At midlife we often find ourselves fighting the inclination to become dull and stiff. We may go through a phase during which we feel our senses are not as acute, our pleasures less intense, our mind and body less flexible than they were in younger years. Many of us have felt these things. Yet this stage of life holds the possibility of even richer, deeper, and more pleasurable sensory and sensual experiences than we have ever had. Cultivating depth and flexibility is key to experiencing these riches as we mature.

We want to bring a bit of richness and pleasure to your midweek, every week. Wednesday can be dull. But here, we want Wednesday to be a little dip into sensuality, a little treat for each of your five (make that six) senses.

Today we are feeling the Moon, as lunar wisdom is our theme for the week. May this be a refreshment for your senses!

Sight

A couple walks through the evening glow in the olive groves, under a crescent moon, in Van Gogh’s painting:

Sound

Annagrace found us this aural deliciousness:

Scent

The pleasures of the garden aren’t just for day. A Moon Garden, planted with fragrant white flowering plants like jasmine and flowering tobacco, is a rich pleasure under a full summer moon. A dark glazed pot planted with white fragrant annuals, placed just outside your door alongside a dark ornamental basin of water can be a simple but magical “moon garden” accessible to anyone. Or be inspired by the famous White Garden at Sissinghurst:

Touch

What is simpler and more humble than a pebble? Yet we are drawn to them. On the beach smooth stones call out to our hands and eyes, we pick them up and caress them, they nestle in our pockets. We give them our worries and allow them to comfort us. Some stones are more glamourous and beautiful than others, some stones are said to have energetic qualities which can help us. The Moonstone is a friend to woman. Its mysterious glow reminds us of the moon. It is connected to our deep intuition and to natural cycles of change. In healing, it is used to balance female hormones, so it is a good companion through menopause. Slip a moonstone in your pocket and let her smooth surface comfort your fingers.

Taste

Make a Moonbrew. Steeping an herbal tea in the rays of the Full Moon is a beautiful wise woman tradition that we can embrace. Do the rays of the moon add more healing power to the tea? You can try it and find out. The medicinal herb Mugwort has two other traditional names – Moonwort and Cronewort. Mugwort is a beautiful plant ally for women, and especially for menopausal women. Try a moonbrew of mugwort and rose petals, and sip as you contemplate the night sky. If you want to learn more about Mugwort, this is a beautiful article.

Sixth Sense

What stirs your joy, your spirit, your intuition? What awakens that nameless yet utterly familiar other sense within you? For me, poetry can.

Admit something: everyone you see, you
say to them, “Love Me.”

Of course you do not say this out loud:
otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great
pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with
a full moon in each eye

that is always saying, with that sweet
moon language,

What every other eye in this world is dying
to hear?

~Hafiz

May you go back out into your day now, with your senses a little more awake.

xo
Bronwyn