Navigating Changes with Chandra Namaskar

Astrologers say that the full moon is a time where things are coming to completion. They also say that when there is an eclipse it indicates a big and meaningful change is about to occur. At the time I’m writing this, the lunar eclipse and full moon in Sagittarius just happened on May 26th. At this time I experienced both a completion and a change in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. Our beloved yoga studio, GROW, was coming to a close and Theresa and I were preparing to transition into the studio space. Even though I was expecting this change, it still hit me hard seeing the studio I was so comfortable and familiar with suddenly become empty space. It was like when someone you love is sick and even though you prepare mentally for their death, when it happens it still shakes you up inside.

I often talk about change when I’m teaching because change is the way of the world. I try to see it in a positive light because it is the natural law that reminds us of the impermanence of all things outside of ourselves. When faced with difficult changes we automatically receive an opportunity for spiritual growth. If the things outside and around us are in flux, then the invitation is to look inside for that which is unchanging and always present. If it were not for the ephemeral and transient, how would we come to understand the timeless and eternal?

There are many practices in yoga that can help us understand change. In my own practice, I like to begin by setting an intention so that I’m clear not just on what I’m doing on the mat, but why I’m doing it. Oftentimes during centering, I encourage people to consider why they’ve come to the mat that day, and to ask for what they need out of the practice. I believe that in spiritual practice, when you ask for what you need and allow yourself to be open to receiving, you will get what you ask for. It may not be immediately or in the way that you expected, but I don’t doubt that the practice is always working on and for you.

At this particular time, I inquired within myself how to best work through the change I was experiencing and the words that I received were “moon salutation”. “Yes!,” I thought. Moon salutation, or chandra namaskar teaches us about cycles and the cyclical nature of time. It shows change through motion. And, while I would agree that the sun salutation does the same, I would argue that the moon salutation does so in a slightly different way. Even though the sun salutation also goes through a cycle, the lunar salutation has a different feel to it for me. It’s more a practice of surrender and release. Where the sun salutation feels energizing and slightly effortful, the lunar salutation has a more stabilizing and calming effect. 

In my experience, sun salutations are primarily working on pingala nadi. This is the energetic channel that represents the masculine, the effortful or action-oriented, and the feeling of being alert and energized. In contrast, moon salutations are primarily working on ida nadi. This is the energetic channel that represents the feminine, the state of ease and non-doing, the practice of surrender, and the feeling of relaxed awareness. 

On my mat, practicing chandra namaskar, I was reminded that not only is it okay for things to change, but it is natural and necessary. Consider the way that moon salutations are practiced. You begin by standing in the middle of the mat, facing the longer edge. You do postures to the right, move through the middle and do postures to the left before coming back to standing in the center again. In the midst of all of the change, at the core there is a part of me that remains unaffected by those changes. We all have that unchanging, untouchable essence within us. In yoga we call it Purusha. To me this center starting and ending position in moon salutations represents the Purusha in us. No matter what postures we move through on the right and left, we come back to a place of quiet stillness in Tadasana at the center. Just as the moon controls the tide, the practice of moon salutation is an invitation to surrender to the ebb and flow of life knowing that our peace and stillness is inside and we can come back to it at any time.