We’ve all heard people complain about being up all night thanks to the full moon. You might have even experienced it in your own life, or at least noticed that you feel wide awake on the night of a full moon. But what’s the truth about the full moon effect? Does a full moon really keep you from being able to get to sleep and can it really have an impact on your mood? The truth may surprise you.

Some Facts About the Full Moon

In ancient times, looking into the sky and seeing a full moon must have been fascinating because we had no idea what caused it. All we knew was that it happened on a very predictable schedule. But today we know scientifically what causes a full moon. In fact, a full moon occurs when one side of the earth is fully illuminated by the moon. It occurs when the sun, moon, and earth are lined up with the earth in the middle. From our perspective, the rays of the sun are fully illuminating the moon, which makes it appear full. As the position of the sun, moon, and earth change, so too does the way we view the moon. Of course, the shape of the moon isn’t changing, just our view of it.

How Does a Full Moon Impact Us Energetically?

If you’ve ever felt more energetic on the night of a full moon, you’re not alone. Or more specifically, you’re not the only member of the animal kingdom to feel this way. A study published in the November 2008 edition of the journal Animal Behavior, found that the “full moon effect” isn’t folklore, at least not when it comes to animals.

The streaked shearwater, a seabird followed in the study, flew for longer periods of time and landed on the water more often on nights when there was a full moon. Since the birds are in the middle of the food chain, it seems that they not only moved more to avoid predators that were also wide awake, they also sought the opportunity to go after their prey, smaller marine animals like squid.

Other research has pointed to the fact that similar to the way the full moon impacts the tides, it could also impact the water in our bodies which could tip the scale toward extreme emotions. While we don’t know this for sure, we do know that many of us feel unsettled on full moon nights. Some police departments, including one in Sussex, England, put more police officers on staff the night of full moons because there seemed to be a correlation between the full moon and violent crime.

Does the Full Impact Sleep?

People have long reported that the full moon impacts their sleep. But is there any truth to this? The short answer is yes.

A team of researchers at the University of Basel, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and the Switzerland Centre for Sleep Medicine, followed 32 participants to look at brainwave activity and levels of melatonin in the brain when participants had fallen asleep. The original intent of the research wasn’t to look at the full moon effect, but years later researchers decided to look back at the data and see how the full moon impacted sleep. The findings are published in the July 2013 edition of Current Biology.

The data showed that during the full moon and on the nights surrounding a full moon participants took three or four minutes longer to fall asleep and on average they slept 20 fewer minutes per night.

The reason why is less clear but scientists do have some ideas. It could be because even though we have curtains and homes to block the light of a bright full moon, our circadian rhythms, which evolved over millions of years, are still somehow attached to the lunar cycle. This might be why it impacts us energetically and why one time or another you might have wished you could howl at the moon. The bottom line, you’re not crazy, the full moon could have a noticeable impact on your sleep and maybe even your mood.

What to Do During a Full Moon

That said, this doesn’t mean you can blame extreme shifts in emotion on the moon. While you may notice differences in the way you feel during a full moon, don’t act on those emotions. These tips can help you manage your full moon effect.

1. Don’t make big decisions

Just because you’re sitting up all night digesting your full moon insomnia doesn’t mean you should use that extra time to make big decisions. Save it for another phase of the lunar cycle.

2. Know the lunar cycle

If you find that the full moon effect has a big impact on your life, why not find out a little more about it? Learn the entire cycle of the moon so you can have an idea of what to expect.

3. Write it down

Instead of acting out, let your emotions spill out onto the page of your journal. Journaling can help with the release of emotions. It’s a good habit to get into anyway, so why not give it a try during  the next full moon?

4. Meditate daily

This is true of any day of the week really, but meditation can help you both notice patterns in your emotions and even out some of the highs and lows. Regular meditation can also keep you from being so reactionary when it comes to your emotions.

Does the full moon have an effect on you? Does it make it harder for you to fall asleep? What about your emotions? We want to know! Drop us a line via Twitter @EcoSalon. 

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Lunar phases matters, a full moon means an unmistakable restless energy.

I’m proof positive that full moon freak outs are real. It was a gorgeous Friday night at the beach. I should have been relaxed, enjoying myself. But a nervous energy was weighing me down, making me question myself and others. It didn’t take me long to look up at the sky and figure out the culprit.

A recent study on lunar phases proves what I’ve long known to be true. A team of researchers in Sweden concluded that more people are sensitive during a full moon and sleep an average 20 minutes less. However, they’re likely to enjoy 30 minutes more REM sleep, the deepest phase of sleep. Additionally, researchers found that the brain is more vulnerable to external distractions.

“Our study generated findings similar to the Swiss project,” says Dr. Michael Smith, who has a PhD in Medical Science from Gothenburg University, reported in Mind Body Green. “Subjects slept an average of 20 minutes less and had more trouble falling asleep during the full moon phase. However, the greatest impact on REM sleep appeared to be during the new moon.”

Researchers observed 47 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 30 as they slept in a sleep laboratory without windows, so they couldn’t be distracted by the light of the moon. The changes during the full moon were present in both sexes, though only men had trouble sleeping.

“The purpose of our original study was to examine the way that noise disturbs sleep,” Mr. Smith continues. “Re-analysis of our data showed that sensitivity, measured as reactivity of the cerebral cortex, is greatest during the full moon.”

However, the study, which was published in Current Biology,  included a really small sample which could impact the results. Even still, it’s all the more reason to blame your crazy conduct on the full moon like I’ve been known to do.

Related on EcoSalon:

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Image: Denali National Park and Preserve

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ColumnConscious life, hear me roar.

Coming home on a ferry Sunday from Martha’s Vineyard, I pulled out my iPhone and checked emails.

I should have waited until Monday.

A close friend emailed me she’d had the most bizarre weekend ever: running over a stray dildo in a bike lane, a homeless man telling her she’d “dropped her smile” while he pointed at the ground and finally, seeing a guy she’d dated on Match.com while running a half marathon. Thanks to seeing him she’d improved her time trying to run away. There was that.

Another friend had come to the conclusion she was a farmer and a designer and a mother and a whole host of things – wasn’t she? Shouldn’t she be a bee-keeper too?

And what about the straight friend who emailed me early Sunday morning that sure, she’d had a few glasses of wine but, it was for sure, she’d asked a woman out on a date and was planning on following through.

Friends looking for jobs, love, new meaning to life and a restlessness unlike anything I’ve seen in a long time.

What was my status? I’d bought a pin for my jacket on Martha’s Vineyard that read: “The voices in my head don’t like you.”

The cheery driver of our island shuttle bus shouted over the shrill noise coming from a crack in the windshield, “Mercury is in Retrograde until Wednesday!”

Another sign. Later Sunday evening at a concert in Boston, it suddenly occurred to me I was tired of being pushed by hipsters trying to channel David Bowie, who thought they should be closer to the stage than I. So, I decided not to move. To block them from passing as if a backlit Gandalf with staff.

“Is this chick drunk?” I heard one guy say to his female companion.

“No,” I said, turning around, backlit, defiantly staring into his face. “I am not drunk, you asshole, I want to hear the band!”

My husband suggested we move and pulled me by the arm.

Over the years, I’ve had many friends utter the phrase when all seems off in the world, but not until maybe the past two years have I considered planetary disruptions as part of some unsolvable life riddle. That maybe the New Agers I grew up with were right and I should be layering myself in crystals and burning Nag Champa, tattooing prophecies on my arms, reading The Farmer’s Almanac more diligently and meditating on my world energy as armor against planetary strife.

Just so we’re clear here, according to astrally-correct Cafeastrology.com, three, and sometimes four times a year, the planet Mercury does freak out a bit, and appears to be moving backwards in the sky for a period of approximately three weeks. The planet “appears” to do this “simply because the Earth is also orbiting the Sun at a different speed than the other planets.”

The site says thanks to Mercury’s “rulership over such things as speaking, negotiating, buying and selling, listening, formal contracts, documents, travel, the mail and shipping, and so forth,” delays and challenges are more probable with Mercury retrograde.

Which means, three to four times a year, get in fetal position in your closet and hunker down with some bread and water or, do like William Eadon in his vibrant crystal corner.

Continuing on with our investigation, what happens when the full moon is coming right behind Mercury in retrograde, as it is this week? Shouldn’t we all band together and do something like plant a super crop at midnight, weave a magic eco fabric, or build a green home without a plan? I mean, if confusion mixed with peyote-powerful inclinations to challenge and question authority is upon us, maybe there are some inner revelations we could vibrate as a group. We could start a new movement. We would have to tape it, of course, to prove this all happened; certainly there would be some “Oh no you didn’t!” moments but still…we could, at the very least, howl really loud together.

I say we do it.

Between the Lines is a weekly column navigating the sometimes-sharp, sometimes-blurred lines of conscious life and culture between city and country, between inner worlds and outer.

Image: Sweetie187, Williams Crystal Corner, A Selby Film. from the selby on Vimeo.

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