…on full moon yoga and being still
I’ve wanted for quite some time to wake up one morning, make myself a cup of tea and simply start writing like a possessed woman…there’s something very ‘artisty’ about it. And I love 'artisty'! The picture of a writer or an artist who’s so engrossed in their work that she/he cannot be bothered with any other worldly things comes to mind. I imagine a room lit by candles, spider webs at the windows and an old creaky wooden desk splashed with ink and covered with papers…and maybe a cat curled up somewhere next to a fireplace…a black one too...and words flowing...handwritten. I did say it! My imagination does run wild!
Back to reality…which is rather different!
I am not a writer (yet! …my ego feels like pitching in) and it’s a rainy morning here where I am, which is unusual for the place. I love the smell of rain though, there’s something so therapeutic and refreshing about it, it simply cleanses the earth and always charges me with ' joie de vivre'. I do have my cup of tea and I am sitting at a desk, which is a modern version of an old creaky one in that it’s made of modern days distressed wood (I love the word ‘distressed’ associated with wood and leather. I actually imagine the wood and the leather crying out for help and suffering from extreme anxiety and sorrow...but that's just me I am sure).
It’s ‘full moon yoga’ that I want to write about though while the experience of it is fresh in my mind and about this alien notion of 'being still', which I am experimenting with lately and would like to introduce to my hyper self.
I’ve always been attracted to the moon, the sun and all celestial bodies in general. You’ll very often find me staring at the sky and I have a whole album of photographs dedicated to it with sunsets, sunrises, clouds and the moon. The sky is simply amazing and so is everything else that’s out there surrounding our little blob of greenery and life. Although I’ve always been fascinated with star signs and constellations, I haven’t read enough to understand it all fully. I do know that the moon in Sagittarius this year, which is my star sign, has brought me so much inspiration and creativity, I don’t have enough fingers and keyboards to type it all up. And it’s not only in the form of writing, it’s everything. My eyes and mind are tuned on all creative things, I stumble across words that give me answers I seek or pieces of art, photographs, paintings; I wake up with ideas of arty projects; I am receptive to everything that’s creative. It’s like I’ve been struck by the lightning whip of a muse, the magical power of the moon in Sagittarius and the blinding light of the last full moon of the year, all at the same time.
A couple of years ago I actively became interested in yoga. For some reason I never really found it appealing before that, as I imagined it being too passive and not providing me with enough exercise. It simply didn't look like something that would leave me covered in sweat and exhausted, which is what I was after from doing exercise. I thought it was about twisting your body in unusual ways and mainly lying down on your back while listening to some zen music and the hypnotizing voice of someone. (Did I really think that!? outrage!) I still don’t practice it as often as I would like to or understand it well enough but I know I want to discover more.. And my misconception about not sweating enough changed completely after a moksha flow workshop I did a while ago in Cairo. Buckets, I am telling you!
But I don’t find it easy to get into yoga, no matter how much I am fascinated by it; it’s simply too vast to understand. I don’t know where to start with it. The different practices of yoga are too many, the names of asanas in Sanskrit are too difficult to grasp, my body is not flexible enough, my breathing is not right, I really struggle to be still and to focus and I haven’t come across the right place yet, where I could practice and feel I am among ‘brothers and sisters’. So I've got a long journey ahead!
I did happen to join a full moon yoga session on the beach not long ago though. It was the last full moon of the year - which I found very special - and I thought that maybe through a miracle I was going to get the crow pose and the headstand right while chanting and correctly pronouncing the names of all asanas and be made officially a yogi under the full moon with a ceremony similar to how the Queen hands OBE’s in England. I’ve just let my imagination run wild again!
Back to meaningful stuff - it felt like a great opportunity to practice more yoga and to have a beautiful closure and reflection of this year, which has been like a ride on a rollercoaster for me. I thought, what better way to thank this year for everything that it has brought me than facing the moon and reaching to it with gratitude through various yoga poses. The sound of the waves, the breeze, the lights of the pier, the gorgeous moon and the smiles of the surrounding people all relaxed and ready. It looked like the setting of a ritual, a healthy one, dedicated to the moon. I don’t think I left that yoga session with more knowledge and understanding of yoga but I left feeling energized and content, at peace, closer to nature, grateful, more inspired and more determined to start living and doing things in the ‘now’ not 'in the later’. There was something special about that bright light of the moon staring back at me from the sky and I took it all in, breath by breath and pose by pose. In addition to all these warm fuzzy feelings I obviously left the beach with very sore shoulders too , from 90 minutes of moon salutations. All worth it!
‘Rich high to the moon, as high as you can!’
‘Don’t forget to smile!’
‘Don’t give up! A yogi never gives up!’
My meditation experience at the end wasn’t as powerful and as real. I didn’t manage to be ‘still’ and focus on my breathing, the sound of the waves and the gongs. I don’t know how to stop my mind racing with thoughts and with imagining things while my body is still. How can your mind be quiet?????? This is some serious work in progress for me. I tried really hard but I ended up writing the script of a horror movie in my mind, inspired by the sight of a hundred people lying down on towels on the beach under the full moon with their eyes closed while some hypnotizing gong music was playing in the background (I won’t get into details of the script, I might spoil my beautiful serene picture of the whole experience and your perception of it). So I had to turn my attention and my thoughts to the moon, to myself and to this year that’s coming to an end. I turned that last bit of meditation into a reflection instead, so that I could at least have control of my thoughts and point them into one direction (healthier than the script of an horror movie).
I do seriously believe in the goodness the practice of yoga and mindfulness (or meditation) can bring to your life. I know this because I’ve met people who have practiced for years and they exude calmness, wisdom, balance, control and are simply lovely to be around, not to mention their beautiful bodies. I got my inspiration from them, purchased a pink yoga mat with flowers (as you do), I read the Yogalife magazine every month, I jump at the opportunity to try free classes until I will hopefully find the place that simply feels right for me and help me embark on this journey of bringing some calmness and stillness to my life.
Feeling calmer already!
Me.
