Do you know that too? It is full moon and you cannot fall asleep.
Sometimes it does not even have to be full moon. The thoughts of the day just won’t let go of you, a carousel of your minds in your head is turning and turning.
If you are looking for peace and tranquillity, then try the moon salutation.
Chandra Namaskara – Moon Salutation
Chandra Namaskara is a gentle flow of asanas that are performed in the rhythm of breathing. It is suitable for both beginners and advanced students. It is traditionally practised at full moon and new moon. However, since it has a particularly relaxing and healing effect, you can also do it every night before going to bed. Or even if you cannot fall asleep at night.
The Benefits of the Moon Salutation
The salutation to the moon not only promotes relaxation. It also brings you peace and calms down your inner restlessness – it gently exercises your mental balance.
The sequence of Asanas can help you to ground yourself again in stressful situations. It improves your creativity and intuition. Consciousness and is strengthened and mental and physical tensions are neutralized.
In addition to mental balance, the moon salutation also trains physical balance. Your feet and legs become stable, hips and back relax and your posture becomes straight and upright.
The Phases of the Moon Salutation
The moon salutation is practised, like the sun salutation, in the rhythm of breath. However, do it without breathing in the beginning and get familiar with the body movements first. If you have done the sequence a few times, then take the breathing with you. Practice in a very relaxed way and remember:
“Practice and sleep is coming…”
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Here is an instruction, which you can also download as pdf-file.
The individual Postures in the Moon Salutation
In the following I describe the individual poses of the moon salutation in detail. If you would like to see moving pictures, you can find my YouTube video here (only in German available).
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Start with your legs closed or, if this is uncomfortable for you, in a stand about hip-wide.
Inhale – Exhale
Put your hands together in front of your chest. The forearms are parallel to the floor, palms touching.
Inhale
Put your closed hands over your head by extending your arms.
Exhale
Tilt your upper body to the right side with your hands closed above your head. Make sure that hips and chest are pointing further forward.
Inhale
Come back to the middle.
Exhale
Now incline your upper body to the left side. Again, hips and chest remain aligned forwards and the inclination is exclusively from the lateral trunk muscles.
Inhale
Come back to the middle.
Hold your breath
Hold your breath and open your legs to the slide by taking a step to the right. At the same time open your arms, turn your palms forward and spread your fingers.
Exhale
Bend your knees and squat down a little. Pull your arms back by bringing your elbows back a little. Open your mouth, stick out your tongue and roar like a lion. This way you can leave all negative thoughts of the day behind you.
Inhale
Now stretch your legs again, raise your left arm and bend to the right from the hip. Again, hips and chest continue to point forward. You can put your right hand to the side of the right knee joint.
Exhale
The next time you exhale, turn your right foot out so that your right toes now point sideways away from your body. At the same time bend your upper body and lay it down on your right leg.
Inhale
Inhaling, put your left knee on the floor. Bend your right knee and place your hands on the floor to the side of your right foot. Make sure that the knee is above the ankle. The chest is open, pull the shoulder blades together at the back. Look straight ahead.
Exhale
Now turn both feet back to the starting position. The right knee remains bent. Stretch out the left leg. Place your hands in front of your chest in the prayer position, palms touching.
Inhale
With the next inhalation you bend both knees and come into a central squatting position.
Exhale
Now all steps are performed quasi backwards and laterally reversed. While exhaling your right leg, the left knee remains bent. Your hands are still in the prayer position in front of your chest, your forearms parallel to the floor.
Inhale
Now turn your right foot sideways. Your right knee goes to the floor, hands are placed next to your left foot on the floor. Pull the shoulder blades together to open the chest. Look straight ahead.
Exhale
Exhaling, turn your right foot slightly forward and stretch your right leg. The upper part of the body is rounded on the left leg.
Inhale
With the next inhale turn your left foot forward and stretch both legs. Also lengthen your right arm and straighten your upper body so that you arrive at the left side in the a triangle with a lateral bend.
Hold your breath
Hold your breath and stretch out both arms. Turn up the palms of your hands until they point forward.
Exhale
Exhale and kneel down and pull your elbows back. Open your mouth and roar like a lion. Another chance to release all the frustration of the day from your soul.
Inhale
Close your legs and put your palms together over your head.
Exhale
Bend to the left while exhaling. Make sure that hips and chest continue to point forward.
Inhale
Inhale and return to the centre.
Exhale
Exhaling you go into the side bend again, this time on the right side. Again, make sure that hips and chest are pointing forward.
Inhale
Inhale and come back to the centre.
Exhale
Release the palms of your hands and let your arms down.
My recommended Song for the Moon Salutation
Grounded, calmed and relaxed in this way, it should no longer be a problem to fall asleep.
And if it is, just look here – you can do these exercises right in bed and at the end, after Shavasana, you can just stay there and carry on sleeping.
ॐ Namasté ॐ
Kālīpriyā
