Do you remember that children's story, 'Good night Moon?" Do you remember George Burn's old line at the end of his show, "Say good-night Gracie"? And are you feeling the influence right now of the shorter nights as Summer Solstice approaches? It's hard to say good-night, because the light is growing longer each day, and maybe we all feel a little off balance. But right after the Solstice, the influence of the moon will start to roll in and the days will grow shorter, the nights longer. Everything has a cycle, a season, a natural pattern of processing, and we are no different.
So, this little old yogini is coming of age--50 is just a few weeks away. And, yup, I'm a moon child--continually waxing and waning, rising and falling and trying all the while to keep balanced. On June 21st, I'll ring in the Solstice with Sun Salutations, but then I think I'll celebrate by doing 50 Moon salutations of June 28th (my birthday). I love Moon Salutations, I love them much more than Sun Salutations. And I love the story of Ganesha and the Moon, which allows us to understand the intentional energy of the Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana). Do you know the old story?
First, let's look at the pose itself, as "a picture is worth a thousand words." This is a pose of balance. We strive to find balance between strength and flexibility. We stand on one foot and one hand, and eventually look toward the sky. This takes practice, and the ability to do this pose waxes and wanes everyday.
Ok, so here's the mythical story.
Ganesha, the elephant God adored by so many for his gift of creating new beginnings and clearing the path was said to have a love for sweets. Many times you'll see him pictured with a bowl full of prasad (blessed sweets) and his belly full. But he was also a master of yoga, (of course he was, he had no choice with his father being Shiva!) and was usually adept in balancing indulgence. One day after stuffing his belly full of sweets (out of balance) and mounting his trusty steed (that tiny mouse you always see with him), a cobra slithered in front of their path and frightened the mouse. The mouse darted one way, and Ganesha (off balance from over-indulgence) fell the other way. When Ganesha hit the ground, his belly exploded and the sweets scattered everywhere. He got up, dusted himself off, gathered the treasured sweets and stuffed them back in his belly, grabbed the cobra and tied it around his belly to keep the sweets in. Chandra (the moon) had been watching this scene from above and exploded into laughter. This upset Ganesha to no end and in a fit of rage he broke off his right tusk and hurled it at Chandra. The hole in the moon made its light go out, and so the earth was stuck with continuous sunlight. They say, that with this action, love was lost. Everything became scorched and romance had no place to reside. A group of gods pleaded with Ganesha to allow the moon to shine again, and he agreed, but with a compromise. The moon would have to wax and wane, and only mature to its full potential every four weeks. The moon would never laugh at Ganesha again, and Ganesha would always carry his broken tusk with him as a remembrance of when he lost his balance and became enraged.
This story is a paradigm for us. As we live through our stages of life, we are given lessons. We carry these lessons with us, as scars, as 'baggage,' as shifts in moods, changes in our bodies, changes in relationships and the elegant simplicity of growing old. We need opposing halves to keep in balance. We need both light and dark energy. Without these two opposing energies, we do not half a halfway point, the perfect balance between light/dark, male/female, prana/apana, etc. The practice of yoga keeps us in balance and allows us to recognize when we are tipping off balance. When this happens, it is our yoga practice that sustains us and illuminates the path back to the halfway point, back to balance. Stay Human, stay real. Open your heart to peace, love and happiness.
Namaste'
So, this little old yogini is coming of age--50 is just a few weeks away. And, yup, I'm a moon child--continually waxing and waning, rising and falling and trying all the while to keep balanced. On June 21st, I'll ring in the Solstice with Sun Salutations, but then I think I'll celebrate by doing 50 Moon salutations of June 28th (my birthday). I love Moon Salutations, I love them much more than Sun Salutations. And I love the story of Ganesha and the Moon, which allows us to understand the intentional energy of the Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana). Do you know the old story?
First, let's look at the pose itself, as "a picture is worth a thousand words." This is a pose of balance. We strive to find balance between strength and flexibility. We stand on one foot and one hand, and eventually look toward the sky. This takes practice, and the ability to do this pose waxes and wanes everyday.
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| Me in Ardha Chandrasana on the Albion River, Mendocino |
Ganesha, the elephant God adored by so many for his gift of creating new beginnings and clearing the path was said to have a love for sweets. Many times you'll see him pictured with a bowl full of prasad (blessed sweets) and his belly full. But he was also a master of yoga, (of course he was, he had no choice with his father being Shiva!) and was usually adept in balancing indulgence. One day after stuffing his belly full of sweets (out of balance) and mounting his trusty steed (that tiny mouse you always see with him), a cobra slithered in front of their path and frightened the mouse. The mouse darted one way, and Ganesha (off balance from over-indulgence) fell the other way. When Ganesha hit the ground, his belly exploded and the sweets scattered everywhere. He got up, dusted himself off, gathered the treasured sweets and stuffed them back in his belly, grabbed the cobra and tied it around his belly to keep the sweets in. Chandra (the moon) had been watching this scene from above and exploded into laughter. This upset Ganesha to no end and in a fit of rage he broke off his right tusk and hurled it at Chandra. The hole in the moon made its light go out, and so the earth was stuck with continuous sunlight. They say, that with this action, love was lost. Everything became scorched and romance had no place to reside. A group of gods pleaded with Ganesha to allow the moon to shine again, and he agreed, but with a compromise. The moon would have to wax and wane, and only mature to its full potential every four weeks. The moon would never laugh at Ganesha again, and Ganesha would always carry his broken tusk with him as a remembrance of when he lost his balance and became enraged.
This story is a paradigm for us. As we live through our stages of life, we are given lessons. We carry these lessons with us, as scars, as 'baggage,' as shifts in moods, changes in our bodies, changes in relationships and the elegant simplicity of growing old. We need opposing halves to keep in balance. We need both light and dark energy. Without these two opposing energies, we do not half a halfway point, the perfect balance between light/dark, male/female, prana/apana, etc. The practice of yoga keeps us in balance and allows us to recognize when we are tipping off balance. When this happens, it is our yoga practice that sustains us and illuminates the path back to the halfway point, back to balance. Stay Human, stay real. Open your heart to peace, love and happiness.
Namaste'
