10 Full Moon Journal Prompts
- What am I ready to let go of that no longer serves who I am becoming?
- What am I holding onto because it feels familiar, even though I know it’s time to release it?
- What thought, belief, or story about myself am I ready to stop carrying?
- Where in my life am I giving my energy to something I cannot control? What would it feel like to surrender it?
- Is there resentment, anger, disappointment, or hurt I’m ready to release? What do I need in order to loosen my grip on it?
- What expectations of myself or others are creating unnecessary pressure in my life?
- What am I doing out of obligation, guilt, fear, or people-pleasing that I’m ready to say no to?
- What did I once need that I may no longer need in this chapter of my life?
- If I truly trusted myself, what would I finally give myself permission to release?
- As I let go, what do I want to create space for instead?
What am I ready to let go of?
The Full Moon is often used as a symbolic time for illumination, reflection, completion, and release. And the Harvest Full Moon offers an especially beautiful invitation to pause and notice what has come to fruition in your life, what you’ve learned, and what you no longer need to carry forward.
You don’t have to believe the moon is doing anything to you to appreciate the ritual.
Sometimes we simply need a reason to stop.
To get quiet.
To tell ourselves the truth.
And to consciously decide what we’re no longer willing to carry.
Letting Go Doesn’t Mean It Didn’t Matter
Sometimes we resist letting go because we think releasing something means dismissing it.
It doesn’t.
Sometimes you think you should walk away from something like a job or a toxic relationship. Even if it might be crystal clear that walking away is the right thing to do, it doesn’t mean it didn’t matter or that it’s easy to leave. Questions and doubts may arise wondering if you should let go. Discomfort and heartache can be signs that what something or someone really mattered to you. Acknowledge that. And, come back to asking yourself if what you are holding on to is allowing you to be the person you want to be, and lead the life you aligned with your values. Sit with the feelings, and grieve. With time and support, you can loosen your grip on holding onto those things that no longer serve you.
It may be true that you are letting go of something that really matters to you but, have you asked yourself: What matters to me?
Repeat to yourself: I MATTER.
The only way out is through.
When Letting Go Helped Me as an Exhausted Mom
Sometimes we don’t want to or can’t let go of what seems to be causing the suffering. Take parenting for example. I’ve heard that it’s not really a vacation if you are bringing your kids. Kind’ve funny and I can see the truth in that statement. I wouldn’t change a thing but, there are certain things in life like changing diapers or raising rebellious teens that seem to inherently be accompanied by suffering, if the experience is perceived as a loss of freedom or ease.
When my daughter was a newborn and I was exhausted and frustrated as a sleep-deprived mom, it wasn’t that I wanted to let go of my precious daughter or being a mom. I just wanted to stop feeling so tired and overwhelmed. I was nursing on demand, I had/have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so not having sleep was bringing on CFS flare-ups. In reflection, there were a lot of things I let go of to get through that chapter of my life:
- I let go of trying to cope all by myself. I asked for help.
- I let go of perceiving my exhaustion as a permanent zombie state of existence.
- I let go of judging myself as weak and a failure because I needed support.
- I let go of comparing myself to a picture I had in my mind that being a mother was supposed to be completely blissful and joyful.
- I let go of equating a tired mom = a bad mom.
- I let go of defining happy as always feeling energetic and looking perky and awake.
- I let go of defining myself based on how I was feeling.
Words Matter
Instead of reacting to feeling tired I redefined what I was feeling as a temporary experience.
For example, I replaced “I am tired” with “I feel tired right now.” Feeling tired is a state of mind or body but,”TIRED” is not who “I am.”
I identified the thought patterns which were keeping me stuck in a loop of negativity. My negative thoughts were creating a negative experience of being a new mom. My situation didn’t change but, when I let go of my constant broken record of negative thoughts, I changed my perception and it alleviated my frustration. I let go of the stinking-thinking which was not serving me.
Mentally, one of the biggest mindset shifts that helped me was letting go of viewing my situation as a burden. My thoughts were keeping me stuck as a victim of circumstance. Instead of a burden it was actually a blessing to be in my multi-faceted experience of motherhood. It had taken my husband and I 3.5 years to get pregnant. I gave myself a pep talk and reminded myself “I GET to do this. I GET to experience this chapter of life as an exhausted new mom. It’s okay to feel tired and sleep-deprived right now. And, I can ask for help.”
I share this story from my experience twenty-one years ago as an example, and reminder to me, that challenges in life are a blip of time. And, there are many different ways we can practice letting go to ease suffering.
When Letting Go Feels Scary
It might feel anxious or scary to let something go. You don’t need to force what you are not ready to release right now. And, it’s not wrong to keep holding on. Just choose it. Choose to let go or choose to hold on.
Invite compassion and grace and even someone you trust to be with you when you release something that feels big.
You can honor an experience and still decide you don’t want to carry it anymore.
You can appreciate what something taught you and recognize that its season in your life is complete.
You can forgive without forgetting.
You can love someone and create a boundary.
You can be grateful for who you were and still choose to become someone new.
Letting go isn’t necessarily one big dramatic moment, either.
Sometimes it’s simply noticing when an old story appears and choosing not to feed it anymore.
Again.
And again.
And again.
That, too, is practice.
Letting Go In The 10-Minute Whining Window
So I don’t bury my feelings I set a literal timer to whine. I give myself permission to complain for ten minutes, out loud or in writing. If I write it down, I burn or throw away the piece of paper. Because of the mindset work I’ve done over the last 15+ years, I don’t use this technique as much but, when I do, I find myself only needing a few minutes to vent, before I actually get sick of hearing myself whine. LOL Getting the words onto paper or out of your mouth can help neutralize emotions and turn mountains into mole hills.
If I feel like I need to process out loud I’ll book an appointment with my therapist or talk to a trusted friend who will set a timer for me, will empathetically listen and reflect back what I’ve said, and lovingly call me out if I’ve lingered too long in the land of Wallow and Whining.
What I DON’T do is complain or whine publicly. As a yoga teacher I was taught not to gossip or complain. I’m not saying I’m always calm (I am human after all!) or that I don’t have things I disagree with, because I definitely do, and I protest and stand up for things that are important to me.
When practicing conscious awareness in the present moment, I ask myself if I am practicing ahimsa, the yoga sutra which asks us to do no harm, with our actions, words and behaviors, towards others or towards ourselves. Consider ahimsa when exploring what to let go:
Am I or are others being harmed? Is it influencing me to cause harm?
Expiration Dates and Falling Leaves
If I am struggling to let something go, because I am strongly resisting change or believing something is supposed to be in my life forever, these two metaphors tend to snap me out of holding on tight like a tortured drama queen in a soap opera. LOL
- Some things have expiration dates. No drama. It’s just time to move on.
- As the seasons change, a tree effortlessly releases its leaves after they’ve served their purpose, and as the leaves land, they are repurposed and transmuted in a completely different way. No judgment.
Letting go is part of our natural cycle of life.
After Letting Go: Create Space
After reflecting and journaling, ask yourself:
As I let go, what is possible to experience in my life?
Maybe it’s peace.
Joy.
Rest.
Creativity.
Connection.
Courage.
Play.
A new beginning.
Take a few breaths and imagine creating just a little more room for whatever you chose.
You might even complete these two sentences:
- I release ___________________________________.
- I create space for ____________________________.
Write them down. Say them out loud. Take them with you into meditation or Savasana.
Then, allow yourself to simply be.
You don’t need to have everything figured out.
Sometimes the practice is simply becoming willing to put something down.
A Full Moon Practice for Students and Yoga Teachers
This Saturday September 26, 2026 is the Harvest Full Moon. Use these prompts this Saturday or during any full moon.
For your personal practice: Sit on meditation cushion. Roll out your yoga mat. Light a candle. Make a cup of tea.
Or, sit outside where you can bathe under the rays of the full moon.
Take a few slow breaths and give yourself permission to write without editing or judging what comes up. Shred or create a safe place outside to burn what you have journaled.
For Yoga or Meditation Teachers: share one of these questions in the beginning of your yoga class, or in a posture with a long hold, like pigeon pose. Or integrate them into Yoga Nidra, meditation, or a sound bath. Maybe you’ll share a personal experience of letting go and your own metaphors that support your process of releasing what is no longer necessary to carry.
As you reflect on these ten journal prompts, choose the questions which speak to you; you don’t need to answer all ten.
Notice which question makes you pause.
That might be the one you are being asked to really pay attention to today.
Did you use these prompts? Share the details of your own letting go ritual. Leave a comment below. Leave me a message here. I’d love to hear from you. I appreciate you connecting with me.
🌕 Happy Harvest Full Moon.
Amelia Andaleon
Discover Your Personal Power. Create Your Inner Peace.
