Living Rhythms
A collective journey to come back into sync with yourself and Nature.
Why This Course is Important
I spent several years running a startup in New York City and came out of it with a very distorted relationship with time. It was that feeling of never moving fast enough and always being behind, no matter what I was doing. That feeling was lodged deep inside of me, and I found it so hard to shake. Even when I was living in Peru for a few months, immersed in another culture and consciously practicing being, I still had that nagging feeling like I wasn’t doing enough, time was wasting away, and I had nothing to show for my days.
This feeling of always needing to produce and achieve is the pathway to complete and utter burnout because it’s not in sync with the natural rhythms of the universe.
In natural cycles, there is a time to rest and a time to create.
In our modern society, it’s always create. It’s a recipe for disaster, and it’s time that we wake up to this unsustainable lifestyle and shift our ways of living so that we can attune to nature and come back into harmony with all of life.
How Can the Moon Help Us?
Over the course of a 29.5 day lunar cycle, the moon progresses through 4 distinct phases, where her light brightens and dims.
Her waxing and waning teaches us about the true rhythms of nature. She is a portal for us to learn about life and death, about growth and maturity. Some days she’s bright, and some days she’s dark. Some days she’s growing, some days she’s resting.
This is the experience that all life goes through, humans included. When we embrace the rhythms that the moon shows us, we can embrace ours too. We no longer have to fight to produce all the time because we know that ample rest is a key ingredient for creation.
The Moon is a Reflection of Our Natural Lives
Each phase of the moon corresponds to a specific internal or external energy of expansion or contraction. This is the energy that we will learn to sync with in this course.
We’ll begin our journey together on the New Moon, to anchor into the group’s energy and learn about birth. We will meet each week, on the First Quarter Moon, to understand the wisdom of growth, Full Moon, to learn about illumination and revelation, Second Quarter Moon, to understand old age and decay, and finally on the Dark Moon to learn the lessons of death.
Throughout the course we’ll discuss what energies are present with each phase of the moon and explore how these energies are reflected inside of us in different moments in life. With this knowledge, you will understand your place of belonging in the web of life and learn to ride the rhythms of nature instead of work against them.
Inner & Outer Cycles are Connected
Through this course you will learn about the external cycles reflected in nature: the moon, the sun, the seasons. With this, you will start to understand that these rhythms also appear in our inner worlds too, through creativity, menstruation, changing energy levels, and human development.
This awareness is extremely empowering. You will find more acceptance for the natural ebbs and flows in your own life, and you’ll have more compassion for the ebbs and flows in others. You will understand how to work with your creativity to bring your dreams and visions to life in a way that is energizing and balanced.
And best of all, you will learn to enjoy the emergent process of life, not just strive for an end goal.
Who is this Course For?
If you are a human with a heartbeat, you belong in this course.
I believe that the information taught in Living Rhythms is fundamental to being human and should be taught in basic education. The insight you’ll gain in this course will give you a sense of understanding, belonging, and meaning for what it is to be alive.
You do not need to have any prior experience or relationship with the moon whatsoever. And if you do, great, and be prepared to go even deeper.
This is a course for everyone.
The Structure
This course is primarily knowledge-based. I will share what I have learned through personal experience and also my studies on the moon, which bring together ecology, anthropology, history, human development, spirituality, and other domains. (It literally links together all of life, so I could keep on listing!).
My goal is to empower you to understand each phase, both personally and also in life/nature/universe so you can see how you fit into this larger rhythmical existence and use it to your benefit.
We’ll meet as a group live on Zoom each week, on the day that marks the moon’s shift from one phase to the next. Each call will be 60 minutes long and include:
Lecture — information, research, and wisdom to soak in. Bring a journal to take notes!
Visualizations to help you better understand, through feeling, the current phase of the moon.
Journaling prompts & practices to help you deepen your connection to the natural cycles.
Q&A/Discussion to clarify or expand on anything we covered.
Intended Impact of this Course:
A healthy and balanced relationship with time and achievement.
More sensitivity to the changing energies in your body throughout the month and tools and practices to give yourself what you need.
Permission to design your life according to your body and natural cycles. Permission to rest when you need it.
Become a more powerful and clear creator.
Understand the connection between Nature and your body.
A deeper connection with nature and a sense of belonging in the web of life.
Embodiment of the force of nature that you were born to be!
My Personal Moon Journey
After many years of worrying about getting things done faster and faster, a friend introduced me to a New Moon Ritual. Each new moon I was to reflect on the last cycle and plant seeds of intention for the next one. This simple act of taking time at the start of each new cycle changed everything for me. Something deep inside me clicked.
A lunar calendar made more sense in my body than the modern time I was struggling with. The cyclical nature of it gave me a sense of spaciousness and peace, and I no longer had the need to cling to the days and weeks passing.
I felt like wow, I’ve done so much in a cycle! And wow, how much more I can do in this next cycle?! I experienced a harmonious partnership with time and creation like never before.
So I dug in. I looked up at the sky every night. I knew what phase she was in, always. I changed my creative projects to align with her rhythm. I read books. I talked with indigenous elders. I created a 2021 lunar calendar. And the journey goes on…
The moon has taught me so much about life, and I’m honored to be able to open the door for you to learn from her too.
This Work Connects us to our Ancestors
Before there were clocks or calendars, Original Peoples lived by the cycles of the sun, the moon, and the stars.
They utilized the cycles of nature to regulate when they would hunt, plant, harvest, and travel. They knew these cycles intimately because their lives were intertwined with the changing of the seasons. This connection is encoded in our ancestors' DNA, and therefore, our own too.
This course is aimed at reweaving this wisdom back into our modern day lives to find more balance and harmony with nature. By connecting to the web of life like our ancestors before us, we continue the lineage of honoring nature and our place in it.
We Start on the April Lunar Cycle
New Moon Opening: April 11th
First Quarter Moon: April 18th
Full Moon: April 26th
Second Quarter Moon: May 3rd
Dark Moon Closing: May 9th
Each call will be recorded so you can always watch the replay if you can’t make it live.
Sign up now!
If you have any questions about the course, you can email me at mackenziegbarth@gmail.com
2021 Lunar Calendar
We’ve made a beautiful 13-cycle calendar, filled with original art from womxn who are connected to the moon. Each day of the calendar contains a prompt for you to sync with the corresponding energetics of the moon. It’s a great complement for this course!