Hope: A New Moon Meditation

New moon.

With a new moon is a new month.

With a new month is new hope.

With a new hope there's a new release of energy,

A recharge,

A hope,

The hope of the new moon.

In the Torah we learned that the first commandment given to the Jewish people was the commandment,

The mitzvah,

To have a calendar based on the moon and not based on the sun.

Sun is the same shape every day,

The same round orange yellow ball.

Every morning,

Every evening.

The same,

Never changing.

But yet the moon is dynamic.

The moon waxes,

The moon wanes,

Never ever staying the same shape.

This is why the new moon is new hope.

Because the new moon tells us that no matter where we are and no matter how we're feeling right now,

We will never be stuck in one place forever.

As the moon waxes and the moon wanes,

So too in our own lives,

We have highs and we have lows.

Waxing and waning,

Life will always wax and wane.

And every up comes its down and with every down there's an impending journey upwards to a zenith of strong,

Pure and powerful light.

It's the new moon,

It's the new month.

And yet when you go out and look at the night sky,

When it's the Jewish new moon,

You'll see there's nothing in the sky.

You can't see a moon.

There is no moon.

You look for it and search but it's not there.

But here's the thing.

It is there.

The moon is always there.

It's just that right now the sun isn't shining on it and therefore the light isn't being reflected but it's there,

It's always there.

So too,

We must never lose that understanding that even in dark moments,

The hope is always there.

The answer is always there.

The feeling of security,

The feeling of warmth and comfort is always there.

And if we hold on tight and wait and see,

Soon the light will start shining again on our moon.

That is the beauty of the Jewish new moon,

Rosh Chodesh,

New month.

So join me on our visualization as we wax and wane using a breathing technique,

We'll wax and wane,

Internalize this powerful supercharged message of the Jewish new moon,

The Jewish month giving us hope in any and every situation.

So take a big deep breath in through your nose,

Hold for a few seconds and then breathing out.

Allow yourself to feel comfortable,

No distractions.

Whatever has been going on today,

Just leave it outside your door and stay present for this moment.

Breathing in again through your nose,

Feeling colder air coming in,

Hold and then breathe out again.

Feeling your body on the chair or the bed that you're lying on,

Feet against the floor,

General relaxation,

Calm,

There's nowhere to run to,

There's no place you need to be,

Just this moment,

This moment,

This precious moment that you're in right now.

Breathing in again through your nose and as you breathe in just internalizing the understanding once again of nishama,

The Jewish word for soul and nishima which means breath.

Each breath we reconnect,

With each breath we restart and then breathe out again.

Feeling your body going into a state of calm,

Starting with your right leg,

Touch it with your mind and send it to sleep,

Your left leg,

Touch it with your mind,

Send it to sleep feeling warm and heavy,

Both your legs feeling warm and heavy.

Right arm feeling warm and heavy,

Left arm feeling warm and heavy,

Your torso,

The going of stress,

Your back,

Let go of all the tension in your shoulders,

Let your shoulders just fall down,

Your right ear,

Right side of your face,

Left ear,

Left side of your face,

Chin,

Mouth,

Nose,

Eyes,

Into your forehead and the top of your forehead.

Now your whole body is feeling a beautiful state of calm and relaxation.

So join me as we now visage the moon.

With each breath in,

I want you to imagine that your moon is waxing,

Is getting lighter and brighter and with each breath out I want you to visualize that moon waning and getting dimmer,

So let's practice.

Breathing in through your nose and your moon is getting brighter and brighter,

Big full moon,

Big and bright,

Hold for a second and then breathing out and the light gets dimmer and dimmer,

Waxes,

Waxes,

Waxes.

Breathe in again,

Feeling yourself with air,

Brighter,

Brighter,

Big full moon,

The moon is burning bright,

Hold for a few seconds,

Feel that strength and power and then breathing out again,

Moon gets dimmer until now,

The last moment of your breath,

You feel that there is just complete darkness and breathe in again and the light is filling your moon,

Shining,

Shining brightly,

Eliminating all confusion and darkness and then breathing out again and as you do so,

Feel the energy just falling and that's okay,

As we're coming up again,

Breathing in,

Coming up again,

Feeling the light,

Feeling you are receiving the light right now and then as you breathe out again,

The light dissipates but it's you,

It's you giving back to the world,

Receive in the light now,

Receive in the light,

Breathing in,

Filling yourself with light,

Breathe in,

Breathe in,

Burning big full moon and then breathe out again,

Give back to the world,

Returning and then breathing in again,

Big bright moon,

Showing the world your full potential and then breathing out again,

Giving back to the world,

The light becomes dimmer,

Emptying out in order to receive,

Breathing in again,

Feeling the connection,

Everything now has its place,

The joy of knowing where you are and then breathing out again,

Allowing yourself to let go,

Keep breathing in and out,

Filling yourself with light and then emptying out to receive more,

Filling up with light and emptying out to receive more,

This is what we call in Kabbalistic literature,

Ratzovashov,

Approaching and then taking a step back,

Feeling that closeness and feeling the longing and lacking and the desire to come close again,

Ratzovashov and just like the waves coming in to the shore and then retracting again back into the sea,

Forwards,

Backwards,

Forwards,

Backwards,

This is the dance of life and this is why the new moon is such a beautiful,

Powerful day,

It's teaching us a lesson that the world needs to hear,

That we're not like the sun,

We're not expected to be every single day on the top of our game,

Every single day burning bright,

Every single day successful and happy and joyful,

We will have days that don't feel right,

We will have days where we don't feel good,

We will have days where we wish we could be someone else or somewhere else but hold tight because with every down there's an up,

The dynamic moon is our teacher,

So breathe in deeply and feel that tranquility of knowing and understanding and internalising that just as that moon in the sky waxes and wanes,

It is always there,

So too your hope will never fade,

So too your joy is always available,

Wishing you a very,

Very peaceful and happy month ahead.