Chandra Namaskar: the moon salutation

Chandra is the moon; namaskar is a salutation. Where Surya Namaskar builds heat, this releases it.

One honest thing before the sequence, because you will not read it in most descriptions: the moon salutation is not ancient. The sun salutation itself is younger than people assume, and the moon salutation is younger still — a twentieth-century development, with several competing versions and no single canonical form. What follows is the version we teach. Another school will show you a different one, and neither of us is wrong.

How it differs from the sun salutation

The fourteen positions are matched to the fourteen phases between new moon and full, which is the kind of correspondence traditional systems enjoy. Treat it as a mnemonic rather than astronomy.

The sequence

Start standing at the front of the mat, feet together, palms at the chest. Move at about half the speed you think is right.

That is one half round. A full round repeats it leading with the other leg, so that the body is treated evenly — which matters more here than in the sun salutation because of the asymmetric lunges.

Two full rounds is a complete practice. Six is a great deal. If you find yourself doing twelve to get warm, do sun salutations instead; you are asking the wrong sequence to do a different job.

The breath

The breath pattern above is a guide rather than a rule. The principle is simpler than the table: lengthen the exhalation.

In Surya Namaskar the breath drives the movement and the pace is brisk enough that you take what you get. Here, let each exhalation run longer than the inhalation — roughly four counts in, six out — and allow a pause at the bottom of the breath. A long out-breath is the most reliable way to shift the nervous system towards its calming side, which is the whole purpose of the sequence.

If you lose the pattern, breathe normally and keep moving slowly. A lost count is not worth stopping for.

When to practise it

• Evening. The obvious one. It works well before a sleep sequence, and far better than sun salutations at nine at night.
• Hot weather. In April in Fort Kochi, a room at thirty-two degrees does not need twelve rounds of anything heating. This is when we teach it most.
• When you are depleted — after illness, travel, a poor night. It gives you a practice on days when the alternative is no practice.
• During menstruation, if a heating practice does not appeal. See yoga and your period.
• As a warm-up for sitting. Two slow rounds before meditation settles the body without waking it up.

Some teachers practise it on the full moon, and there is a pleasant ritual in that. It is not required.

Practical notes

• The crescent bends are not deep. Lengthen up before you lean over. A side bend that collapses is a compression of the lower ribs, not a stretch.
• Pad the back knee in the lunges. A folded blanket costs nothing and changes the pose from endurance to practice. See our guide to props.
• The squat is the hard one for most Western-trained bodies. Heels on a rolled blanket if they lift, and keep the chest up rather than rounding forward.
• The side lunge needs warm hips. If it is the first thing you do in the day, do a few rounds of something gentler first, and read yoga for tight hips.
• Knees. Deep squats and side lunges load the knee at an angle. If you have knee trouble, reduce the depth and keep the knee tracking over the foot.

Is it traditional?

Worth being straight about, because the word "ancient" gets attached to everything in this field.

Surya Namaskar as we practise it was assembled and popularised in the early twentieth century, drawing on older material. Chandra Namaskar came later still, and versions differ substantially: some open with a wide-legged stance throughout, some use the standing half-moon posture, some run to fourteen positions and others to fifteen or seventeen.

None of that makes it less useful. A sequence is a tool, and this one does something the classical repertoire does not do as neatly — it gives you a flowing practice that cools rather than heats. But if a school tells you it descends unchanged from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, they are embroidering.

Where it fits in a class

We teach the moon sequence in the afternoon classes more often than the morning ones, and in the teacher training as part of the sequencing work — because understanding why you would pick a cooling sequence over a heating one is a more useful skill than knowing another set of fourteen positions.

If you are in Fort Kochi, the 3:30 class is where you are most likely to meet it. Details on the classes page.

Common questions

What is the difference between sun and moon salutation?

Surya Namaskar heats and stimulates, moves forward and back in one plane, and is often repeated many times briskly. Chandra Namaskar cools and settles, adds sideways movement through crescent bends and side lunges, and is practised slowly with long exhalations — one or two rounds is a complete practice.

When should I practise chandra namaskar?

In the evening, in hot weather, when you are tired or recovering, or on days when a heating practice does not appeal. It also works as a gentle warm-up before sitting meditation.

How many rounds of moon salutation should I do?

Two full rounds is a complete practice, and six is a great deal. If you find yourself doing twelve to feel anything, do sun salutations instead — you are asking a cooling sequence to do a heating job.

Is chandra namaskar traditional?

Less than it is usually presented as. Surya Namaskar in its current form was assembled in the early twentieth century, and the moon salutation is later still, with several competing versions and no canonical sequence. That does not make it less useful, but it is not an ancient form.

Why fourteen positions?

One for each phase of the moon between new and full. It is a traditional correspondence and a helpful way to remember the count rather than a piece of astronomy.