The Full Moon marks the mid-point of the Lunar Cycle. The moon is now a complete circle, shining bright up in the sky. It’s time to use your Full Moon yoga practice to check in on those goals and intentions that you set for yourself at the New Moon. Don’t worry if they still seem a way off being achieved. There is still more time in this Lunar Cycle for you to work on them.
Whether you chose to practice on the Full Moon or not is a personal choice. You are your own best guide. You may choose to take the actual day of the Full Moon completely off your yoga practice, or you may choose to carry on. But whatever you decide, you can still use the surrounding days to incorporate some Full Moon yoga poses into your yoga practice to help honour and work with these special lunar energies.
Ashtanga Yoga and Moon Days
In the Ashtanga Yoga Tradition, both New Moon Days and Full Moon Days are taken completely off yoga. There are several suggested reasons for taking a break from yoga at this time:
- The high energy produced by the Full Moon could lead you to push yourself too hard, which could result in injury.
- Important Hindu rituals take place on the day of the Full Moon, so many teachers were unable to teach classes on those days, so it provided a natural break from practicing yoga on those days.
- It’s important to remember to add in a rest day during each week of yoga practice. Resting during the New and Full Moon days helps provide structure to these important days of rest.
Full Moon Yoga Practice
A Full Moon yoga practice typically includes an abundance of yoga asanas to open your chest and heart space. This is to help you release any energies that are no longer serving your current intention or goal. Creating this space now will allow you to focus on what matters for the remainder of the Lunar Cycle.
Suggested Full Moon Yoga Poses include:
- Warrior 2
- Reverse Warrior
- Extended Triangle Pose
- Goddess Pose
- Crescent Lunge
- Elephant Twist
- Savasana
End your practice in Savasana and repeat an affirmation 2-3 times that is going to help you keep working towards your goal for this Lunar Cycle. e.g. I trust my intuition and release everything that no longer serves me.
Full Moon and the Menstrual Cycle
The Full Moon aligns with the Inner Summer (Ovulatory Phase) of the Menstrual Cycle. This does not mean that everyone who menstruates will ovulate with the Full Moon, although many will. If you no longer have a Menstrual Cycle or you have an irregular cycle, then you can use the Lunar Cycle as a useful marker for your energy for the month. But as always, you are your own body’s best guide.
Does the Full Moon affect your sleep?
Does your sleep go funny when the Full Moon is coming? Since starting to track my Menstrual Cycle, I have noticed a trend of my sleep quality being affected by the Full Moon. I often find it hard to settle once I go to bed around the time of the Full Moon, even if I had previously been feeling tired. Then if I do settle ok, I find myself waking at 5 am in the morning.
This lack of sleep can definitely affect my choice of yoga practice the following day. I may choose to work with a meditation or yoga nidra instead of moving my body. On other days some movement feels good to get my blood pumping and wake me up a bit.