The New Moon is an ideal time to start looking for a new job, start a new relationship or start working towards a new goal you want to accomplish.

It is helpful to develop a ritual, ceremony or retreat around this new beginning to help you commit and stick to it.

New Moon retreat themes are around planning, cleansing, setting intentions and new beginnings.

Your ideal New Moon yoga retreat itinerary/activity ideas include:
• A Morning Yoga Hike
• New Moon Yoga & Rituals
• 5 Minute Morning Motivation Meditation
• Caring for a new plant baby
• Journaling
• Trying New Foods
• 15 Recommended Books for Self-Reflection/Self-Improvement

Mornings, Meditation, Mindfulness and Nature Time

Every morning is a chance for a fresh start so this is a great time to meditate, do yoga, go for a walk or hike outside.

The best way to start your day is a morning yoga hike at a beautiful waterfall or on top of a mountain with Namaste in Nature.

Public-Waterfall-Hiking-Yoga-Tour-Asheville-North-Carolina.jpg

Or, if you just want to hike on your own, check out one of these top 25 hikes near Asheville, North Carolina.

Try discovering a trail that’s new to you!

I also have another blog post all about New Moon Yoga & rituals including step-by-step instructions and a video for Moon Salutations (Chandra Namaskar).

5 Minute Meditation

Do this 5 minute meditation every morning starting with this new moon until the next new moon or until you have accomplished your goal. After that goal, start meditating on and working towards a new goal!

Here are also a few helpful tips to help you start and stick to a consistent meditation practice:

Care for a New Plant Baby

A living, physical reminder that grows along with you - like a houseplant - can help keep you committed to yourself and your intention(s).

This is especially helpful if you find it challenging to make time for your own self care. Every time you water your plant, take a few moments to journal, meditate, breathe or stretch.

Not to mention, bringing some Nature indoors in the form of air-purifying plants is just good energy.

Here are my favorite pretty + low maintenance plants:

Gardening outdoors is great too although I’m still a newbie at that.

Try to support local plant shops near you or here in Asheville, North Carolina:

Flora Botanical Living This little shop sells flowers, plants, gifts and Forage: a botanical coffee shop located inside of Flora serving Dynamite coffee, AppalaChai, organic tea, sparkling water, and sweet local, organic treats. 428 B Haywood Road, Asheville NC 28806

Palm And Pine AVL They offer all kinds of funky plants, pots, potting accessories and more. For $25/month, you can join their plant club, a once a month subscription service in which they choose a plant for you based on your individual needs and deliver it to you (or you can pick it up) every 3rd Friday of the month. 178-B Westwood Place. Asheville, NC 28806

Jesse Israel & Sons Nursery & Garden Center Located at the WNC Farmers Market in West Asheville, this place has everything for both your indoor and outdoor gardening needs. 570 Brevard Rd.Asheville, NC 28806

Thyme in the Garden Cute & eclectic gifts for the garden and home. There’s not much on their website so go check them out in person. 190 Weaverville Rd, Asheville, NC 28804

Reems Creek Nursery This plant paradise has been around since 1979 and has all kinds of native, indoor and outdoor plants and gardening supplies for sale. They have a lot of great gardening resources on their website and occasionally offer classes and workshops. Join their frequent buyers club if you go there often like I do.

Journaling

Write down your New Moon goals/intentions. Jot down updates about how your goals are progressing at least once per week. Once you’ve accomplished this goal, it’s a great feeling to look back on the hard work put in and and obstacles you overcame along the way.

Trying New Foods

Trying little new things can build your confidence towards trying bigger new things that are even more out of your comfort zone.

We’ve all had burgers, tacos, pizza and pasta about a bazillion times before so break out of your culinary routine and try some more exotic cuisine.

Here are my top 3 unique, ethnic restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina:

Addisae Ethiopian Restaurant: Open for lunch and dinner in downtown. I recommend the vegetarian messob or meat messob which is served family style on a large injera bread platter. This platter is traditionally eaten by hand with no utensils but they will bring you a fork if you want one.

Vegetarian Messob platter from Addisae Ethiopian Restaurant

Nine Mile Caribbean Cuisine: Open for dinner only, Nine Mile is a Caribbean-inspired, vegetarian-friendly restaurant and bar with three locations in Asheville, North Carolina. The Natty bread is delicious and my favorite dish is the One Foundation with jerk tofu. You can also buy their Red-I, Hempress Rising and Sun is Shining hot sauces online.

Kathmandu Kitchen/Cafe Authentic Himalayan Cuisine: The prayer flags, metal cups and Buddha decor take me back to that one time I trekked through Nepal. It’s similar to Indian food with many vegetarian dishes. I love sampling everything during the lunch buffet but they are open for dinner too.

Love the decor inside Kathmandu Kitchen/Cafe

15 Recommended Books for Self-Reflection/Self-Improvement

Here are some of my favorite books to help you with self-reflection, self-improvement and decluttering your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual places. If you start reading a book during this new moon, aim to have it finished by the following new moon. If you do this every month, you would read 12 books a year!

Personally, I find it easier to listen to audio books and use Audible while I’m driving or cleaning or cooking or doing other things.

Which titles appeal most to you right now?

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
To make the journey into The Power of Now you need to leave your analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Access to the Now is everywhere - in the body, the silence, and the space all around you.
Audiobook

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again.
Audiobook

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering.
Audiobook

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be positive all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
Audiobook

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
"Newport is making a bid to be the Marie Kondo of technology: someone with an actual plan for helping you realize the digital pursuits that do, and don't, bring value to your life." (Ezra Klein, Vox)
Audiobook

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Learn to speak and understand your mate's love language, and in no time you will be able to effectively love and truly feel loved in return.
Audiobook

Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
How do we change? Gretchen Rubin's answer: through habits. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.
Audiobook

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
With profound empathy and radiant generosity, Liz offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering.
Audiobook

The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
By asking the seemingly dry question “How do I respond to expectations?” we gain explosive self-knowledge. She discovered that based on their answer, people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so using this framework allows us to make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively.
Audiobook

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
Packed with humor, inspiration, and advice, You Are a Badass is the number one New York Times best-selling self-help book that teaches you how to get better without getting busted.
Audiobook

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
The Big Leap delivers a proven method for first identifying which fears prevent us from reaching our personal upper limit, and then breaking through that limitation to achieve what Hendricks refers to as our Zone of Genius. Hendricks provides a clear path for achieving our true potential and attaining not only financial success but also success in love and life.
Audiobook

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
"While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their images with sheer, almost irrational force, I've found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition." (From the prologue)
Audiobook

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." (Marcus Aurelius) We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn't be this way. There is a formula for success that's been followed by the icons of history - from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs - a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible situations, they found the astounding triumphs we all seek.
Audiobook

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.
Audiobook

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Forget the old concepts of retirement and a deferred life plan. There is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. For living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.
Audiobook

Which of these practices resonate the most with you? What else to you like to do during a new moon? What are some intentions/goals you want to accomplish?

Let me know in the comments!

Sending you good vibes for your new moon themed retreat.

💖 Miranda

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