Super Full Moon

Purn’a in Sanskrit means full and purn’ima’ (also poornima) means the full moon. As you probably know by now we had a whopper of a full moon last night. Actually it was a “super moon”.

To the left is the super full moon rising over Washington DC on 19 March 2011. For other neat pics of the super full moon in other places, click here.

Yogis take the cycles of the moon very seriously and indeed most of the Indian subcontinent has long used the moon calendar to mark historical dates and even one’s birthday. As the moon affects the waters of the earth and the tides of the oceans, yogis have long practiced upavasa (fasting) on particular lunar days, as a way to cleanse the body and keep the bodily fluids from rising up and creating pressure. Plus various lunar days are looked upon as ideal occasions for night sadhana (meditation.)

So the moon has a big presence in yogic life; naturally then a super moon has a super presence. Hope you all had a great experience!

Here’s a very informative video on the phenomenon of the super moon.