How to Use a Habit Tracker for Moon Journaling
When I was introduced to the idea of a longer lunar cycle called the Lunar Gestation Cycle, I was curious and eager to begin tracking it to see how it played out in my life. So much so that I created a Moon Journal and planner to help me remember key experiences over a longer period of time. It’s like a daily habit tracker, but focused on the moon and events that are influenced by the cosmic energies.
Daily Habit tracking isn’t necessarily a new thing. I was introduced to it in 2019 as a way to track daily energy through the menstrual cycle. The idea was renewed as I was looking for evidence of how people culminate seasons in their lives. April Edwards talks about a bullet journal approach to tracking daily happenings for her seasonal reflections.
In this post, I’m going to share how I capture my daily life with a personalized habit tracker in a simple 10 minute self care ritual that starts and ends my days.
What is a Habit Tracker, and Why Should You Use it?
A habit tracker is a place to record data on habits that you’d like to analyze at a later date. It usually consists of a place to record nutrition, water consumed, physical activities and other personal information to note how habits lead to living a healthier life. They are really useful for when you are trying to manage weight gain or loss, develop healthy habits or improve your health.
There are plenty of apps out there to help with such things. They are mostly gamified to “encourage” you to be better. Think of how good (or bad) you feel when you look at your ring for the day. Did you close it? Congrats! If you didn’t, beat yourself up and lose steam. Just kidding. Tomorrow is a new day, try again!
Personally, I don’t play the games that make me feel shitty if I have an off day. That’s why I love a paper tracker. And a paper tracker that is focused on the improvement of my mental health and spiritual well being is even better than a habit tracker.
As a busy mom, my mind is so full of the day to day happenings and other stresses that I don’t have the mental capacity to remember ALL. THE. THINGS. that happen for long periods of time. So I use my Moon Play moon journal to capture it all.
I’ll teach you how I use my daily snapshot page as a sort of “habit tracker” in my life and then use it in my moon rituals each week so you can start your own!
How to Use a Habit Tracker for Moon Journaling
There are a few steps to start using a habit tracker to assist with your moon journaling practice. It may seem like a lot to get started, but it really isn’t. Customize your self care routines because after all, they are all about you!
Steps to use a Habit Tracker for Moon Journaling
- Get a journal
- Decide on a practice & commit to it
- Track your daily experiences
- Practice moon rituals
- Analyze your day to day at each moon ritual
- Rinse and repeat
I will dig into each of these below. And don’t forget to make it your own! These are only suggestions to get you started.
Get a Journal
Using a paper journal has many benefits, but you can also use a digital one if you prefer. I like to write with a pencil and paper. It takes up space over time, but it’s fun to burn when you do a full moon or third quarter moon burning ceremony. Choose what works for you!
Decide on a practice & commit to it
First, you have to decide how much data you’d like to track, what kind of data you’d like to track, how often you will track data, how you’re going to use that data later and then make a commitment to yourself to make time for all of this tracking of data.
For me:
I track daily, morning and night, everyday.
I track a bunch of information on my daily snapshot page (video of what I track is below.)
I use my daily snapshots at moon rituals at points along the lunar gestation cycle (9 months, 18 months, 27 months, 36 months.)
This is a commitment I have made and follow every day as part of my daily self care.
Track your daily Experiences
I spend about 5-10 minutes each morning filling out my daily snapshot page. I have space for filling in what the moon is doing, what sign she is in and any other cosmic energies that may affect my day. Then I fill out my dream section. Some days I have a lot to write, others I can’t remember.
One thing that I’ve noticed recently is that I wake up with a song in my head. I add that there too.
Then I pull two oracle cards. One for the message from spirit and the other to inspire a baby step towards fulfilling that message from Spirit. I learned this morning spread from @rebeccacampbell_author
I then set my intention for the day based on the wisdom from the oracle and then I create my list of tasks. It’s already been created in my digital task list on Trello, but I like to write it down so I can check in at the end of the day to see how “productive” my day was. Doers gotta do.
Then I get to my day.
The last thing I do before I lie down for sleep is finish filling out my daily snapshot page. There is a space to track my menstrual cycle, sexy time, activity and energy level as well as any physical stuff I was feeling today.
I write my gratitude list, summarize the day and add any inspired ideas I was struck by during the day. This is helpful to see later on when I review for first quarter, full and 3rd quarter moon phases later in the moon families.
This practice grounds me and helps me see and appreciate all that I do each and every day. Which is really a lot, as I am multi-passionate and love to create with my hands and my mind.
Practice moon rituals
The biggest part of my self care is a weekly ritual to sit and focus on me and my becoming. I get to review the past in a way that informs my decisions and plans for the future. You can create your own moon ritual that works for you. Using the daily snapshot page can help you in developing that practice.
Analyze your day to day at each moon ritual
During your rituals, you can look back to the corresponding moon family that happened 9 months earlier to understand what is occurring in your life now. Is the story unfolding the way you had intended back at the New Moon? Or do you need to make adjustments, show gratitude and celebrate or get ready to release the lessons from the cycle? The next moon phase will happen in 9 months. Use the knowledge gleaned from your data to shape the next part of the cycle.
Rinse and repeat
Each week is part of another longer lunar cycle. You get to work with the energies of that moon family each and every week to your benefit. Again, as you go through this process each day, week, month and year, you can adjust as you go. Adding what may work better for you and releasing what doesn’t.
Tracking Daily Habits Transforms
I have been tweaking this practice over the past 3 years since I was introduced to the idea. This is a practical approach to deepen your moon rituals. By documenting your day to day, you can reflect more deeply about the happenings in your life and adjust your path based on the wisdom you are collecting with the passing of each lunar cycle.
Do you have a daily practice that makes or breaks your day? I’d love to know about it, comment below and share it with me.
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