If you have a stack of half-filled journals or a meditation app you haven’t opened in three months, you probably feel like you’ve failed. We’re taught that spiritual growth requires consistency, and that consistency looks like doing the exact same thing, at the exact same time, every single day. But this definition of consistency is mechanical, not biological. You’re not a machine designed for linear output; you’re a living being designed for rhythm.
Why "Consistency" Fails Busy Women
We often treat our spirituality like a factory production line. We expect our output (focus, energy, devotion) to remain the same regardless of our environment, our cycle, or our stress levels. When we inevitably get tired or life gets in the way, we view the interruption as a personal failure of discipline.
Real friction occurs because we’re applying a linear standard to a cyclical reality.
Linear expectation: “I have to meditate for 20 minutes every morning at 6:00 AM.”
Cyclical reality: Your energy, hormones, and capacity shift daily.
When you try to override your biology with willpower, you burn out. The system isn’t broken because you couldn’t keep it up; the system is broken because it didn’t account for you being human.
Rhythm vs. Discipline
Discipline forces action from the top down. Rhythm invites action from the body up. Think of your own biology: your heart beats in a rhythm, your lungs expand and contract in a rhythm, and your sleep follows a rhythm. None of these are “consistent” in a flat line. They’re consistent in their pattern.
A rhythmic practice acknowledges that:
There are times for expansion (doing, building, energetic rituals).
There are times for contraction (resting, feeling, silence).
Both are necessary for the system to function.
Shifting to rhythm means your practice changes form to match your capacity. It’s not about doing nothing; it’s about doing what fits the current season of your life or your week.
You Didn’t Fall Off the Wagon (The Phase Shift)
The most common source of spiritual guilt is the idea of “falling off the wagon.” This usually happens when life gets busy or you enter a low-energy phase. In a linear model, this is a failure. In a rhythmic model, this is simply a phase shift.
Nature doesn’t bloom all year long. When a tree loses its leaves in winter, we don’t say it’s “fallen off the wagon” of being a tree. We understand it’s conserving energy for the next cycle.
The Reframe: That week you didn’t meditate? That was your Winter. That was your Balsamic phase.
The Action: Instead of guilt-tripping yourself into a rigid routine, acknowledge the rest period. The return is part of the rhythm, too.
How to Build a Rhythmic Practice
To move from discipline to rhythm, you need systems that flex. You need tools that don’t demand high energy when you’re running on empty.
1. Lower the barrier to entry. Does your practice require 30 minutes and a quiet room? Try a system that takes 30 seconds. This ensures you can stay connected even on your busiest days.
2. Attach practice to existing habits. Don’t carve out new time. Stack a moment of awareness onto your morning coffee or your evening commute.
3. Outsource the executive function. Decision fatigue kills consistency. If you have to decide what to do every day, you likely won’t do it. Use a system that decides for you.
This is why I built Luna SMS. It delivers a short, moon-aligned micro-practice to your phone every single day. You don’t have to plan it, remember it, or force it. It’s a rhythmic tap on the shoulder that says, “Here’s a moment for you,” regardless of how busy your day is.
Luna SMS Launches
on Jan. 19th
As the moon begins its first new cycle of the new year, Luna SMS unfolds into being.
If you’re ready to replace willpower with a more aligned support system, Luna SMS offers simple daily texts that connect you back to the energy of nature with gentle reminders and easy practices. It meets you where you are and supports your growth and expansion.
