You may not pay attention to the moon’s cycles. Well I think that you do so at your own peril. At the full moon we can see the illuminated face of the moon and at the dark moon we can’t. The moon moves in a slightly elliptical orbit and that creates the very obvious pulls on our tides. King tides are common at the full moon. Of course the full moon is dramatic, people are observably, to those that observe, odd, restless, nervous or downright contrary at the full moon, often behaving excessively. They have more accidents and are more careless, accident prone, if you like.

One of my teachers said, ”If you want to lead an extraordinary life do the opposite to the common man.” That means in terms of the full moon be less excessive, take some time for quiet reflection.

The dark moon is a different animal altogether. The dark of the moon is traditionally the last three days of the lunar cycle, immediately preceding the new moon at the time when the night sky is dark. You may have noticed you are feeling a little tired or feel lazy over the last few days. Maybe you feel distracted and less focused. I find myself drawn to creative pursuits near and around the dark moon.

There appears to be less energy available for daily business and meeting the expectations of others. Yet I find that it is not only a time of natural inner quiet, possibly heading into inertia, it is a time when I connect to others in a peaceable manner without any neurotic projections into the future. I am present as long as I can stay focused on being in the present moment by such activities as writing, regulating my breathing, paying attention to my feelings and communicating them clearly and calmly.

In these days of phone apps keeping in touch with the moon’s phases is easy. The app I use on my iPhone is called MoonPhase, but nothing beats going out and looking, especially at sunset when a magnificent crescent moon hangs in the violet sky near the first star. It always take my breath away and I do stop.

Yoga is traditionally practiced according to the phase of the moon both the full moon and the dark moon have quieter practices. Often your menstrual cycle can be timed by your attunement to the moon’s phases. In a balanced cycle ovulation often occurs at the full moon and menstruation at the dark moon.

You will always be subject to influences, be they eating patterns, familial, social, terrestrial, lunar. Solar flares, humidity, barometric changes all influence you. If you take the time to observe what is happening and how it does affect you, you can make choices as to how much you allow any external pressure to push you into behaviours that are not necessarily in your best interests. Make today the end of your cycle of unaware behaviour and allow yourself to choose how you respond to stimuli. Victor Frankel said, ”Between stimuli and response there is a space.” In that space you have choices. A reaction has no spaciousness. Reach out into yourself and find the space to choose who you are.

My yoga Facebook page, Flying Warrior Yoga and Healing has a recent post about the salute to the moon, a lovely yoga sequence that is great to do on the dark moon. Have a like moment when next you’re on Facebook, there will be some great post about the mudras and announcements about a posture and breathing workshop coming up soon on a Saturday morning.
Here is a link to the free e-book on yoga and the Salute to the Moon (Chandra Namascar): http://www.google.com.au/search?q=heart+of+moon+yoga+power+pack&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a