Salutations to the Sun & Moon
Q&A with David Moreno
Q: what motivated you to delve deeper into these two practices?
A: I hadn't really known about moon salutations until studying Tantra and learning about the many layers to this practice. Once going deeper into chandra namaskara as a daily - night - practice I then became more interested in going deeper into surya namaskara. Up to that point I had only thought of sun salutations as a wonderful heating and strengthening sequence - vinyasa - of the ashtanga yoga system.
Q: What surprised you most about the practices in the course of your investigations?
The more I understand these two practices the more I really get HA-THA yoga, the cosmic dance of the sun (hot, masculine, predictable) and moon (cold, chaotic, feminine.) The sun is the source of all life - the son of god - and the moon its reflection, also known as bimba pratibimba the reflection and its source as one and the same - inseparable from one another. Of course, this is also the very root of spiritual awakening and why we pursue a spiritual path known as hatha yoga.
Everything in yoga is either heating us up or cooling us down while attempting to harmonize and balance the two. When pingala nadi (the solar channel) and ida nadi (the lunar channel) are perfectly balance and integrated enlightenment happens, kundalini rises, samadhi becomes the view.
Q: Why do you think these practices are so relevant today?
They are the essence of all yoga.
Q: What do you think students have to gain by attending the workshop you and Eric are teaching on Salutations to the Sun & Moon?
Absolutely everything. It's like taking the yoga you've been doing, no matter what style, and how much you think you know about yoga and plugging into its origin. You don't get more primal, more shamanic than when you engage with these two forces.
It's immediate, it's part of our DNA, our humanity... Yoga teachers especially will be re-inspired. Plus, it's rare that Eric and I get to teach together, especially something that we are both so passionate about.
Q&A with David Moreno
Q: what motivated you to delve deeper into these two practices?
A: I hadn't really known about moon salutations until studying Tantra and learning about the many layers to this practice. Once going deeper into chandra namaskara as a daily - night - practice I then became more interested in going deeper into surya namaskara. Up to that point I had only thought of sun salutations as a wonderful heating and strengthening sequence - vinyasa - of the ashtanga yoga system.
Q: What surprised you most about the practices in the course of your investigations?
The more I understand these two practices the more I really get HA-THA yoga, the cosmic dance of the sun (hot, masculine, predictable) and moon (cold, chaotic, feminine.) The sun is the source of all life - the son of god - and the moon its reflection, also known as bimba pratibimba the reflection and its source as one and the same - inseparable from one another. Of course, this is also the very root of spiritual awakening and why we pursue a spiritual path known as hatha yoga.
Everything in yoga is either heating us up or cooling us down while attempting to harmonize and balance the two. When pingala nadi (the solar channel) and ida nadi (the lunar channel) are perfectly balance and integrated enlightenment happens, kundalini rises, samadhi becomes the view.
Q: Why do you think these practices are so relevant today?
They are the essence of all yoga.
Q: What do you think students have to gain by attending the workshop you and Eric are teaching on Salutations to the Sun & Moon?
Absolutely everything. It's like taking the yoga you've been doing, no matter what style, and how much you think you know about yoga and plugging into its origin. You don't get more primal, more shamanic than when you engage with these two forces.
It's immediate, it's part of our DNA, our humanity... Yoga teachers especially will be re-inspired. Plus, it's rare that Eric and I get to teach together, especially something that we are both so passionate about.