And so, June ends and new life begins in the second half of the year.

Native Americans named the full moons. Tomorrow night, July 1, it will be a Buck Full Moon. It is believed it is a good hunting time for deer. July 31st will be a full blue moon because it is the second full moon in the same month – hence the saying – “once in a blue moon” or not very frequently.

Without knowing we were so close to the actual full moon date, I taught and we practiced Moon Salutes today in yoga. Most classes teach sun salutes mostly/only and I have posed three possible reasons why that is true:

1. Sun salutes or Surya Namaskar is a yang/masculine/invigorating/fire sequence. Westerners LOVE ‘working out’. On the other hand, Moon salutes are yin/feminine/hip/graceful moves and the first yogis and their lineages were all male.

2. Sun salutes are taught in every yoga 101 class and some teachers don’t even know moon salutes exist.

3. You have to prep/stretch your students for a longer duration before you can begin moon salutes. Chandra Namaskar opens your hips and stretches your inner thighs. It is best to begin and end the sequence with lengthy hip/inner thigh postures. Not every one wants to dedicate the entire yoga hour to this specialized area because it WILL unleash emotions within hours.

Namaste my fellow yoginis.