Sierra Hollister - Moon Path Yoga: Kundalini Practices and Rituals for Women to Align with the Lunar Cycles

IT IS ABSOLUTELY thrilling to me that you are holding this book in your hands! My deepest wish is that this book becomes a valuable touchstone for you, one that you turn to again and again. When I picture this book living in your home, I imagine it worn and tattered through continual use, stained with rings from your tea (or coffee!) cup, and filled with dog-eared pages galore. Perhaps it will even have some flowers pressed within its pages or feathers marking your place. These are the visual cues that a book has earned status and become a cherished source. More than anything else, this book is a guide to walking the path illuminated by the moon, a path that will take you into deeper self-knowing.

The Moon Path is the path that all who identify as women walk, whether they realize it or not. The Moon Path is the path of life, of light, of dark. To realize the Moon Path is to awaken to your deepest knowing of yourself as a lunar being. On this path, we attune to the way the moon is with us in all that we do. For some of us that will include the moon being with us in bleeding and birthing; for others, the relationship with the moon will call in other ways. For all of us, the moon is experienced from sleeping to waking, from cradle to grave. Various cultures over time have positioned the moon in relationship as Mother or Grandmother, as Sister or Goddess. It is for you to determine if the moon is your beloved sister or unconditionally loving mother, your wise grandmother or goddess energy to invoke. Or it may be that the moon sings for you in a fluid, nonbinary voice and you summon in the same. No matter how you relate to the moon, know this for certain: she was with you before you were born, when you were just a whisper in the womb, and she will carry you through this life, always.

Let these teachings hold you as they have held women through time. Share these teachings with other women, other sisters. Share these teachings with anyone and everyone whom you feel called to, as those who resonate with moon energy can identify anywhere along the gender spectrum, from nonbinary to binary. These teachings are not exclusive and to share them is to open the circle of moon. In this way, you are part of the silver and golden chain of carrying these ways forward, ensuring their survival.

May you thrive in the light of the moon; may you find rest in her dark. May you realize a global sisterhood and use some of your beautiful energy on behalf of that sisterhood. So long as one suffers, none are liberatedand yoga is a call to liberation and wholeness for all.

Walking the Moon Path

T HIS BOOK IS like the moon path itselfcircular, from new to full and back again. Open to any section that calls you. Read, practice, meditate. With the exception of contraindications for bleeding times and pregnancy, all the sequences can be practiced whenever you want, as often as you want. If you are bleeding or pregnant, please read the chapters Practices for Moon Times and We Are All Mothers before practicing other sequences. Youll want to familiarize yourself with how we care for our bodies during those times. Once you understand those suggestions, you can modify other sequences for practice during times of bleeding (moon time) and pregnancy.

Over the years of teaching, Ive had numerous women ask if these practices will still be beneficial if they have had a hysterectomy. A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the uterus and can range from a subtotal hysterectomy (removal of the main body of the uterus, leaving cervix in place) to a radical hysterectomy (uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, lymph glands, and portions of the vagina are removed) with options in between. The answer to the question is a resounding yes! Even though there is organ removal, the energetic channels and functions remain. 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 visibleorgans and muscles and physical structuresubtle body anatomy is about the invisible, the flow of energy. Although you might live in a body that no longer has ovariesor a spleen or tonsils or another organ, for that matterthe energetic meridians of that organ are still intact. Vitality and energy are still flowing through those pathways. We are still able to step into the power and beauty of yoga practice and nourish ourselves in very deep ways, regardless of the details of our personal physical structure because we are tapping into a mystical and universal energetic structure.

The word kriya is Sanskrit for action and implies that the action is complete, a blossoming. Sometimes the words kriya and sequence are used interchangeably, yet (in contrast to a kriya) a sequence might not be fully complete in its action. In kundalini yoga, the word