the past, I really didn’t feel very grateful for much or I just couldn’t seem to muster up the enthusiasm for it. I’ve since learned this is just when it’s even more important to introduce the practice.
In positive psychology research and I quote, “gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
My 10 Top Tips for Introducing a Gratitude Practice
There is no right or wrong way of doing these. Try out as many of them as you want 😊:
Just after you wake up – lie in your bed and think of 3 things that you might be really grateful for. You could do this again at the end of your day.
When you say thank you to someone in the supermarket or in a cafe – why not tell them that you’re grateful for their help? It is so simple, yet very powerful and you will really make their day.
Write a little thank you and gratitude note to someone and send it off to them – you don’t have to say a lot in the note but it will make you feel so good and it will be greatly appreciated.
While you’re preparing your meals – think about how wonderful it is to have all this fresh food. You can be grateful to the lorry drivers, the supermarket staff, the farmers, the packers – the list goes on.
When you’re having a walk out in a park or in the countryside – count 10 things that you’re grateful for; the sun (even if it’s hidden behind clouds), the trees, the changing seasons, the abundance of nature, squirrels scampering in the distance, the birds singing, the sky at night…
Try this as you walk up some stairs, at home, at work or maybe at the shops – On one step, say out loud or silently, “Thank and on the next step “You”. The more steps you have to climb, the more you will feel the gratitude for all you have.
Thank your money – when you’re out shopping or on the internet, as you pay, silently thank the flow of money and all the abundance around you. When money is coming into your account or you get paid for work, thank the money flowing to you. This is especially helpful for when you have feelings of lack, to shift the energy.
Write a thank you letter to your body – take 5 minutes and start with dating your letter and start with “Dear” and just allow the words to flow. Thank your physical body for everything you can enjoy in life, even the parts of your body that may not be feeling that healthy. Without your amazing body, you wouldn’t have the experience of life.
Think of 10 things that you can deeply appreciate about yourself – your resilience, your courage, your sense of humour, your creativity. Have fun with it and feel the gratitude for the beauty of who you are.
Listen to a gratitude meditation on a regular basis – follow this link or listen below for my gratitude meditation recording.
5 Top Benefits of Feeling Grateful
And if you need more encouragement for why practising gratitude is so good for you, here are 5 benefits, according to research:
Gratitude improves relationships.
Gratitude improves physical and mental health.
Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.
Gratitude helps people sleep better.
Gratitude improves self-esteem.
If you would like to find out more about how you can start your journey of loving yourself every day and to have a life you feel more and more grateful for, have a look at how I can help here and drop me an email at hello@lizdoyle.net
Whether it’s been a long one or short one, moving on from a romantic relationship is bloody hard isn’t it?
Or it can be.
Even if you’ve been the one that ended it, it can leave you with an empty feeling. Or maybe just wondering will you actually ever find that deep connection and loving, fulfilling relationship.
My Top 10 ways to deal with end of a relationship
Here are 10 suggestions to help you to move on from the heartbreak of the end of that relationship:
Number 1
Create space for yourself – this is so important. Have compassion and empathy for yourself. Holding this space for yourself to allow the disappointment, the feeling of loss or maybe even anger is really really important to help you with healing process.
Number 2
Journal your thoughts about it especially if there is stuff that has been left unsaid. Write it or type it up if you prefe. Say everything you want to say. Imagine that you’re telling that person what you think, what you feel – how they might have hurt you or betrayed you or just let you down. This is such a powerful way to deal with the rumination and all that negative self-babble that might be going on.
Number 3
Sever all contact for the immediate future. You’re not helping yourself or them by continuing any communication at the moment. It doesn’t mean that will be the case forever but for now, you need to protect yourself and step away as much as you can. Of course, this isn’t so easy to do if you’re sharing a home and/or have a family but do your best.
Number 4
Unfollow them on all social media platforms. Don’t torture yourself by scrolling through their posts and just continuing to hurt yourself by looking at what they do. This is so important, especially if they seem to be getting on with their life really quickly and maybe even starting another relationship.
Number 5
Get support – get your friends, loved ones, family, whoever you can count on to support you during this time. After you have had the session where you go through it all, remind yourself you don’t need to go keep going over everything. Try to get out and have some fun with them, country walks, park runs, afternoon teas – do special things that might be different to what you’ve done before.
Number 6
Are you seeing a pattern with this relationship? Are you attracted to the same sort of person who really doesn’t deserve you… Did they make you feel less than you really are? This is the time to sit down and write down the sort of person you want in your life. It doesn’t have to be really long but get clear on who you want to be with and also what are your non-negotiables? What are you no longer prepared to put up with? Know your worth.
Number 7
Go to the mirror and talk to this person maybe using the words you used when you were journalling at #2. Mirror work is very powerful and has helped me so much over the years. Tell that person all the things you never got to say or that you might want to say again – don’t censor yourself. Let it all out and scream and shout if you need to.
Number 8
Start to let it go – stuff can stay in my head for a long time. I can overthink, ruminate all sorts of stuff. I then remind myself to let it all go. If possible, try to forgive that person for not being the person you wanted them to be. Even if you’re just willing to forgive, this can be transformational with moving on and in welcoming in a fantastic, loving and empowering relationship.
Number 9
If you were the one who was left at the end of the relationship – this is so painful and we can often ask ourselves “what’s wrong with me?” – Why not ask yourself “what I have learnt from this relationship?” – Release it with love and give yourself time to heal and be open to the future. Learn to love yourself completely – the most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself.
Number 10
If you’re ready for a new relationship and don’t rush this – and after you have gone through the above steps, step into your own love story. Imagine living inside your new love story now and make choices and actions based on that love story. Know that you are lovable and worthy and enough. Your very existence is more than enough to be worthy to be cherished, adored and to give that love back. There is nothing you have to do to prove this. Know it to be true.
I hope these suggestions or tips help you to move and to find that beautiful and passionate relationship.
What does Louise Hay have to say about relationships?
So those were my 10 Top Ways to Move On From a Relationship. My work is all based on the teachings of the amazing Louise Hay. As she always said – “the most important relationship you will ever have is with yourself”. This recording is so inspiring and helped me and so many over the world.
If you’d like to find out about how your beliefs are affecting your relationships, romantic or otherwise, just drop me an email and we can book in a quick call – hello@lizdoyle.net or check out how you can work with me on this link
End all forms of violence against all women and girls everywhere
This is a subject very close to my heart and if you’d like to know why, sign up for my fortnightly love letter here. As it is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I needed to share my thoughts.
It certainly came as no surprise to see that there was a 33% rise in domestic violence reports under the COVID-19 lockdowns last year. I am finding it quite difficult to find sufficient words to describe how I feel about this situation. To see the amount of women (and sometimes men) living a life in despair and terror is heartbreaking.
Also, with the huge rise in domestic abuse cases being dropped in England and Wales shows that the situation is still not being taken seriously which quite frankly dismays me – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58910802.
Victims of alleged domestic abuse are seeing their cases dropped at a rapidly increasing rate, according to the BBC.
The time limit to charge common assault – including instances of domestic violence – is six months. Nearly 13,000 cases were dropped in England and Wales over five years after the authorities hit that limit. Campaigners say women are being denied justice and the police and prosecutors should be given more time.
What’s the answer?
As you might know by now, my message is that by changing our thinking, we can change our lives. But, I still think we need to speak out against any injustices, bullying and abuse in the world whilst still being mindful of the positive outcome we want.
So rather than just fighting domestic abuse, we can focus on a world where all humans respect and love each other. Where we accept each others’ differences and seek to heal our own mental wounds rather than lash out and make others suffer.
I’ll be honest, it feels like a big ask but has fighting war worked? I’d rather put my attention on a peaceful and loving world.
So, in my Facebook community, Love Yourself – Women Inspiring Women (to join, follow this link) on Thursday, 28th October, I will be sharing a live meditation focusing totally on women and girls who are victims of domestic abuse and how they can live a life of freedom and where they truly thrive rather than just survive (just about) day to day.
To give some practical help, I’d like to share these numbers for anyone you know who might be in need or even if you’re in need. I am also available for support if I can be of help.
Domestic Abuse National helplines
Domestic Violence Assist – Specialises in assistance to obtain emergency injunctions from being further abused.
Hourglass – The Hourglass confidential helpline provides information and support to anyone concerned about harm, abuse or exploitation of an older person.
It was such an honour to be invited as a guest on Nicky Davies’ podcast episode. We had such an amazing conversation about Louise Hay and how the mind and body are completely connected as well as spirit.
What is the Mind / Body / Spirit Connection?
We may have an understanding that this connection exists but how often do we choose to ignore the feedback our bodies are giving us in the form of pain and ailments? Listening to what our bodies are telling us can transform our lives. During my chat with Nicky, we talked about how Louise healed herself and how my Thyroid cancer was linked to how I could never speak my truth and I never felt truly heard.
We talk about this and so much more, I just loved taking part.
As Louise, herself said – “This doesn’t ‘heal’ anyone, but it does awaken within you the ability to contribute to your own healing process.”
” For us to become whole and healthy, we must balance the body, mind, and spirit. We need to take good care of our bodies. We need to have a positive attitude about ourselves and about life. And we need to have a strong spiritual connection. When these 3 things are balanced, we rejoice in living. No doctor or health practitioner can give us this unless we choose to take part in our healing process. “
Louise Hay
One might assume the mind / body / spirit connection would be obvious once we become ill, but sometimes we’re so busy chasing symptoms that we don’t really understand what is going on behind the scenes. Louises book, “You Can Heal Your Life”, lists the ailments with their possible emotional roots. It provides deep insights into how our minds and emotions affect our health. I love looking through the book on my coaching sessions as it’s incredible what comes up for my clients at this time.
Looking for a Podcast Guest?
If you’re looking for a guest for your next podcast, I’d be really happy to be featured.
I work with women, helping them to love and accept themselves more – so in addition to the mind / body connection, we could talk about our limiting beliefs, self-sabotage and lovely imposter syndrome on the podcast!!!
Email me if you want me as a guest on your podcast, or with your thoughts on the Mind / Body / Spirit Connection OR if you’d like to find out about my 6 Love Yourself Coaching Sessions ♥️ follow this link.
And in the video above, I talk about the importance of being really patient with yourself. Why not have a look at the rest of my channel for lots of inspiration ♥️
I have recently started a course called “Science of Happiness” and although there is so much I already know about this subject, I love it when it’s actually backed up by scientists researching the subject. And I can always learn more, of course!
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of “The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach”, developed a theory with colleagues that answers this question of what are the most important determinants of happiness?
You’ll see her pie chart: It is very simplistic – numbers that are averages and approximations from lots of past studies.
Approximately 50% of the variance in happiness is due to our genes. Basically, some of us have happier genes! Approximately, 10% lies in our life circumstances; some studies show it’s from 8% to 18%.
We all differ in our life circumstances – some of us are richer, some of us are poorer, some of us are more or less attractive, and more or less healthy. That does play a part in our happiness. But, not as much as you might expect. I was quite surprised that the number was so small. I think we tend to think “I’ll be happier when I have… a new job, a partner, new home, a baby” etc. But the research shows that those things don’t affect our happiness as much as we think they will (something I already knew but I loved seeing the research).
That leaves approximately 40% of happiness, which is under our control to change.
Sonja Lyubomirsky’s book, and her work is really about how do we harness that 40%? What is it that we can do, think, behave in our daily lives that can affect our happiness level?
Researchers have looked at what happy people do
They study happy people and what the research shows is that happy people are;
really good at relationships – they have stable, fulfilling relationships, partnerships, friends, even with their pets
more grateful, and are more helpful and philanthropic
more optimistic about the future
more likely to live in the present
people who tend to savour pleasures in their life
habitually more physically active
often spiritual or religious (spirituality and religion aren’t a prerequisite for happiness, but it is correlated with happiness)
deeply committed to goals – they have significant meaningful life goals that they are pursuing, whether it’s how they raise their children, building a house, or advancing in their career etc
These are correlational studies so, of course, nothing is set in stone. But the question of how to become happier is an interesting scientific one.
Another renowned psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, and a leading researcher of positive emotions explained how positive emotions are more than just fleeting, frivolous sensations. They can profoundly change our minds and bodies, broadening our perspective and make us more resilient to setbacks.
The Power of Meditation
With this in mind, her research on meditation looks at how people might use meditation to elevate positive emotion. Meditation plays a major part in my life and has made a profound difference to what I see as my happiness quota. It also plays a major part in my own coaching, and I suggest that my clients introduce meditation into their daily practice as soon as we start working together. In fact, I send them my recordings as part of their growth work.
Barbara Fredrickson became particularly interested in a form of meditation called loving kindness meditation, also called Metta. It asks people to cultivate that warm, tender feeling that you already have towards a loved one or even a pet and learn to direct it towards: yourself at first and then towards a loved one, then a neutral person you don’t really know and then a person you have difficulties with and eventually to direct it to all people and sentient beings on the planet.
What she learned from her research on love and kindness meditation is that positive emotions can change. Novice mediators, over the course of 8 weeks, their positive emotions subtly shift upwards. It’s not a huge increase but it’s statistically significant and it has an important impact on these people’s lives months later. What she learned is that as people’s positive emotions increase, their ability to stay in the present moment and attend to subtle differences improved. Their close and trusting warm relationships with others are improved over the course of 3 months; these are things that was measured before they took the meditation workshop and then a couple weeks after it ended, and they saw improvements there.
There are improvements in people’s resilience, their ability to bounce back from difficulties and effectively manage their environmental challenges. There are reductions in people’s headaches, pains, stomach pains, or self-reported health problems and in their newest study they’ve found changes in heart rate variability.
She states that positive emotions transform us for the better – it’s like that butterfly coming out of its cocoon (an analogy I also use in my coaching). If we increase our daily diet of positive emotions, we come out 3 months later, stronger, more resilient, more socially connected versions of ourselves and dare I say it, happier.
This was, of course, so aligned with my own beliefs and with how I work with women on my online coaching. I’d love to know what you think of this so please get in contact with any feedback and tell me what makes you happy?
To find out more about my coaching follow this link to book in a private and confidential call.
It was the 4th anniversary of Louise Hay passing on 30th August and a couple of days later I shared a small tribute with women in my private Facebook community, Love Yourself – Women Inspiring Women. To celebrate the legacy of this incredible woman was, again, such an honour. This is the link for the group if you’d like to join us. We’d love to see you there!
It was beautiful to share a little of Louise’s background and also to talk about the core foundations that she used to recover from cancer – such a remarkable story. I have received such wonderful feedback from everyone who watched it.
The Power is Within You
I am sharing what Louise had to say on her Cancer Diagnosis in her second book, The Power Is Within You.
“Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I was diagnosed with vaginal cancer. First, I panicked. Then, I had doubts that all this stuff I was learning was valid. It was a normal and natural reaction. I thought to myself, “If I was clear and centred, I wouldn’t have the need to create the illness.” In hindsight, I think when I was diagnosed, I felt safe enough at that point to let the illness surface so that I could do something about it, rather than having it be another hidden secret that I wouldn’t know about until I was dead.
I knew too much by then to hide from myself any longer. I knew that cancer was a dis-ease of resentment that is held for a long time until it eats away at the body.
When we stifle our emotions inside of us, they have to go somewhere in the body. If we spend a lifetime stuffing things down, they will eventually manifest somewhere in the body.
I became very aware that the resentment (which my teacher had referred to so many times) within me had to do with being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused as a child. Naturally, I would have resentment. I was bitter and unforgiving of the past. I had never done any work to change or release the bitterness and let it go. When I left home, it was all I could do to forget what happened to me; I thought I had put it behind me when in actuality I had simply buried it.
When I found my metaphysical pathway, I covered up my feelings with a nice layer of spirituality and hid a lot of garbage inside me. I put a wall around myself that kept me literally out of touch with my own feelings. I didn’t know who I was or where I was. After my diagnosis, the real inner work of learning to know myself began.
Thank God, I had tools to use. I knew I needed to go within myself if I was going to make any permanent changes. Yes, the doctor could give me an operation and perhaps take care of my illness for the moment, but if I didn’t change the way I was using my thoughts and my words, I’d probably recreate it again.
I realized that I was not really progressing in my life the way I wanted to because I hadn’t really cleared out this old garbage from childhood, and I wasn’t living what I was teaching. I had to recognize the inner child inside me and work with her. My inner child needed help because she was still in great pain.
I quickly began a self-healing program in earnest. I concentrated on me totally and did little else. I became very committed to getting well.
Some of it was a little weird, yet I did it anyway. After all, this was my life on the line. It became almost a 24-hour-a-day job for the next six months. I began reading and studying everything I could find about alternative ways to heal cancer because I truly believed it could be done.
I did a nutritional cleansing program that detoxified my body from all the junk foods I had eaten for years.
I said affirmations and did visualizations and spiritual mind treatments. I did daily sessions in front of a mirror. The most difficult words to say were, “I love you, I really love you.” It took a lot of tears and a lot of breathing to get through it. When I did, it was as if I took a quantum leap.
I spent a long period of time beating pillows and screaming. It was wonderful.
It felt so good because I had never, ever had permission to do that in my life.
I don’t know which method worked; maybe a little bit of everything worked.
Most of all I was really consistent with what I did. I practised during all my waking hours. I thanked myself before I went to sleep for what I had done during the day. I affirmed that my healing process was taking place in my body while I slept, and that I would awaken in the morning bright and refreshed and feeling good. In the morning, I’d awaken and thank myself and my body for the work during the night.
I also worked on understanding and forgiveness. One of the ways was to explore my parents’ childhoods as much as I could.
I began to understand how they were treated as children, and I realised that because of the way they were brought up, they couldn’t really have done anything differently than they did.
Step by step, my growing understanding of them enabled me to start the forgiveness process.
The more I forgave my parents, the more willing I was to forgive myself. Forgiveness of ourselves is enormously important. Many of us do the same damage to the inner child that our parents did to us. We just continue the abuse, and it’s very sad. When we were children and other people mistreated us, we didn’t have many options, but when we grow up and we still mistreat the inner child, it’s disastrous.
As I forgave myself, I began to trust myself. I found that when we don’t trust life or other people, it’s really because we don’t trust ourselves. We don’t trust our Higher Selves to take care of us in all situations
Eventually, I began to trust myself enough to take care of me, and I found it easier and easier to love myself once I trusted myself. My body was healing, and my heart was healing.
My spiritual growth had come in such an unexpected way. “
The work of Louise Hay addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of ourselves, so it is timeless and offers us the opportunity for powerful personal transformation. The foundation of Louise’s work is, of course, loving and approving of yourself.
It was a beautiful event celebrating Louise’s legacy, and the recording is available to watch in the group and I’ve also uploaded it onto YouTube.
We finished with a Circle of Peace and Love meditation which the planet could really do with right now.
I want to give a special thanks to Meg Muir – Artist 🎨 who joined me on the zoom session and all I can say, is the synchronicity of what she shared couldn’t have been more powerful. I had no idea she was going to share what she did (even though it might look like I did!). Can I just add, Meg’s work is incredible and comes from a place of such love.
It was such a special evening – I can’t say any more than that.
♥️♥️♥️
If any of what I have talked about in this blog has affected you in any way, I would be more than happy to discuss this with you – you are not alone. Get in contact here
I’ve been wondering about this more and more as I have noticed such a difference in my mood in the few days leading up to a full moon for the last few months. I’ve had my suspicions for much longer but I feel there is too much of a correlation now. Does the Full Moon affect your mood or sleep?
I know I’m not new to the party – the link between the moon and madness has been well documented throughout history. We’ve also heard about ‘lunacy’ coming from the Latin lunaticus, meaning ‘moonstruck’.
According to some scientists, the lunar effect is the theory that various stages of the moon’s cycle cause behavioural changes in humans and animals. A study back in 2013 even found that we sleep on average 20 minutes less during a full moon than at any other time of the month, and take longer to drift off to sleep, too. – this has definitely been the case for me.
During a full moon, ocean tides are higher than usual from an increase in the gravitational pull from the moon and sun. Considering that the body is 80% water, it comes as no surprise that scientists think that similar effects happen in the body creating almost a “human tidal pull” that can affect brain function.
The Full Moon’s Effects on Your Health
As I said, I am sure that the full moon impacts people, animals, and the things around us. How does the Full Moon affect your mood or sleep or am I talking nonsense?!
I am having a fluctuation in mood that only lasts for a few days for some reason and is unexplainable – and it seems only at this time of the lunar cycle.
Sleep disturbances – I have trouble falling asleep and wake up during the night and then I’m tossing and turning – but it only lasts for a few days or a week at a time.
7 Ways The Full Moon Might Affect Your Health
Here are some interesting things researchers have found with regard to the lunar cycle:
1. Heart
I’m not talking romance here – A study published in the Indian Journal of Basic and Applied Medical Research found that when exercising, your heart is at its peak performance during a full and new moon.
2. Brain
Much like the moon is responsible for the ebb and flow of tides, because our brains are a significant source of water, Dutch researchers believe the moon’s gravitational pull could similarly have influence on your brain, causing erratic behaviour (I knew this already!)
We might also hear complaints of headaches and migraines around the time of the full moon. While there is no scientific correlation between migraines and the full moon, full moons can disrupt sleep which, in turn, disrupts hormone levels, thus triggering headaches.
3. Kidneys
A 2011 study published in the Journal of Urology found that kidney stone pain increased significantly at the time of the full moon. In another study, researchers found that generally, more patients were admitted to hospitals with urological emergencies during this time, too. Conversely, the new Moon caused a “calming effect” for people with these conditions.
One theory behind these conclusions is that the kidneys, like other organs and the human body itself, are made up of at least 60% water, and just as lunar activity can affect our oceans, creating powerful and predictable tides, the moon might affect the workings of these organs, causing a noticeable ebb and flow in times of calm and pain. Not all researchers agree, but there is enough evidence that studies continue.
4. Sleep
A study published in Current Biology reviewed the sleep patterns of participants over three days in which they were allowed to fall asleep at will in a controlled area that had neither clocks nor outside light. When the data was compared to the phases of the moon, researchers discovered that participants not only had lower melatonin levels during bright moon phases, but they also took 5 minutes longer to fall asleep, slept 20 minutes less in general, and had 30 percent less REM sleep. And we all know that not getting enough sleep, affects your health.
5. Menstrual Cycle
A woman’s average menstrual cycle is 28 days, which is quite similar to the 29+ day lunar cycle. This timing may be more than coincidence according to Chinese researchers who discovered that almost 30% of all the women monitored ovulated at the full moon and menstruated during the new moon. In some cultures, this has a name – White Moon Cycle, which essentially mirrors the fertility of the Earth which is said to be most fertile under full moonlight.
6. Birthrate
Japanese researchers discovered something interesting: there is a significant increase in the number of births when the gravitation of the moon to the Earth is most powerful. While researchers admit they are still unclear on exactly how or why this relationship exists, they say it might help healthcare professionals and pregnant women better prepare.
Additionally, one Italian study examined more than 1,200 births over three years and found a higher number of babies born in the two days after a full moon.
7. Injuries
As the full moon can affect our moods and behaviour in certain ways, it’s not really surprising that we are more prone to accidents or illness during this time, according to some research.
A study published in World Journal of Surgery found that over 40% of medical personnel believe in “Full Moon Madness” among patients. It was also revealed that emergency calls for all sorts of conditions actually increases by 3% whenever there’s a full moon, and then drops by 6% during a new moon.
In 2008, British researchers found a link between the lunar cycle and what doctors call “medically unexplained stroke symptoms,” where patients develop complaints such as headaches, numbness and coordination issues but have nothing physically wrong with them.
I find all of this fascinating but what do you think?
Do you experience any changes in your health during the full moon? Does the full moon affect your mood or sleep?
