Tuning Into Your Star Sign to Elevate Your Yoga Practice
What if the stars held the secret to reaching stellar heights in your yoga practice?
As you might come to expect from a semi-alchemical ritual like yoga, the secrets to elevating our physical offerings are never as simple as they seem. Hidden between twinkles and glimmers, they span far beyond our visible gaze.
The physical and philosophical paths of yoga are intimately unique to each of us– testaments and teachings are subjective, and we earnestly lean into translations that resonate with our unique values and beliefs. They shape our faith and nurture our individual experience of the universe around us.
All the tenets and maxims we live our lives by are believed, by some, to be owing to exactly how the stars and planets aligned the day we were born. With these astrological orders comes a quorum of characteristics dictated by the seasons of that particular moment in time.
From the fast and furious nature of wind signs like Aries, to the febrile passion of fire sign Sagittarius; the charisma of water signs like Pisces, and the loyalty of earth signs, like the Taurus – I’m yet to meet a soul whose disposition doesn’t directly align with their astrological profile.
Naturally, these core qualities attract different approaches to how we move and use our bodies as instruments to greater enlightenment and higher purpose. Understanding what syndrome of poses or disciplines of yoga suit your particular star sign personality might just open the door to a deeper, more purposeful practice.
Astrology 101
Astrology is the ancient study of the movements and positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, with the belief that they influence our characteristics and, ultimately, the courses of our lives. An ancient quest to find meaning in life from the phenomena of the sky, for thousands of years, many cultures have believed that astrology can predict what will happen to us.
This hermetical practice spread throughout ancient civilisations, revered by Chinese Dynasties, and our ancient Greek and Roman ancestors. Here, it was venerated alongside other scientific studies; like astronomy, medicine, and meteorology – until the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century.
From thereon, we entered an age of rational logic and evidential reasoning. Astrology was discredited and kicked out of the sciences – with no tangible evidence to prove patterns and mappings within the sky affected the fates and eventualities of human life, how could we have so flippantly and foolishly took it so seriously? Branded as pseudoscientific and a purely divinatory practice, it was another counter-culture heresy only indulged in dark, rebellious corners of society.
Signs Of The Stars
Contemporaneous with dark arts and macabre musings, astrology and the art of the horoscope regained popularity throughout the nineteenth century. From the Mystical movement through to the twentieth century’s preoccupation with seances and sorcery, astrology’s dwindling flame was rekindled.
And that flame burns brightly today. Social media is replete with flickers of #starsign and #manifestation – key indicators we’re still devoted to divination as a modality for moulding better lives.
There are many subdivisions of astrology that delve deeper in discerning our lives, but the order of the main astrological chart calendar, comprises 12 signs, each represented by an animal or conceptual entity:
- Aries – the ram, March 21st – April 19th
- Taurus – the bull, April 20th – May 20th
- Gemini – the twin, May 21st – June 21st
- Cancer – the crab, June 22nd – July 22nd
- Leo – the lion, July 23rd – August 22nd
- Virgo – the virgin, August 23rd – September 22nd
- Libra – the scales, September 23rd – October 22nd
- Scorpio – the scorpion, October 23rd – November 21st
- Sagittarius – the centaur, November 22nd – December 21st
- Capricorn – the goat, December 22nd – January 19th
- Aquarius – the water bearer, January 20th – February 18th
- Pisces – the fish, February 19th – March 20th
Whether you call them star signs, signs of the zodiac, or something else, each sign attracts its own set of individual characteristics and attributes, thought to be dictated by the planetary sequencing sewn into the sky.
Relevance Of Yoga
For thousands of years, yoga has provided a discerning path for aligning the physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of who we are. It is omnipresent in the multi-faceted dimensions of our lives and seeks to add dimension and definition to our beings, marrying our individual selves with universal consciousness.
Astrology follows a similar system.
Although they appear unrelated, astrology and yoga work in tandem to cultivate a deeper sense of belonging in the expanse of the universe. By understanding planetary cycles, we can investigate our own physical and emotional patterns, understanding how our constitutions and characteristics might be direct reflections of the rhythms and order of the sky above us.
The elements also act as an expedient to unite yoga and astrology. Yoga focuses on bringing into equilibrium the earthly forces – fire, water, air, and earth – through steady postures (asanas) and control of the breath (pranayama); to achieve metaphysical balance in the universe.
Whereas astrology relates each zodiac sign to one of these elements, leaning on them as driving forces to individual attributes and motivations.
Together, yoga and astrology support us to more deeply align with the energy of the world around us and, governed by the majesty of the sky above, help us understand we are microcosmic beings buzzing around a macrocosmic plane – in other words, we’re like specks of dust in a vast desert. With this, we find the true meaning of union and achieve greater self-awareness and a natural sense of harmony and flow.
