Welcome to day twenty of my 30 Days of Ayurveda series! Throughout these blogs and videos, I will be sharing some upbeat thoughts and wellness tips, as well as some Ayurvedic tricks and food recommendations to help you lead a balanced life.
On Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th May, the third and final full ‘supermoon’ of 2020 lit up the night sky from dusk until dawn. It was the third closest, biggest and brightest moon of the year, following the first ‘supermoon’ on Monday 9th March and the second on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th of April. The latter gave us the biggest and brightest supermoon of all, as the full moon and lunar perigee (the moon’s closest point to Earth during orbit) closely aligned!
In this blog, I thought I would talk about the moon according to Ayurveda.
The moon in Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, we give the name Chandra or Soma to describe the moon. We understand it to have female qualities, and by this, it is meant to have a very loving, soft, nourishing qualities. It also has cooling properties in that it cools down any fiery element. This is essentially what happens overnight. The earth gets cool under the light of the moon.
The moon as a remedy
In order to remedy certain ailments, Ayurveda practitioners often recommend that people go out into the night air. Particularly under a full moon, to bathe in its rays. This helps to cool, calm, recollect and re-centre oneself. In my personal experience, it is hard to feel pent up about anything as the still, cooling night air touches the skin. Bathing in moonlight is an effective way to soothe and cool excess heat, as well as any anger and imbalances. It has even been known to help with hypertension, migraines, hives, and other inflammatory conditions. So especially during hot summer months, it can be lovely to get out into the moon light and cool night air to pacify any aggravated Pitta or heat.
The moon is also thought to be hormonally beneficial for women due to its influence on their daily and monthly cycles. As previously mentioned, Ayurveda understands the moon to have female qualities. Just as women’s bodies follow a 28 day cycle, so does the moon, you can track the moon cycles as well as your period cycles well using some great apps like this one.
I would encourage you (especially in the next few days as the UK is experiencing some particularly nice weather) to go out at night and spend some time under the moon and the stars. Even though the moon is not full, it does not matter. The experience alone makes one appreciate how small we are in relation to the night sky and everything beyond us. It can help us gain a little more perspective about things when we then consider our own lives.
Over the next 30 days, I will be sharing even more tips and tricks to help you build some great Ayurvedic routines. Hopefully, they will soon be imbedded in your life and you can progress with them. Be sure to let me know how you’re getting on, and why not share how you felt when bathing in the moonlight? Find me on Instagram @anneheigham and on YouTube.
