5 Journaling Prompts for the New Moon

Connecting with the moon phases is a wonderful way of pausing to reflect and care for ourselves in alignment with the rhythms of the natural world. When we start to pay attention to the moon phases, we can often notice how our energies shift and change with them.

[Read: “Working With the Phases of the Moon.”]

Journaling is a wonderful practice for self-reflection, insight, processing emotions, clarifying goals, and simply being in a loving relationship with ourselves. Here are some ideas for journaling prompts around a new moon. You could pick and choose whichever ones resonate for you, or perhaps you could do a daily writing practice in the five days surrounding the new moon, beginning two or three nights before the new moon itself.

5 Prompts for the 5-Day New Moon Period

Freewrite

Freewriting is a practice of setting your pen to the page with a timer going, say for five minutes. You write anything that is on your mind without stopping or pausing to edit. It doesn’t have to make sense, nor does it have to mean anything—they’re just words flowing from your pen (or keyboard). You can use this style with the prompts that follow, for example by starting every sentence with the suggested phrase, or you can do the simple, classic freewriting practice and allow anything and everything to come through you. It’s a wonderful way of tapping into your subconscious or your intuition.

When you’re finished, read over what you wrote down. You may want to leave it at that or expand on something that came up in your freewriting.

“I Feel ...”

New moons tend to be a sensitive, introverted time where we are a little more in contact with our feelings and our bodies. Many people menstruate around the new moon, so this can be a part of how our energies shift during this time. It is a metaphorical emptying out, a moment of release. The new moon represents a new cycle, so we must pause in the dark to rest and consider where we are at in our lives right at the moment. This is an excellent time to inquire deeply into what we are feeling in our hearts and bodies.

“I Want ...”

New moons are a good time to contemplate desire. The waxing moon offers a building energy, and it’s a good time for starting new projects or initiating relationships and other new things. The new moon is the moment just before that, so it is a good time to stop and think about what it is we want to be building in the coming couple of weeks. Think about what you deeply desire, what you want in the long term, what your goals are, and what new things you genuinely feel ready to start.

“In the Dark …”

The hallmark quality of the new moon is that it’s a dark time. In areas with little light pollution at night, you’ll notice that full moons cast a lot of light and new-moon nights are truly darker times. Metaphorically, this means we get to be with those parts of ourselves that are just ours, the parts of ourselves that we might want to hide from others. It’s a good time to ask ourselves about authenticity, about what we are showing and what we are not showing to others. If you truly were in the dark, invisible to everyone, how would that feel? When the lights came back on, what parts of yourself would you want to show and what parts would stay hidden?

“My Loneliness/My Solitude ...”

Metaphorically, the new moon is alone. She is without the light from her other, the sun, that normally defines her. Loneliness is a call to true connection, to be truly seen and heard in all aspects of who you are. You can be lonely in a relationship or in a room full of people, and you can feel deeply connected and fulfilled when alone—which is the state of solitude. Write on either loneliness or solitude, whichever you feel closer to at this time.

Once you’ve finished writing, try three new moon yoga postures or a ritual for a spring new moon.