The Kripalu moon salutation is the classical moon salute of Kripalu Yoga: a standing, side-to-side flow of 17 steps that travels from mountain pose through goddess, five-pointed star, triangle, a standing runner’s stretch, a runner’s lunge and a wide squat with one leg extended, then mirrors itself back to the other side. Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health describes it as honouring the moon in the way the sun salutation honours the sun, and as a softer, more inward practice.
It is one of several sequences called moon salutation. This page shows the Kripalu order as Kripalu publishes it.
Whose version, and since when
According to Kripalu, the moon salute was created at Kripalu in the late 1980s by Megha Nancy Buttenheim, Deva Parnell, Patricia (Niti) Seip Martin and Bhumi Harriet Russell. Buttenheim, a long-time Kripalu faculty member, later adapted it into a gentle standing version and a seated version (see gentle and seated moon salutation). Bernie Clark’s YinYoga.com publishes a closely matching sequence, which it describes as based on the Kripalu tradition, with an extra squat in the centre.
How the sides and rounds work
The sequence is a mirror. From mountain pose and the side bends you open out to the right: goddess, star, triangle to the right, runner’s stretch and lunge over the right leg, then the wide squat with the left leg extended. You shift across into the squat on the other side and come back up through the lunge, runner’s stretch and triangle on the left, then star, goddess, mountain and the side bends (this time left first), finishing in mountain with the hands in prayer. So one round covers both sides, and you start the next round with the side bends again.
Kripalu’s classical page does not give a breath for each step, so we do not invent one: breathe freely and slowly, usually one or more full breaths per position. Kripalu’s gentle version pairs exhales with the side bends and squats and inhales with rising to star, which many people find a natural rhythm here too.
Cues from Kripalu’s own instructions
Kripalu’s published steps contain a few details that make the flow steadier. In victory warrior goddess, the feet sit at a slight diagonal, the knees bend while the sitting bones press down, and the elbows bend with the forearms pointing up. In the standing runner’s stretch, the hands can rest wherever they reach: the floor, the front foot, the shin or the thigh. In the runner’s stretch (a lunge), the back knee may touch the floor or stay lifted, so you can choose the easier version on any day.
The extended leg squat is the turning point of the round. Face the front, with the toes of the extended leg pointing up toward the sky, and think of two directions at once: the sitting bones pressing down and the crown of the head lifting up. To move to the other side, bring the hands to the floor in front of you and shift across, pressing the bent-leg foot, the hands and the heel of the extended leg into the ground.
How to practise it safely
- Knees in goddess and the squats: keep the knees in line with the toes and come only as low as you can without pain. Hands on blocks help in the extended-leg squat.
- Lunge: lower the back knee onto a blanket if holding it up strains the knee or lower back.
- Side bends: lengthen up before bending, and keep the weight even on both feet.
- Balance: the wide stances and turns can be unsteady at first; practise near a wall.
Check with a health professional first after knee or hip surgery, in pregnancy, or with any condition that limits squatting. These instructions have not yet been reviewed by a qualified teacher.
Easier alternatives
Kripalu’s own gentle moon salute removes the deep squats and runner’s lunges and uses warriors instead; the seated moon salute is done in a chair. Learn the individual poses first on their pages: goddess, five-pointed star, triangle and low lunge.
When to practise it
Kripalu says the moon salute can be done at any time of day: at the end of a yoga practice, or whenever you want to quiet the mind. It describes the sequence as cooling and softening, and especially comforting in the evening as a way to wind down before sleep. Co-creator Megha Nancy Buttenheim explains the idea behind it: where the sun salutation raises energy, the moon salute was meant to recognize its downward flow. She calls the salutation “a meditation in motion,” and Kripalu suggests repeating it as many times as you wish.
Where it is taught
It is a staple of Kripalu Yoga classes and teacher trainings and has spread to many gentle, hatha and evening classes elsewhere, often with small changes. If a class calls something a moon salutation, it may or may not be this order.
