In Yoga, links are often made to the Sun and Moon.
For instance, a common Yoga style is known as Hatha Yoga. In Sanskrit, the word hatha (pronounced “ha ta”) means Sun (Ha) and Moon (Tha). Hatha Yoga is often said to aim at balancing the Sun and Moon energies of the body,
Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation) and Chandra Namaskara (Moon Salutation) are two commonly practiced Yoga asana routines, which can impart the qualities of the Sun and Moon into the body and mind of the Yogi.
But the analogy which I think of most often was taught to me many moons ago by Ranju Roy. Here’s my simple interpretation of the idea which may help your yoga practice in some way…
Imagine a fire in your belly. A burning, bright, hot, all consuming fire. This is the fire we need to fully digest food and impurities (ama). It needs to be well contained in the belly. It needs to be fed appropriate amounts of quality fuel. It’s flames should be fanned by well cont,rolled breath and by movements of the abdomen. This fire is Surya – the Sun. It is your ally and should be treated with greatrespect.
Imagine a silver moon in your head. A cool, calm, all seeing, shimmering moon. This moon (Chandra) is a store of the ambrosial nectar (Amrita). Amrita drips coherently into your body. Amrita is your life force, we all lose it at different rates. When allowed to drip unchecked from Chandra, it travels downward into the belly where it cools Surya’s fire as it is transformed and lost.
Yoga aims to keep Chandra and Surya at a respectful distance from each other. To keep fire in your belly, where it can help to purify, vitalise, stimulate and cleanse. To keep amrita in your mind, where it nourishes, calms and stabilises. When the two energies mix we can’t function effectively; Surya’s fire becomes weak so digestion suffers and illness creeps in, Chandra becomes heated causing hot headed decisions and our mind to be foggy.
One way to keep the qualities of Surya and Chandra in there appropriate places, is to practice Kechari Mudra whenever you think about it. It is said to prevent amrita from dripping into the fire and is essentially very simple. I’ll write about it again but it basically involves curling the tongue so the underside presses against the palate of the mouth
Surya Namaskara is a powerful vinyasa (flow of yoga poses) which can impart the qualities of the Sun in to our being. I enjoy practising it every morning, it provides a great start to day. There are several versions of Surya Namaskara to choose from. I prefer the Ashtanga Vinyasa Surya Namaskara A and B. Here’s a link to David Swenson, beautifully and skillfully demonstrating the two sequences (from You Tube)…