The season of limited light is also a season of ritual brightening. We string lights and hang shining ornaments on a Christmas evergreen standing tall in the living room; we reverently light the Hanukkah menorah, singing the blessing of the festival of miracles; we light the seven representational candles for Kwanzaa; or we sit by a backyard fire as it crackles and glows.
Read moreStay awhile
Last week, a group of dedicated practitioners had the great good fortune to go on silent retreat in the stunning lake region of Northern Italy, guided by the inspiring and gifted teachers Sarah and Ty Powers of the Insight Yoga Institute. Each day unfolded with extended periods of seated meditation, mindful walking, the yang energy of active yoga asana, and the deep quiet attentiveness of yin yoga.
Read moreThe Art of Sitting with Amir
It is curious that something so ordinary that we do for hours each day can feel so unnatural. We sit to work, drive, eat, and rest, but research now tells us that this habitual state carries consequences: back pain, tight hips, sluggish circulation, even shortened life expectancy. No wonder some call sitting “the new smoking.”
Read moreRainy trees
It was like the trees were raining. Not a constant drizzle, and certainly not a steady downpour from gray clouds. The sky was pure blue and the air was crisp. But the previous night had scattered a few showers, and the trees were slow to release their newly caught raindrops, gently set free from sporadic rustles of a gentle breeze or a squirrel's chase.
What do we do when rain falls out of a clear blue sky? We get a little wet and walk on, marveling at nature’s insistence on paradox.
Read moreLovingkindness to keep the inner light on
Last night in our Fall Sits Meditation Series, we explored how the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness meditation (metta in Pali) can serve as a powerful remedy for our troubled hearts and minds. It may feel natural to send lovingkindness toward those who are easy to love, who have served as your benefactors, and who bring you peace and comfort. But when turning attention to those who spark in us feelings of anger, ill will, fear, or aggression, it can seem counterintuitive or risky to wish them well. This meditation invites a different perspective.
Read moreEquanimity at Equinox
The calendar says fall, but the temperature says summer. The backyard pool is still open, but the front yard is dressed up for Halloween. There's a new sweater waiting to be worn, but shorts are better for the morning dog walk. Shoulder season compels us to find the right balance between what lingers from last week and what we know awaits us next week, and could be a metaphor for finding the right balance between watching tension in the external world and tending to the peace within.
Reuniting with ourselves
A pivotal moment in the history of yoga unfolded during first-millennium BCE India, when countless seekers took charge of their own spiritual life, free from the ruling class and its ritualistic controls. These mystical wanderers gave up economic and civic security in favor of direct experience – of truth, self, and ultimate reality. They asserted an innate right to seek wisdom and share it freely.
Read moreYoga school starts tomorrow!
Sun & Moon is your place for connection
Sign up now for yoga to help you make connections:
to your body, your breath, your mind, your community.
We've got hatha, vinyasa, yin, rocket, mysore, meditation, and many specialty styles and approaches to meet your needs and lift your spirits.
We can't wait to breathe with you.
There's always room to feel better
Some of you may remember the character Steve from the children's television show Blue's Clues. His message to children was always uplifting, kind, and encouraging. These days he's turned his attention to the adults in the room with a wonderful social media calling card where he comes close to the camera, and says, "Hey, just checking in. How are you doing." And then, usually with a cup of coffee in hand, he listens. That's it. Sometimes he nods compassionately as if he can hear you sharing your deepest heart. Occasionally he will say, "yeah, I hear you," or "o.k., I see." You can see just a hint of a smile.
Read moreA perfect, languid summer day
The perfect verse for this time of year, this poem also perfectly describes my own experience in śavasana (corpse pose). Inevitably, I will arrive at my practice with a jumbled, tumbled mind full of to-dos, to-says, to-thinks, underscored by my personal greatest hits list of hopes, dreams, resentments and regrets. And just as inevitably, the magic of yoga casts its spell to calm, clarify, brighten, and soothe. Please join us for class at Sun & Moon, each one ending in śavasana with the delicious taste of a "languid summer day," nourishing and fortifying you to meet the next moment and the next after it, with all the complexities of our time and place.
In August peace,
~ Annie Moyer
Shifting the ripples of experience
An earthquake of major magnitude on the Eastern coast of Russia triggers tsunami warnings across the Pacific. The effects are felt in Japan, Hawaii, and along the entire western coast of the Americas from Washington state down to Chile. It's a dramatic example of how tremors both seen and unseen are happening at all times, and an event does not need to be part of our direct awareness for it to affect our direct experience.
Read moreFinding beauty
It is easy to spot the conventionally beautiful: a stunning sunset, the film star on the red carpet, a grand and snow-capped mountain peak. More challenging, and possibly far more rewarding, is to be awakened and awed by wherever we cast our gaze: a scattering of pebbles catching the morning light on the driveway, the way the grocery employee carefully stacked the red peppers, the homemade protest poster proclaiming the dignity of all human beings, or the bright bold yellow dandelion in a field mix of grass and clover.
Read moreFinding kindness: One student's grateful story
My first class at Sun & Moon was Prenatal Yoga with Maureen in 2007 when I was new to Arlington and pregnant with my first daughter. This was my first taste of the community and support found here. I fully credit this class with giving me the confidence and mental skills that I needed to have my second baby without meds (due to complications with the first).
Read moreHow a Trip to Costco Healed My Hip Pain
Recently I woke up with sudden and severe hip pain. Maybe I had slept in a strange position, or maybe my body was trying to tell me something I hadn’t yet realized. The pain was sharp at certain angles, deep and hard to describe. It was intense enough that I knew I needed help
Read moreSpring Into Yoga: Renew, Rebalance, Reenergize
As we watch the buds push out of tree branches and blossom in all manner of pink, purple, and plum, it rings true that spring is the season of renewal, even with a sharp chill and the discomfort of uncertainty blowing in the remaining March breeze. With a refreshing yoga practice that awakens both body and mind, we can meet all of it – the chill, the unknown, and the blossoming of nature – with the intention and capacity to reconnect, rebalance, and reenergize.
Opening an Inner Gate
One of the most rewarding things about yoga is that it meets you where you are, like a GPS app whose only setting is the one that activates when you bring mindfulness to meet it.
I came into Melissa’s class on Saturday with lower back ache. Nothing new there as I age — sometimes it takes hours for the stiffness to wear off. I knew I would leave her class better than I came in. Melissa is calm and kind, her guidance is precise and her class is the perfect kickstart to the weekend.
Read moreSpringing free of expectations
This morning I noticed one small daffodil blooming in my backyard. It seems out of sync with its garden-mates, revealing its yellow sooner than the rest. It reminded me how capricious spring can be. One minute I'm bundling up in a wool hat and puffy coat, the next I'm pulling off layers and feeling a sweet breeze on bare arms. Even as we have notions of spring as the giver of new warmth and fresh starts, it can also be the taker-away of expectations and assumptions. This is a season full of prickly unpredictability.
Read moreIntroducing the Sun & Moon Community Bank
We want people to get to yoga during this stressful time, so if your ability to do so is hampered by current circumstances, this resource is for you. The values and commitments of the yoga tradition are unambiguous: in yoga, we avoid harm, repair it when it happens, seek and express truth, and share in abundance for the benefit of all beings. In this spirit, we are pleased to announce the Sun & Moon Community Yoga Bank, a repository of free yoga class passes for those with current financial needs.
Read moreShelter from the storm
We may not have crayons and story-time here at the studio, but we have the hallmarks of supportive and nurturing space: trained and caring teachers, the compassionate understanding of peers, and the warm embrace of community.
Read moreA warm winter welcome for yoga in Fairfax
Our Fairfax studio sparkles this winter with a new schedule full of classes sure to illuminate your inner being.
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