Find your balance through every zodiac season with our Astrology & Asanas series by yoga instructor, Astrostyle editor (and harmonious Libra) Andrea Rice. Follow along with these postures to connect to the natural rhythms of life, enhance perceptivity and elevate your spirit.
3-2-1 lift-off! With space cadet Aquarius ruling the skies you can rocket to the outer edges of your imagination and capabilities. But during this electrifying time, it’s just as important to keep your feet (or at least a toe) on solid ground. These Aquarius season yoga postures can help you stay centered as you orbit through unexplored galaxies.
Lighthearted Aquarius season invites our aspirations to take flight. The eleventh zodiac sign is associated with the ankles and shins in the body. The following short Aquarius season yoga sequence is designed to strengthen and lubricate the ankle joints and ligaments to cultivate more stability and focus.
3, 2, 1…Liftoff! Dynamic Chair Pose Sequence
- Begin standing tall in Tadasana, Mountain Pose, with the palms face out and feet hips-width distance apart. Cycle through a few repetitions of swinging the arms overhead and lifting to the balls of the feet; followed by lowering the heels with control and returning the arms alongside the body.
- Keep the gaze affixed toward the future, in true forward-thinking Aquarian fashion, as you then begin to lift the arms overhead and sweep them behind you like wings to sit low into a Chair Pose (Uttkatasana) variation with the heels lifted. Lift the heart high while drawing the shoulder blades together, then lower the heels back down and return the arms toward the sky.
- Repeat for a few cycles, then shift your weight into your right foot and draw the left knee to lift to 90 degrees, return to a number 4 variation of Chair pose, actively flexing through the left heel.
- Switch sides.
Yoga and Astrology “101”
Much like the zodiac wheel, our bodies are always shifting, progressing and changing form. From the “birth” of Aries season to the “death” of Pisces, we too are experiencing a continuous lifecycle. We cannot be “born again” until outmoded parts of ourselves are released. It is only when we stop spinning our wheels and actually witness our patterns that we may become aware enough to break free from them.
Picture yourself like a spiraling galaxy, where at your galactic core is your light, your source, your divinity. It is by moving into that very center of serenity that change and growth can occur. It is where yoga begins. Astrology is a wonderful complement to yoga asana, as both disciplines require self-study. And since the purpose of yoga is to stabilize the fluctuations of the mind, we can more readily look to astrological insight from a place of clearer perspective with acceptance and without any judgment. In other words: Free your mind—and the rest will follow.
Video courtesy of Beth Kessler Photography
Andrea Rice is a writer and editor covering health, wellness, and lifestyle. Her work has also appeared in Yoga Journal, The Wanderlust Journal, mindbodygreen, SONIMA, New York Yoga+Life, and WALTER Magazine, among others. She has also worked as a journalist for The New York Times and INDY Week, and as an editor for Astrostyle. As a yoga and meditation teacher with more than a decade of experience, Andrea has offered yoga, meditation, journaling, creativity and astrology workshops in New York and now in Raleigh, NC, where she currently resides. She has also been a presenter at Wanderlust Festivals in Vermont. Her first book, The Yoga Almanac,was released in March 2020 by New Harbinger Publications. Follow Andrea and The Yoga Almanacon Instagram or visit her website to learn more.
