Om Sue: Moon salutation:]
The Chandra Namaskara, Moon Salutation, has the opposite effect on your body than the Sun Salutation. It is meant to soothe and calm your body. Moon salutations are excellent to perform in the evening to get a good nights sleep after a buzy and stressful day. In Ayurveda the fiery and easily irritated PITTA types benefit enormously from doing the moon salutations.
This moon salutation pacifies the Pitta dosha. Poses focused on cleansing the liver, spleen, kidney and small intestines to hold the Pitta diseases away.
Moon Salutations are a soothing yet empowering variation and counterbalance to classical Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar). They allow us to honor the yin or feminine side of our energy, in contrast to the Sun Salutations, which are more yang, or masculine, in nature. A resurgence of the Moon Salutation is part of the rediscovery of the divine feminine at this important time in our evolution. However, moon salutations are not just for women! Men can reconnect, realign and cool-down fiery impulses through Moon Salutations. Moon salutations can shift energy without increasing heat in the body and tend to be less stimulating than Sun Salutations, thereby balancing hot emotions, relaxing and calming the mind and body and restoring balance.
The Yoga Moon Salutation is both ancient and modern. The moon is of particular importance in Hatha Yoga. The word Hatha is broken down as "Ha" meaning "sun" and "Tha" meaning "moon." Traditional Sun Salutations enhance our inner fire and strengthen us as we prepare for life's obstacles, while the Moon Salutations cool us as we prepare for our journey of descent; going inward, uncovering our wisdom, creativity, balance and inherent intelligence, hence opening the path for enlightenment. (The practice of Hatha Yoga brings unity between the two opposites; aggression and retreat).
The Sun Salutations are designed to allow us to connect to the sun's powerful energy and are often practiced at dawn. The amazing Moon Salutations are not just for full moon practice and are for any time of day, but are especially beneficial when performed in the evening as the series of poses is designed to calm the mind and relax the body.
These are the asanas for the Yoga Moon Salutation:
Prayer Pose - palms together overhead
Crescent Moon Pose - arching to the left
Goddess Pose - squat, arms at sides in an L-shape, palms forward
Transition Pose - star pose, the body is like a 5-pointed star
Triangle Pose - extending to the left, right arm up
Head to knee - left leg
Lunge to the left
Forward Facing Lunge - right leg extended
Squat Pose - Malasana, hands in prayer position
Forward Facing Lunge - left leg extended
Lunge to the right
Head to Knee - right leg
Triangle Pose - extending to the right, left arm up
Transition Pose - star pose
Goddess Pose
Crescent Moon Pose - arching to the right
Return to Prayer Pose - palms together overhead
The diagram below from Laura Cornell, PhD, shows the sequence of Chandra Namaskar; 16 asanas that constitute the Yoga Moon Salutation.
Why not give the Moon Salutation a try? You can practice it in a flowing manner, following your breath or hold each posture for a number of breaths (3-5).
* Note: Coming into each pose, focus on lengthening the spine first in order to create space between the vertebrae, making it easier to side bend without compressing the intervertebral discs.
