Moon Cycles with Desiree Pais: Hearing the Needs of the Heart

As a year draws to an end, we often find ourselves reflecting on what has been, and what we hope will be in the one that lies ahead. That said, manifesting those intentions into our lives can often be a challenge. I’ve shared my love for Desirée Pais in these pages before – her thoughts on falling into change and letting go of stories seen here – and true to form, she offers a deeply insightful approach. On a mission to spread the wisdom of the mind-body connection, she is the natural beauty alchemist behind Benshen, as well as a meditation guide, and hosts regular gatherings centered around the cycles of the moon. Once again, she was was kind enough to share her thoughts on the new moon, this one in Sagittarius, and the opportunity for change that comes with it. XXJKE

DP: The New Moon in Sagittarius occurs on December 11th, a perfect opportunity to reflect back on the entire year and see what still has not manifested in your life. New Moons are cosmic portals to set intentions for whatever goals, dreams, or desires you want to to experience in your life. And this Sagittarius moon is reminding us to not only have dreams, but to be clear about why we have a vision in our sights. Sometimes it’s too easy to say, “Oh I want this and I want that.” But Sag asks us to go deep, to our core, to ask ourselves why we really want what we’re asking for. If we’re not clear about what we really want from our hearts space, we may have the opportunities for our visions to manifest, but they will feel like an uphill battle because we don’t have the clarity as to why we are doing this. Sagittarius is the fire energy and the fire within us is our hearts. We have to go into our heart of hearts and ask ourselves, what does my soul need. Most of the time we spend too many energy focusing on what we want rather than allowing the universe to bring us exactly what we need.

For example, the last year I was working with a large number of private clients. It gave me great financial security and I felt comfortable in my life. As the year went on, I started to feel overwhelmed with taking on too many and burnt out. I was also teaching weekly classes at studios and always came out of class feeling insanely revitalized and highly energized. I began to realize that I gained more energy teaching larger classes than working with many one-on-one sessions. But the fear crept up and I wanted to keep my clients so that I wouldn’t lose my security. Funny enough, I started to lose clients and became so antsy with my intentions: “I want more clients, I want more clients” when the reality was that what I really needed, what my soul needed, what gave me the most energy, was teaching groups. However, because I hadn’t cleared the subconscious fear that I couldn’t make a living on teaching classes, I stayed fixated on the clients until I had almost none left. And rather than becoming self-conscious, I realized, that because I wasn’t focusing on my hearts dream, the Universe was making me do it. Now, all of my energy goes into my classes and continuing to work with a small number of clients, all of which is infinitely more fulfilling. We have to have the bravery and courage to go after what we really dream of, rather than letting our fears get to the best of us.

In the incredible book, The Game of Life and How to Play It, Florence Scovel Shinn, a visionary way beyond her time (the book was written in 1925, by a woman!!) she talks about our innate power of manifestation and how often times we allow it to slip right by us. Shinn shares:

“There is a place that you are to fill and no one else can fill, something you are to do, which no one else can do.” There is a perfect picture of this in the super-conscious mind. It usually flashes across the conscious as an unattainable ideal – “something too good to be true.” In reality it is man’s true destiny (or destination) flashed to him from the Infinite Intelligence which is within himself. Many people, however, are in ignorance of their true destinies and are striving for things and situations which do not belong to them, and would only bring failure and dissatisfaction if attained.

With this in mind, for this powerful New Moon, I invite you to set up a comfortable, sacred, cozy space. Light some candles, burn some sage to clear away any negativity from the day. Sit quietly and go within, ask your Higher Self, what it is that you truly need in your life to feel whole, to feel complete, to feel secure. Listen, allow your inner-self to speak to you. Hear the subtle whispers of the Heart. After giving yourself enough time to listen, open your eyes and journal everything you heard. Journaling will give you clarity as to what you need to do here in this lifetime, and will allow you to see what steps you need to take to fulfill your destiny. Happy New Moon!

*If you would like to go deeper into this beautiful practice, Desirée offers one-on-one sessions and/or hosts Moon Gatherings in New York City. Email desireeSpais@gmail.com for more information. 

Illustrations by Sarah Elliott