Yoga and Astrology: Partners on our Path to Living a Fulfilling Life

Ever feel like you could use some help navigating the ups and downs of your life?

What if I told you yoga and astrology are complementary fields that together offer tools that supercharge their support of our growth and life experience. Not convinced? Let’s dig in.

Tantra yoga philosophy introduces us to the idea of universal intelligence, known as Brahman. In Christian religion, this could be thought of as God. I like to think of it as Source. Then we have Atman (you and me), which is individual intelligence that has Karma attached to it. But this isn’t the Karma we’re typically familiar with today. In Tantra philosophy, Karma is our individual tendencies worked out on this plane of consciousness, in this lifetime. It is why we are here right now and the traits that need to be worked out in our lives. Ultimately, we are here to work through these lessons. Whether we do or not is up to our own personal awareness and choice. Then there is Dharma. Dharma are the situations life presents us with to work out our Karma.

I love the definition of astrology from “The Fated Sky - Astrology in History” by Benson Bobrick:

“Astronomy studies the heavenly bodies in order to formulate the natural law that govern them and to understand how the physical structure of the universe evolved; astrology describes the influence of those bodies upon human character and life. Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson reputedly remarked, “Astrology is astronomy brought down to earth and applied to the affairs of men.” It is an applied science, insofar as it is based on astronomy; an exact science, insofar as its judgements are based on mathematical calculations; and an empirical science, insofar as its deductions are based on data gathered over the course of time.

Its method is a horoscope, which is a map or diagram of the heavens cast for a particular moment of time, and read according to well established rules. Those rules, if properly applied, are free from the elements of chance or divination; moreover, they are substantially based on a written tradition that derives its authority not just from dogma and belief, but from thousands of years of observation. The idea at the heart of astrology is that the pattern of a person’s life-or character, or nature-corresponds to the planetary pattern at the moment of his birth. Such an idea is as old as the world is old-that all things bear the imprint of the moment they are born.” 

We all have our own horoscope, called a birth chart. You might also hear this referred to as a natal chart. Your birth chart is calculated based on your day of birth, time of birth, and the location of your birth. It depicts the positions and relationships of the planets in the solar system as they were in relation to the location of someone’s birth on the exact date and time a person entered this world.  Today, we can input these three items into computer programs and have our birth charts created in seconds. Historically, these charts were created by hand (a complex process). Many of the earliest astrologers were also mathematicians and scientists.

Your chart will look confusing at first until you learn to decipher the glyphs used for planets and zodiac signs (there are a lot more players in the mix than just your sun sign). We’ll go more in depth into how to read a chart in another post but for now just simply be aware of the idea that a trained astrologer can look at your chart and be able to discern areas of important growth in your life. Through your chart, I believe you have a glimpse at your Karma.

Every moment in time has a chart like this. The planets are constantly in motion. This motion is referred to in astrology as transits. You are able to overlay the current transit chart over your birth chart to see how the planets interrelate and converse with each other through the geometric angles (called aspects) they create with each other. When you have transiting planets in certain aspects to your birth chart placements it can often signify times of difficulty, ease or growth in your life. I believe these transits are a glimpse into your Dharma. These transits and Dharma will present themselves and impact you, what you chose to do with them is your choice. We all have free will.

Like yoga there are many types, or styles, of astrology. Each is based on the same concepts but analyzes the data through different lenses. Evolutionary Astrology is a style that aligns significantly with Tantra yoga philosophy. It understands a person’s birth chart to be a map of the soul’s evolution. Evolutionary Astrology as it is practiced and taught today came into conception in 1977 after Jeffrey Wolf Green received it in a dream from Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda’s guru. In that dream, it is said that the entire paradigm of Evolutionary Astrology was conveyed to Jeffrey.

“A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. His horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future result.”

-from “Pluto: the Evolutionary Journey of the Soul” by Jeffrey Wolf Green

Medical Astrology is another style that can be impactful in giving you access to ways to help your own body navigate life in balance from a physiological standpoint. Nothing is guaranteed or 100% foreseen, we all have free will and our choices will impact the outcome. But we can look at these charts and transits to help us navigate our health.

Yogic practices are a great compliment to astrology in that they were developed to create balance in the body and mind, the middle way. From this point, we are able to respond and take action from our most able and true selves. We can more intuitively interact with our Dharma and make the choices that will lead to living our lives in harmony with our higher purpose.

*I’ll be sharing more soon about astrology to help those new to the practice gain some beginner understanding. In the meantime, a book I highly recommend to gain perspective on planetary trends as they have appeared in human history is "Cosmos and Psyche" by Richard Tarnas. In this book Tarnas has reviewed trends in history as they have coincided with astrological transits. It provides a real world example of this energy at play amongst us.

**Don’t know your birth time? You can enter noon as your birth time but that will not be the most accurate. Without your birth time you will not get an accurate rising sign, ascendant or house placements. You can contact the government office that manages birth records in the state you were born in if you live in the US. You can also try calling the hospital where you were born.

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