There is a tradition in the Ashtanga Yoga method of taking rest on moon days (full moon or new moon, which each occur once a month) instead of practicing asana.
This is based on the schedule of practicing six days a week, and having a consistent day of rest (typically Saturday, though you could structure a six-day-a-week practice with any consistent day off). So, a “daily practice” with these guidelines might mean you practice five days one week (when there’s a moon day in addition to your usual rest day) and six days the next week (no moon day), and so on.
Where did this tradition come from? Why should we take rest on the moon days, and what should we do instead of practice on those mornings?
I think it’s always worthwhile to ask questions, whether you’re a new student or a long-time teacher. So here is a brief outline of my understanding, both received and experienced, of observing rest on the moon days.
Tradition
The story I always heard from my teachers was that the observance of the moon days in Ashtanga Yoga came from the Hindu tradition (and please bear in mind that Hindus are not a monolith and this post is not attempting to teach any aspect of Hinduism) of fasting and/or doing puja (ceremony) on the days of the full moon (Purnima) and new moon (Amavasya). It would make sense if you are engaged with special ceremonies on those days to not do a demanding physical practice that morning, and it may also have been considered inauspicious to do so. The tradition of resting on moon days, then, was woven into the Ashtanga Yoga method by its founder, K. Pattabhi Jois, who was a Brahmin, a Sanskrit scholar, and the son of a Vedic astrologer.
Following the practice of taking rest on the moon days could be a way to honor the roots of the practice, the Vedic tradition from which Yoga arose. We can do this out of respect for Yoga as a spiritual practice, keeping it in context to avoid cultural appropriation.
Human Behavior
We all have heard that emergency rooms often have an influx of patients on the full moon. And that the moon’s gravitational pull affects our moods, our sleep, and our behavior. Humans have known about this influence of the moon since we started looking up into the sky. Is there any scientific truth to it, though? Depends on whom you ask. (If you follow those links, it will take you to a few studies that show a connection between human behavior and the moon, and one that shows no connection.) My advice if you’re on the fence about this is to observe your own thoughts, emotions, behavior and well-being throughout a few moon cycles.
The argument for taking rest on the moon days from this perspective is that on the full moon, you’re more likely to push yourself physically and risk injury. And on the new moon, your energy is of a different sort: meditative, introspective, and it’s better to do a practice consisting of pranayama, meditation, yoga nidra, instead of a rigorous physical practice.
Soften the Grip
The Ashtanga Yoga method often attracts, shall we say, type A folks. Achievers. Folks who like to push themselves to their limits, and sometimes farther. I believe Ashtanga can work for these folks if and only if there is an emphasis on softening the need to achieve. If you think days off are a waste of time-- if you observe a Friday moon day on a Saturday just so you can get in your six days in a row of practice-- if you balk at the idea of taking a moon day to rest after you’ve already skipped two days because of your period-- then I’m talking to you.
Rest is crucial. Getting serious about resting on the moon days can have a profound impact on your relationship to the practice, and softening around the need to achieve physical poses will help you avoid getting injured.
Even if you are more Type B than A, observing moon days and rest days can reverberate into how you approach your practice, bringing more enthusiasm and vigor on the days you GET to practice.
One caveat: if you are struggling to practice 3-4 times per week, implementing rest days on moon days might not be the right choice at this time. Throwing an extra rest day in the mix if it’s already hard to get to the mat might nudge you OFF your rhythm, rather than connecting more deeply to it. So use your best judgment. If you can use the moon day tradition to get you more on point the rest of the week, great! But if it’s causing you to practice less regularly, shelve it for now.
Aligning with Nature
Finally, one of the best benefits of observing rest on the moon days is simple, but too important to skip. Resting on the moon days means that you need to pay attention to the cycles of the moon. As I write this, we’re five days away from the new moon in August. The moon phases have a heartbeat quality to them if you zoom out a bit-- we’ve been in the new-full rhythm each calendar month for a while now. Zooming out from our own heartbeats to the cosmic heartbeat, as it were, can give us a sense of awe, of wonder, and an idea of how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. Connecting to nature in various ways, big and small, has been shown to have a dramatic effect on our sense of contentment, our emotional well-being, and our health.
If you menstruate, tapping into the cycles of the moon can have a regulating effect on your own cycle. I highly encourage you to go down this particular rabbit hole if it interests you; the microcosm/macrocosm of the menstrual cycle and the moon cycle. Menstruation mirrors the new moon, the follicular phase the waxing moon, ovulation the full moon, and the luteal phase the waning moon. This doesn’t mean that you’ll always menstruate at the new moon, but you may start to notice similarities in the phases and an amplifying effect when they DO line up. (And if you’re curious about practice on your period, click here.)
Ritual for Moon Days
So if you’re not practicing on the full and new moon, what DO you do? Say it’s a Tuesday and you would ordinarily practice, and now you have this abyss of 90 minutes ahead of you. How do you make it meaningful?
Firstly, I’d advise not to just sleep late because you can. No really, hear me out! If you are actually sleep deprived, you need to address that not just on moon days or weekends but as part of your daily practice. Adjust your bedtime, adjust your morning routine, shorten your practice regularly, get on a rhythm where your normal get-up-and-practice routine does not leave you feeling deprived of sleep. And if you’re NOT sleep-deprived, then an extra hour of sleep on moon days won’t be beneficial, it’ll just increase kapha (heavy, dense energy) and will leave you feeling a little sluggish.
Here are a few practices I’ve found helpful in my own life or ideas I’ve heard from other practitioners.
Think of practices peripheral to your current regimen that are enjoyable and beneficial. Possibly things you do on “regular” days but only for five or ten minutes. Chanting, meditation, pranayama. Give yourself the luxury of 30-45 minutes on these practices on the moon days.
An extra long abhyanga / oil massage. Don’t know how to do abhyanga? Read this.
Gardening. The Farmer’s Almanac has a guide for when to sow, plant, or weed, according to the moon cycle.
Journaling / Vision Boarding. As a general rule, the new moon is a wonderful time to start new endeavors (plant seeds, as it were) and the full moon is a perfect time to see those seeds reach fruition-- use this rhythm to inform your journaling, list-making, or vision board creation.
Pancakes. :) I have fallen into a rhythm of making pancakes for my family’s breakfast on the moon days, since I have a little more time to work with. This ritual serves two purposes: 1. Obviously pancakes are delicious, and 2. It gives me a springboard for talking to my kids about paying attention to the moon cycles too. Getting closer to nature is for everyone! And also, pancakes are moon-shaped.
Resources
I use timeanddate.com to calculate moon days for Minneapolis, since the date will vary based on the time zone you’re in. The next moon days for us are Sunday August 8 , 2021 (new) and Sunday August 22, 2021 (full). Confidential to current Mysore students: the September moons are both Monday evenings, and we may observe at least one of them on the following Tuesday so that our September Mysore schedule can be uninterrupted. I believe that it’s beneficial to understand the method, follow the method, and keep one’s grip on the method somewhat malleable.
I hope this little exploration of moon day practice was helpful! If you make a change in your approach to moon days and you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about it. And feel free to share this post if you think it might resonate with others!