Overview
Moon Path Yoga is a beautiful book – both in content and idea – that’s been beautifully executed. An in-depth overview that brings awareness to how lunar cycles and women’s cycles intertwine, Moon Path Yoga offers a transformative path for reconnection + healing at any age, in any body.
Author Sierra Hollister delves into basics, building connection with body first using breath, then gaze, followed by a short, meditative practice. This sequence returns throughout the book as the author builds a case for charting moon phases, helping bodies through bleeding times, + adding ritual to a busy life. At the book’s core, a thick chapter of “Practices for Any Time during the Lunar Cycle” scaffolds the burgeoning connection between person + body with well-photographed, short flows. Hollister’s soft language, encouraging for any level reminds me of a gentle hand pressing my spine in child’s pose and is subtly supported by images of all-aged women photographed in the poses.
“The practice of yoga, especially kundalini yoga, is predicated upon the subtle body anatomy illuminated by the ancient seers. This anatomy is about energetic pathways, energy fields and bodies, and of course the way that prana, or life force, moves through your body. So while Western anatomy is incumbent upon the visible – organs and muscles and physical structure – subtle body anatomy is about the invisible, the flow of energy.” – Sierra Hollister, Moon Path Yoga
Sierra Hollister’s treatise on lunar living comes with such an ease that it inspired me to try. Plus, the smooth, simple transitions of the practices pictured seem like an amount of yoga I could fit into a busy day, even with two children always around. If you’re looking to reconnect with your body after a period of absence (typical to Western culture), this is the book to help you start. Many yoga tomes offer sequences and/or lengthy diatribes about specific poses, but this is the first I’ve come across that’s marketed so directly to women, firstly, and also the first to build its case for reconnection with the body as a gentle but necessary practice. Hollister’s book goes as deeply as a reader wants to delve, + I appreciate the ability to add more supportive practices as mine evolves.
After a quick read-through, it became clear to me that this would be a book I’d return to, over and over. I am someone who enjoys having a yoga sequence laid out for me, rather than winging it, and the ones presented here are thoughtful, if not new to me. I love the breathing techniques, all laid out and explained by style, and I feel particularly supported by the Temple of the Moon chapter with its lists of rituals + recipes. This one has earned a spot on my morning reference shelf, where it’s already dog-eared from my mat practice in the wee hours.
Who is this book written for?
Anyone who wishes to be more connected to their body + the earth through yoga.
$24.95 :: shambhala Publications, Inc :: 2022 :: 192 pages :: paperback