My photo
Newnan, Georgia, United States
I am a yoga student continuously studying, taking workshops and practice, practice, practice.
Currently enrolled in a 230hr Yoga Teacher Training. I hope to share that with you here.
Born & raised in the south along the banks of the Mississippi in Louisiana. Married in 2003 and transplanted to Georgia.
A southern Yogini at heart.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Ashtangi's and the Moon


So today is a full moon. In Ashtangi land there is no practice on Full or New Moons.
You can read about that here
So do you Ashtangi's abide by this rule? Do you fully enjoy your moon days off?
I am thinking of a simple flow practice this evening and meditation.
Then tomorrow back to Primary Series.

7 comments:

Eco Yogini said...

nope- I did a crescent moon, and moon salutation practice tonight :)

for myself, as a pagan, the full moon is a time for practice and for spiritual practice. So I used the sequence to "draw down the moon" :)

lew said...

I don't do my normal practice on moon days, but often do some pranayama, chanting, meditation or looooong stretches (the hips or psoas). I don't buy the argument about energy levels on moon days, but I do find that my body appreciates the extra rest day. Even Sharath was uoted as saying that 6 days a week, every week of the year, is too much.

Rachel said...

Despite not being an astangi any more I do take moon days as a rest day mostly. I always find them times when I feel kind of tired and need to meditate rather than practice asnana. Nurturing times. Also I tend to have my period on full moon.

Claudia said...

I do really enjoy the moons, I
look forward to the rest :-)

Kevin said...

Its a no guilt day off, but I usually end up doing some kind of a practice, otherwise I seize up!

Yogini B said...

Yes! I really feel the moon days, especially new moon. New moon is a wonderful time for a restorative practice, or meditation and chanting with a long savasana. It's good to remind ourselves that yoga is not just about asana! You can still practice yoga on a non-asana day. :)

That said, as a Vinyasa teacher I still teach on moon days - but I always take a minute to remind my class of the moon phase and give them some time to think what it might mean to them. On one new moon day around the autumn equinox I did a candle-lit restorative class on the new moon - simply delicious! On full moon days I take care to keep the pace slow with lots of rest, to counter our tendency to push ourselves too hard on these days.

Teachers, how do you deal with moon days??

Sarah said...

@ La Gitane: I have never thought about that, but I like your idea to remind the students of the moon phases. I think most studenst are not aware of the moon phases. Thanks for sharing!

Sarah
---------------------------
www.insideoutwellness.de