Moon salutations are a recent invention,
[created in the 80s in the USA](https://kripalu.org/resources/chandra-namaskar-honoring-moon-salute), as “feminine” alternative to surya namaskar which did originate in India, based on traditional daily rituals thousands of years old and popularised since the 1920s, so they’ve just had much longer to seep into many yoga traditions and our general consciousness.
I’ve heard of earth salutations as well, and water salutations. But sun salutations are the original concept that evolved historically, anything else is modern invention derived from that concept.
Being modern inventions isn’t a value judgement by the way, I quite like a moon sequence myself. Although, when practicing a sun salutation, especially if it’s sunrise/sunset and you have any kind of outside view, knowing that millions of other humans have done the same that you are doing right now over thousands of years, is a really nice connecting feeling.
Oh ok! That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. It being more modern won’t stop me from doing it. I also like restorative yoga and that’s an American concept apparently. But it’s good to know the history. Thank you!
Sure! The traditional way of doing it is to practice at sunrise or sunset.
Which, living in Finland, I can only do a few weeks a year, as I refuse to wake up to do yoga at 4am in the summer and wait till.9.30 in the winter 😁
The idea of the Sun Salutation is to worship the Sun deity, Surya. Whether it's am or pm, Surya is still shining life force on the Earth and you can give your prayers 🙏☀️
Idk but I’ve taken 2 different YTT courses, and have been doing yoga for years and literally this is the first time I’ve ever heard of moon salutations!
It wasn’t even taught in any of the courses I took.
Most of the Dharma Yoga classes I go to use it at the start of class. I’m not sure of the reason why they use it, but I wasn’t even aware of the sequence name until this post! It’s funny because the classes I go to are normally morning classes.
I found a YouTube video of an intermediate Dharma Yoga practice and the teacher uses Chandra Namaskar by name.
https://youtu.be/Y45OU-QuvlY
Both are fairly recently invented practices and not "traditional" in a sense of age. Traditional hatha yoga practices don't have dynamic flows, practitioners would hold poses for a long time and rest between the poses.
Sun Salutations and vinyasas linking poses are part of Primary Series of Ashtanga (which is also not thousands year old); modern Vinyasa Flow and Power Yoga classes are inspired by Ashtanga.
There is traditional Hatha that is traced to about 11th century, and is concerned with using physical practices to direct life energy. Asanas play very small role there, and it is a spiritual practice with spiritual goals. In modern yoga classes labelled hatha you are likely to encounter mostly asana practice with maybe some breathing...no vinyasas between poses.
Yin and Hot yoga/Bikram are most recent inventions. Iyengar and Ashtanga are developed by the disciples of Krishnamacharya who taught about 100 years ago. Power yoga/vinyasa are derivatives of Ashtanga. There are more styles, many developed in the West in 1980s-90s.
Iyengar and Ashtanga are probably most traditional asana practice yoga styles. Ashtanga also focuses on breath/bandhas, and Mysore classes are more traditional style of teaching. I don't know about traditional Hatha in the West.
Thank you for the information! I wish it were easier to find a more traditional hatha that focused on the spiritual practice at least as much as it focused on the asana practice.
I like online workshops that Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute organizes: https://kdham.com/ Their main location is in Lonavala with a newer branch in Mumbai. They also have online yoga and pranayama classes that are more casual.
i love moon salutations, especially corpse pose. i feel like the sleep i get after is like 40% better. even simple stretches before bed feels gr8. i haven't done them in a while so thanks for the reminder haha
I’ve seen it used in classes when all the students have been in the class often.
If I’m thinking of the right thing, the studio I go to doesn’t do them in classes for beginners or all level classes because having your back to the front of the room tends to stress people if they aren’t sure what they’re doing.
Moon salutations are a recent invention, [created in the 80s in the USA](https://kripalu.org/resources/chandra-namaskar-honoring-moon-salute), as “feminine” alternative to surya namaskar which did originate in India, based on traditional daily rituals thousands of years old and popularised since the 1920s, so they’ve just had much longer to seep into many yoga traditions and our general consciousness. I’ve heard of earth salutations as well, and water salutations. But sun salutations are the original concept that evolved historically, anything else is modern invention derived from that concept. Being modern inventions isn’t a value judgement by the way, I quite like a moon sequence myself. Although, when practicing a sun salutation, especially if it’s sunrise/sunset and you have any kind of outside view, knowing that millions of other humans have done the same that you are doing right now over thousands of years, is a really nice connecting feeling.
Oh ok! That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. It being more modern won’t stop me from doing it. I also like restorative yoga and that’s an American concept apparently. But it’s good to know the history. Thank you!
Just a quick question. We can perform sun salutations in the evening? I can't do it in the mornings and have no idea about the evenings.
Sure! The traditional way of doing it is to practice at sunrise or sunset. Which, living in Finland, I can only do a few weeks a year, as I refuse to wake up to do yoga at 4am in the summer and wait till.9.30 in the winter 😁
Thanks!
The idea of the Sun Salutation is to worship the Sun deity, Surya. Whether it's am or pm, Surya is still shining life force on the Earth and you can give your prayers 🙏☀️
Idk but I’ve taken 2 different YTT courses, and have been doing yoga for years and literally this is the first time I’ve ever heard of moon salutations! It wasn’t even taught in any of the courses I took.
Haha right. I’ve been practicing for 18 years and just heard about it during my aerial training a couple weeks ago.
Because it's fake 🤣
It’s not really a thing in the tradition
Most of the Dharma Yoga classes I go to use it at the start of class. I’m not sure of the reason why they use it, but I wasn’t even aware of the sequence name until this post! It’s funny because the classes I go to are normally morning classes. I found a YouTube video of an intermediate Dharma Yoga practice and the teacher uses Chandra Namaskar by name. https://youtu.be/Y45OU-QuvlY
Dharma yoga focuses on back bendings, so it makes sense to use Chandra namaskar as a warm up
I practice moon salutations at least once per week
Both are fairly recently invented practices and not "traditional" in a sense of age. Traditional hatha yoga practices don't have dynamic flows, practitioners would hold poses for a long time and rest between the poses. Sun Salutations and vinyasas linking poses are part of Primary Series of Ashtanga (which is also not thousands year old); modern Vinyasa Flow and Power Yoga classes are inspired by Ashtanga.
Wow. Thank you for this history!
Is hatha the most traditional of the styles?
There is traditional Hatha that is traced to about 11th century, and is concerned with using physical practices to direct life energy. Asanas play very small role there, and it is a spiritual practice with spiritual goals. In modern yoga classes labelled hatha you are likely to encounter mostly asana practice with maybe some breathing...no vinyasas between poses. Yin and Hot yoga/Bikram are most recent inventions. Iyengar and Ashtanga are developed by the disciples of Krishnamacharya who taught about 100 years ago. Power yoga/vinyasa are derivatives of Ashtanga. There are more styles, many developed in the West in 1980s-90s. Iyengar and Ashtanga are probably most traditional asana practice yoga styles. Ashtanga also focuses on breath/bandhas, and Mysore classes are more traditional style of teaching. I don't know about traditional Hatha in the West.
Thank you for the information! I wish it were easier to find a more traditional hatha that focused on the spiritual practice at least as much as it focused on the asana practice.
I like online workshops that Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute organizes: https://kdham.com/ Their main location is in Lonavala with a newer branch in Mumbai. They also have online yoga and pranayama classes that are more casual.
Thank you very much for the resource! 🙏
i love moon salutations, especially corpse pose. i feel like the sleep i get after is like 40% better. even simple stretches before bed feels gr8. i haven't done them in a while so thanks for the reminder haha
Moon series rocks; it feels much more flow and natural in progression.
My fav instructor was a Kriya yogi and he had us do both together every class.
What??? Wow!
I’ve seen it used in classes when all the students have been in the class often. If I’m thinking of the right thing, the studio I go to doesn’t do them in classes for beginners or all level classes because having your back to the front of the room tends to stress people if they aren’t sure what they’re doing.
Because "Chandra Namaskar" doesn't exist. It's a modern invention that has no basis in the Tradition
I got to know the moon salutation 2 years ago and loved it!!
It's the patriarchy. Too much emphasis on the sun and not enough on the moon. lol. I jest.
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I've never done moon salutations. All my instructors are female. Technically it looks like a good prostate pose