Frantic cleaning, insomnia and even naked night-time wandering: How tonight's full moon can change your life - if you know how to harness it
I lie under a blanket on a sun lounger, staring up at the cold, cloudless night sky over East Sussex. Around me, five other women listen as our guru Helena talks us through a 'moon bathing' experience.
'The moon pulls the tides and waters and so it pulls us,' she says, leading us through a guided meditation.
'You are circling freely around the stars,' she intones. 'How does it feel?'
I gaze up at the sky, bathed in silver moonlight, and truly feel a deep connection to the universe. My worries seem to vanish.
I am on a 'full-moon retreat' at a hotel called Ockenden Manor in West Sussex. Led by expert Helena Skoog, this retreat claims we can use the full moon as 'a time to be receptive, to take the light and awareness of spirit into your emotional and physical body'.
While it may sound a bit 'woo-woo', I'm a total believer in lunar power. And, if you're not convinced, there's a full moon tonight, November 15. Why not try some moon-bathing yourself – or at least, track how you sleep and your feelings around that time...
You see, the women in my own family – including me – have long been affected by the moon at its full might. There was my great aunt who would madly go around the house pulling drawers out and furiously cleaning. Then there was the female ancestor who would strip naked during a full moon and wander down the street.
And don't get me started on the great aunt who used to be filled with rage during the moon at its fullest – she once stormed next door and tipped a bucket of water over her neighbour.
During the full moon tonight, why not try some moon-bathing yourself – or at least, track how you sleep and your feelings around that time...
At Ockenden Manor, Helena Skoog leads a retreat that claims we can use the full moon 'to take the light and awareness of spirit into your emotional and physical body'
Other people thought these women were mad – although their male relatives barely passed comment on it, so I was told, seeing it as 'just one of those things'.
As for me, I always know when it's a full moon because in the days leading up to it I feel energised and somewhat agitated. Like my mother, I get an urge to clean.
On the night of the full moon itself I can never sleep, and often I've wandered around into the wee hours.
I noticed, very distinctly, that the moon's impact on me became more intense when I hit puberty and started my periods. When I was pregnant, the moon really moved me and I woke every time the moon was full for nine months, standing staring out of the window.
That's why I've come on this retreat. I want to understand more about this unseen power.
I've brought a friend, who like me is 47, and we are introduced to the other attendees – a group of three female friends celebrating a 50th birthday and a retired woman who has come alone. One is a deputy headteacher, another a professional runner, another worked in publishing.
We start with an introductory yoga session, of which a portion is dedicated to 'shaking' the whole body. Helena says this is 'useful as the moon turns the tides and our body is full of water'. (Shaking made me feel ridiculous at first and slightly unbalanced. But at the end of it, my whole body is buzzing.)
At dinner, when I mention that I've always felt influenced by the moon, a murmur of agreement ripples around our table.
'I think women are affected more than men,' says one fellow guest. 'After all, our cycles are 28 days, like the lunar cycle.'
Scientists have long debated whether there is a connection between the two.
One 1986 study found that a large proportion of female respondents had their period around the new moon, while ovulation tended to coincide with the full moon.
But later studies, including ones based on data from period-tracking apps, seem to disprove this. Safe to say, there's no clear explanation for my monthly night wanderings.
Still, I'm in good company here. 'I can never sleep during a full moon,' adds another of the women.
There are a growing number of such retreats all over the UK. The one at Ockenden Manor, pictured, cost £899 for three days of yoga, meditation, moon bathing and 'forest bathing'
The 'full-moon retreat' at Ockenden Manor in West Sussex
Julie starts with an introductory yoga session, of which a portion is dedicated to 'shaking' the whole body. Helena says this is 'useful as the moon turns the tides and our body is full of water'
Studies show that up to 81 per cent of mental health workers believe there is a relationship between a full moon and episodes of psychiatric illness.
Jo Clayton is a psychotherapist based in Cornwall. She says: 'Research suggests there does seem to be some correlation between extreme behaviour such as violent crime and suicide and heightened emotional states in the days leading up to and during a full moon. The explanation for this is somewhat unclear, and we should remember that correlation does not necessarily mean causation.'
Jo adds that 'there is enough evidence to suggest it's something we just don't yet understand. Certainly, police officers, psychiatric nurses, paramedics etc report significant changes in behaviour at this time.'
So, can a wellness retreat reverse that trend – can I use the power of the full moon to feel calmer and more balanced? It's got to be worth a try.
There are a growing number of such retreats all over the UK. My own costs £899 for three days of yoga, meditation, moon bathing and 'forest bathing' – and the experience is meant to promote feelings of profound relaxation and oneness.
And yet far from drifting away on a soothing tide of moonbeams, we all sleep terribly the first night. I wake at 3.30am and see a powerful white light in my hotel bathroom.
A huge column of moonlight is beaming straight down through the skylight and so I stand under it, alien abduction-style.
The next day, the other women all say they couldn't sleep. Helena tells us last night's moon was not only full, but a Harvest supermoon, which occurs closest to the autumn equinox, and the moon reached its fullest just after 3.30am – exactly when I woke up.
Another woman says she woke at the exact same time. Everyone's eyes widen.
Psychotherapist Jo Clayton says: 'There does seem to be evidence to support the idea that moon phases can interfere with our circadian rhythm. The full moon phase seems to be the most problematic, with research suggesting it can take longer to fall asleep, and to reach REM sleep.
'Deep sleep seems to be reduced by as much as 30 per cent, with increased interruptions and awakenings. The reasons for these disruptions are unclear. Perhaps the poor quality of sleep preceding a full moon could be one explanation of somewhat unpredictable or unstable behaviour in a percentage of the population.'
Later that day, Helena leads us off on a three-hour session of forest bathing. This involves walking to a nearby woodland and lying on yoga mats in a glade.
Helena tells us to relax and pay attention to our five senses – what noises can we hear, what do we smell? What can we taste in the air?
As I lie back listening to crows, squirrels and leaves rustling, something incredibly eerie happens.
I feel the trees speak to me. Nothing audible. But it is telepathic. My children's faces come into my head – my daughter, ten, and son, 15 – and I feel the trees tell me they are all I need and the only place I need to be. It is very moving. Some members of the group became emotional, others completely zoned out.
The rest of that day I wander around in a haze, until it's 9pm and time to moon bathe.
As I lie there, watching the other women bathed in silver light, I truly feel a connection to the universe I have never felt.
It's like I am floating, small and insignificant and yet also an important part of the cosmos.
No surprise, says Helena.
'If we look at what happens to the planet during the phases of the moon – our oceans are moved, and our bodies are 70-80 per cent water like our planet, so of course we are going to be affected. How can we not?'
Helena has had men on her retreats who have felt moved by the moon, although not so frequently or to the same degree as women.
Next morning, some women have not slept again, while one woman even felt a female spirit in her room. She heard footsteps in the corridor of her suite, but when she went out, there was nothing there, and the hot tap of her bath had turned itself on.
In general, however, we are far more relaxed and quiet as a group.
'The moon is waning now, the tides are turning,' Helena says, as we do more yoga.
There's no doubt in my mind that my own feelings match the moon's phases. I felt agitated and stressed in the build-up, sleepless on the full moon night itself but slept easily the night the fullness had passed.
I feel more intuitive – and much less 'mad' – for meeting women who believe they are similarly affected.
One attendee, a mother aged 50, tells me: 'I definitely feel affected by the moon and I woke at its fullest at 3.30am on the first night of the stay. The retreat for me was an amazing experience. It felt quite spiritual.'
The friend I brought with me was in 'moon denial' before we came, but reluctantly now admits that 'maybe there's some truth in it'.
As for me, I feel rested, peaceful and, best of all, as if other people finally understand me.
