How the Moon Affects Your Sleep and Mood

Some nights you can't sleep, and there's no reason. You're not worried about anything. You're just... awake. Next time that happens, look out of the window. There's a good chance the moon is nearly full. I'm Fernanda. I've been an energy healer for over twenty years, and the moon is one of the first things I ask my clients about. So in the next few minutes, I want to show you what the moon really does to your sleep and your mood. Not the mystical version. The one you can check for yourself. And then one small thing to do tonight. One thing first. This is a complementary practice. If your sleep has been bad for a long time, please also talk to your doctor.

Let's start with what can actually be measured, because this surprised me too. In 2013, a sleep lab at the University of Basel went back through years of recordings from people sleeping in a dark room. No windows. No idea what the moon was doing. Around the full moon, those people took longer to fall asleep, slept about twenty minutes less, and had less deep sleep. Even though they couldn't see it. Then in 2021, a team at the University of Washington followed people in villages with no electricity, and people in a big city. Both groups went to bed later and slept less in the nights before a full moon. Nobody knows exactly why. As far as anyone can tell, our bodies still keep a rhythm that is older than electric light. So if you feel restless, wired, or a little more emotional in the days before a full moon, that's a real thing. You're not imagining it.

Now, this is the part I've believed for a long time, and I'll say it plainly. The moon moves the ocean. Twice a day, the whole sea rises and falls because of it. And you are mostly water. So when the moon pulls, I don't think we are the only thing on this planet it leaves alone. In my room, I notice it every month. In the days before the full moon, people come in carrying more. More tension. More tears. Old feelings coming up that they thought were finished. That's the moon doing what the moon does. It brings things to the surface, the way the tide brings things up onto the sand. If you know that, it stops being a bad night. It becomes information.

Here's the simplest way I know to work with it. The moon has four seasons in a month, and so do you. The new moon is the dark sky. That's your winter. Rest. Start something small, quietly. As it grows, that's your spring. Energy comes back. Things you started begin to move. The full moon is your summer. Everything is lit up. You see clearly what's working, and what you've been carrying too long. And as it fades, that's your autumn. Let go. Sleep more. Say no to a few things. That's allowed. You don't have to believe in anything for this to help. It's just a rhythm. And a body that knows the rhythm stops fighting it. This month, the full moon is on the twenty-sixth of September. It's the Harvest Moon, the one closest to the autumn equinox. So the days before it are a good time to notice what's coming up in you.

Before you go, here is what I do, and what I ask my clients to do. It takes about two minutes, tonight, before bed. Find the moon. Through a window, from the garden, or if it's cloudy, just picture it. Your body doesn't check. Take three slow breaths. Out longer than in, like the tide going out. Now ask yourself two things. What has become clear for me this month? And what am I ready to put down? You can say the answers out loud. You can write them on a piece of paper. Some of my clients burn the paper. Some just fold it and leave it under a stone in the garden. Then, and this is my favourite part, put a small bowl of water on the windowsill, where the moon can reach it. In the morning, wash your face with it. And as you do, ask the water to take what you don't want to carry into the day. Water is for cleansing. That's what it has always done. You're just letting it.

Do that around every full moon, and you'll start to feel the month instead of being pushed around by it. If you'd like to go deeper, I've put my ten-day journey together. It's called The Nature Reset. Grounding, breath, water, the earth, and the moon, a few minutes a day, from wherever you are. The link is below. And if you'd rather rest and let me do the work, there's a link to book a gentle session too. In person, or from anywhere. Sleep well tonight. The moon has been doing this for a very long time. You can trust it. I'm Fernanda. Come as you are.