Since 2020, classes at our studio take place independently of the lunar cycle. Even on full moon days, you can join our Mysore Style class to practice asanas, meditation, and pranayama. Or take a break.

In India, full moon and new moon days have special significance. Mr. Jois from Mysore did not teach on these days, and many Ashtanga Shalas follow his "rule." For many years, Ashtanga Yoga Berlin was closed on full moon days. However, the reasons for this were never convincing.

Over the years, we realized that there are many details in yoga practice that have easily understandable effects, especially regarding the quality of practice. This is the focus of our classes, and we’ve become very good at delivering an intense yoga practice free from injuries.

However, we also had to realize that, unlike the moon, there seemed to be no noticeable effect on the yoga practice (which, scientifically, is actually quite clear).

Therefore, we decided to open our yoga school even on "moon days".

Everyone is invited to practice asanas, pranayama, or meditation with special awareness on these days, or to give the body a break. This is worthwhile every single day. But we no longer want to dictate doing or not doing something on these days.

Day, week, season, and year are natural units for dividing life’s time. They are increasingly losing their significance. These days, it’s hard to even look forward to a clearly defined Sunday or even the end of the workday. One often has to be productive every day and around the clock. Similarly, the moon cycle gives the year a comprehensible rhythm.

Such a monthly cycle allows for systematically expanding the yoga practice with the diverse pranayama and meditation exercises that have emerged in the yoga tradition. Only when practiced regularly can they become a habit and unleash their full effect.

The great freedom of Mysore-style classes with long practice periods has the disadvantage that more advanced exercises in meditation and pranayama are difficult to integrate into the schedule outside of workshops.

Instead of teaching on full moon days as before, we now offer a pranayama class on the first Sunday of the month before the Mysore class.

This makes it more predictable for both us and you.

It is up to each person whether they believe in mystical energies during the full and new moon that go beyond long-term gravitational effects and the average increase or decrease in the moon's light reflection. Basically, one must be cautious due to the vague use of the term "energy," as nonsense lurks everywhere.

We often hear: "The moon moves the water of the seas, so it must have a great influence on humans, who are two-thirds water." That sounds so convincing, but it must be wrong.
The moon does, of course, have an effect on the Earth. However, the "real, measurable" forces are rather weak — and they can be easily calculated. Its gravitational effect on a human body is almost immeasurable!
Yes, the moon has (over millions of years) set the oceans in motion. But it cannot noticeably move a lake. How much do you think it affects our bodily fluids monthly?
On a cloudless half-moon night, we receive more "energy" from the moon than on a cloudy full moon night. A street lamp outside the window has a more disturbing effect on sleep than the moon.

The moon is there every day; it is just sometimes more and sometimes less obscured by the Earth. It’s that simple and non-mystical.
Births, earthquakes, shipwrecks, the human psyche, and even sleep behavior (!) have been studied — without statistical evidence.

Nevertheless: A (seemingly!) purely scientific view of the world alone does not make humans happy.

Almost all traditions that deal with human happiness emphasize the importance of structuring life cyclically with phases of rest and work, vacations, regular relaxation, etc.
Also, nurturing inner connections with specific days, places, objects, experiences, or actions makes one happy. And that is what matters, not whether something is demonstrably "sacred"!

I am already looking forward to the next full moon day, especially if Zeus doesn't throw real stones in my path for my practice on that day :-)

Grischa @ Ashtanga Berlin, 2019