AshtangaNews

The Magic Elixir

Sharath’s been wearing one of the London tour shirts. The ones that feature Guruji on a bottle. Ashtanga – the magic elixir.

But the hangover is a bitch.

Side Effects may include: emotional breakdown, extreme fatigue, a feeling of personal growth that makes you wonder where you’re growing as you assess the damages and potential damages, an intense desire to give up your day job, a magnetic pull that seems to be originating from somewhere in Southern India, feelings of contentment, acceptance, and perhaps exhaustion that make you act a bit stoned most of the time, a desire to give up anything that doesn’t seem to compliment your yoga practice, an inability to relate to those who don’t do yoga, chocolate cravings, excessive coffee consumption, and pain.

Secret Life of the Moon
from Carpe Ithcus on Flickr

Rest up so you can drink up again tomorrow. But be sure to avoid heavy machinery.

[Note from Editors: In honor of Moon Day and the Europe leg of the Ashtanga World Tour, we're publishing KJS' creative post on Moon Day, which we - in a fit of silly-we-simply-don't-know-what-came-over-us-ness didn't publish during the 2006 World Tour in New York. Thank you, KJS! And, Happy Moon Day! Is it okay to say that?

How do you all feel about Moon Days? - Tracy]

Ashtangis don’t practice yoga on Moon Days, also known to muggles as the days of the full moon and the new moon. There are usually two Moon Days in a month, and they are a welcome rest when you have a six-day-a-week practice.

Tim Miller published both a schedule of Moon Days for the current year as well as a very good explanation of why we don’t practice on Moon Days on his site.

To summarize Tim, because people are about 70% water, the phases of the moon affect us, just like they do the tides. The full moon and the new moon have the strongest influence on our energy:

Practicing Ashtanga Yoga over time makes us more attuned to natural cycles. Observing moon days is one way to recognize and honor the rhythms of nature so we can live in greater harmony with it.

According to astronomers, this is an “exact” full moon, or the moment when the moon is 100% full.

Want to really plan ahead? Use this schedule of moon days that spans the next several years.

If you have a website, you can add the neat little tool in the right sidebar of AshtangaNews.com to your webpage, too.