Everything you want to know about Moon Pause: A field guide for returning to yourself
When I sat down to write Moon Pause, I was in full fairy godmother mode, channeling everything I wish someone had handed me when my own life began to shift in midlife.
I wrote Moon Pause for my friend Monique, who asked for exactly this. I wrote it for the women in my New Moon rest retreat community. I wrote it for my daughter Gracie and her future midlife self.
And I wrote it for you: the woman in her 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who is asking: who am I now?
What is Moon Pause?
Moon Pause is a field guide for rest, rhythm, and returning to yourself in midlife and beyond. It uses the four primary lunar phases — New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter — as monthly touchpoints for rest, reflection, pleasure, and reconnection.
Where did it come from?
From my own lived experience — moving through cancer treatment, discovering rest, and learning to listen to myself in a whole new way. From the women's circles that grew from that time. And from the moon.
What's actually inside?
Each lunar phase has its own section. A garden of gentle practices awaits you in each chapter:
Meeting the Moon: guidance for finding the moon in the sky, with Marvelous Moon Facts woven throughout
Reflective Prompts: an invitation to see aging differently, through the wisdom and energy of each lunar phase
Meeting Myself: practices to connect with yourself and embody the theme of each phase
Pleasure Practices: gentle, embodied experiences to reconnect with your body and your senses
Moon Magic: rituals to develop kinship and connection with the moon and with yourself
Rest Rituals: short guided meditations to return to yourself, with audio recordings available online
What makes Moon Pause different?
Moon Pause was designed and illustrated by visual artist Zuza Miśko. It was intentionally created to feel like a treasure you return to again and again.
Think of it less as a book you read once and put down, and more like a companion you keep coming back to.
Woven within the pages is something I deeply believe.
You already carry the wisdom you need. Moon Pause doesn't hand you answers. It creates the space for you to hear your own.
What readers are saying
"To open this book is to step into the moonlight with a wise and tender guide. Shelagh Lenon takes you by the hand and leads you somewhere you didn't know you were homesick for — back to the rhythms of your own body, the wisdom of your own depths. This luminous little field guide will lead you out into the dark so you can find rest, pleasure, and your way back to yourself."
— Brooke Hofsess, PhD, Midlife Midwife & host of The Midlife Ripening Podcast
Is Moon Pause for you?
It's for you if you're a woman in your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond — navigating the transformative terrain of growing older. If you're moving through perimenopause or menopause, or simply sensing that the rhythm of your life is shifting and something new is asking to emerge.
It's for you whether you've been tracking lunar cycles for years, or barely notice the moon's changing face.
And it's for you if you lead women's circles or hold space for women in midlife. It’s an embodied guide to share with the women you serve.
Moon Pause is available on Amazon worldwide on May 31, 2026.
