How to Do a Full Moon Cleanse

A full moon cleanse is easy to create; all it takes is some planning and preparation, and then an open heart and open mind and a willingness to surrender.

It’s funny because when we think of the full moon, we often think of werewolves, sacrifices, or naked virgins dancing in the forest. 

But the truth is, the full moon is just big, beautiful, and a fun marker for a celebration. 

The Power of the Full Moon

The full moon holds a ton of energy on many levels, and it is not just spiritual witchy “woo woo” levels. 

The full moon appears in the sky when the sun is directly opposite in and shines directly on it. At this point, the moon is halfway through its orbit around the earth and completing the “waxing” phase. 

Once the full moon has reached its fullest point, it will head toward the second half of its orbit, the “waning” phase, as it heads toward the new moon. 

Scientists have noted that tides are much higher and stronger during a full moon, and that they also get much lower in the opposite extreme. 

There have been many reports for thousands of years of humans in general becoming more emotional, more erratic, less logical, and struggling more with deep sleep during a full moon. 

So, our physiology too is affected in extreme ways during a full moon. 

And it makes sense if you think about it. We are 80% water, and the moon is the gravitational force that commands water. 

Of course we would be affected by its orbit around the earth, the planet from which we have quite literally sprung. 

What Is a Cleanse? 

For these reasons, and more, a full moon is a great time to “cleanse” yourself. 

A cleanse can be any ritual or practice that helps you feel cleaner, clearer, and more open to what is next. 

At the same time, you want to fully immerse yourself in the moment. 

Embrace being right here, right now, present. 

This moment is perfect. 

A cleanse can be a bath, a spiritual practice, a literal house cleaning, or all three. 

In my case, I like to take the opportunity on a full moon to clean everything I possibly can. 

It’s once a month, and it sets me up to start fresh. 

What a cleanse is not is some kind of crazy diet, fast, or colonic (that’s a procedure where a doctor sticks a tube in your rectum and sucks out the contents of your colon and bowels. No thank you.)

The point of a cleanse is not to punish you or make you feel dirty or guilty. 

It is to make you feel care for, loved, and nurtured. 

Think of giving a baby a nice lavender bath, rubbing on lotion, and putting fresh jammies on. 

You want the adult version of that. 

How to Do a Full Moon Cleanse

I have included many steps for a full moon cleanse, and I do them all, once a month, starting the day before the full moon. 

Traditionally, the full moon energy begins the day before the full moon and extends to two days after the full moon, so your ritual can be on a single day or on all four days. 

And you can follow all of these steps or pick and choose the ones you like and respond to most. 

The key is to give yourself up to the process entirely suspend disbelief for the ritual, and surrender. 

What do I mean by surrender? 

I mean soften, get gentle, be easy with yourself, forgive yourself, open up to something bigger than you, a higher consciousness, a higher love. 

When you surrender to this something bigger, your whole world cracks open, and anything is possible. 

This is the point of, and the power of, a cleanse. 

First Put Your House in Order

The first thing I do, the day before a full moon, is clean my whole house, top to bottom. 

I scrub everything clean, sweep out any dust and dirt, and smudge every corner of every room, with the windows wide open, no matter how hot or cold it is outside. 

This practice helps me create the ideal environment for a cleansing. 

It’s hard to cleanse myself, mentally, spiritually, or physically, if I don’t feel like I am in a clean space. 

When I have finished, I burn incense, light candles, and take a hot shower with eucalyptus to clear out my lungs and respiratory tract. 

Pray

At the end of the day, with a clean, fresh smelling house, and a clean body inside and out, I pray. 

I lie down in bed, snuggled into my blanket, and I ask the Universe for guidance on whatever hot topic is burning itself into my brain. 

Prayer is a powerful process in spirituality. It reminds us that we are not, ever, alone. 

And that something much bigger is always right there ready to listen to all of our troubles. 

Though I do not think of God the way most people do, I love the Christian belief that you can “give it to God.” 

You really can. 

Meditate

If prayer is asking, then meditating is listening. 

After I have slept on my prayers, I wake up the next morning, the morning of the full moon, and I meditate. 

Meditation, as Dr. Joe Dispenza says, is how you reach your subconscious, how you communicate with your higher self, how you make contact. 

Sit for 20 minutes and clear your mind, quiet the voices in your head, and be still.

You will feel your body vibrating a bit as you make contact. It may feel slightly uncomfortable, even a little out of body. 

That is as it should be. 

Give it enough time, enough patience, and you will feel answers coming to you. 

That is your intuition responding to your prayers. 

You are not alone. 

Set the Stage

Now, for your full moon cleanse ceremony, thing about what you have worked on up to this point, either for the first half of the month, the last two days, or even farther out. 

Whatever you have been working towards and giving your passion to, reflect. 

Think about how far you’ve come. 

And with that in mind, set the stage for your cleanse.

It would be nice if it was outside, under the actual full moon, but it does not have to be. 

The full moon energy is with you no matter what. 

If you are going to build a fire, prepare your fire pit. If you are going to walk barefoot outside, prepare your space, maybe make a circle with candles and a glass of moon water. 

Ground

Now, before you do anything else, take the time to ground. 

Even if you are not going to have your cleanse outside, get outside for grounding. 

Place your bare feet on the bare earth, and stand or sit for 20 to 30 minutes.

You can read a book, you can write poetry, you can just meditate or stargaze. 

But allow the earth to remove all the tension from your body.

Allow the earth to pull all the positively charged ions, all the inflammation, right out of you.

After 30 minutes, you will notice yourself visibly relaxed. 

Release

Now, from this relaxed state, release. 

You can repeat a mantra like, “I am letting go.” 

Or you can simply visualize yourself letting go of multiple balloons.

Your worries, your stresses, your anxieties, your past, your trauma, your drama. 

It will not all happen over night, of course. 

But little by little, with each full moon, you will notice you are able to let go of more. 

You did not come here to have all this baggage. 

Release it. 

And live in the now. 

Celebrate

Now. 

Dance. 

No. Don’t worry. You don’t have to be naked. 

But you absolutely must dance. 

Stand there, under the full moon, and dance. 

Let your body take you where it will. 

Shake, twist, writhe, twirl, or just swing your arms around your body like a windmill. 

Seriously. 

You will not believe how cleansing it is to just stand there and dance and dance and dance. 

Take a Full Moon Bath

Finally, once you have shaken it all out, and you feel completely spent, go inside and draw yourself a nice hot bath. 

Let the steam fill up the room, close the doors, pour a glass of wine or herbal tea, and soak. 

I like to bring a magazine with me, something light and fun, maybe fashion or house related. 

Just rest and have faith that you have cleansed all you can cleanse for this full moon. 

Remind yourself that you are always, in all things, doing the very best you can with what you have, and that you deserve to be celebrated for that. 

And, of course, remind yourself that you are never, ever alone. 

Happy full moon. 

Happy manifesting!