A Year with Astrology And Parts of Our Bodies
Full Moon: April 2, 2026 | New Moon: April 17, 2026
March held an unusual amount of celestial activity at once, with the full moon paired with a lunar eclipse early in the month, and then the new moon and the spring equinox arriving just a day apart. It was the kind of astrological convergence that does not leave you unchanged, even when you cannot point to exactly what is different.
So if you came out of March feeling like something shifted but you cannot quite say what, stay open with it, as the body will continue to process what is not yet consciously understood. You do not have to have language for it yet. April will help with that.
April follows that with Aries still present through the first weeks, carrying the same pull and sharpening of attention, until Taurus arrives around the third week and the quality of the month entirely changes. Things decelerate a bit in a way that feels like the ground underfoot is sturdier, more rooted, characteristic of the earth sign that it is.
April: From Fire to Earth
Aries is a Fire sign, and Fire is interested in movement and visibility. The head and the brain are its domain in the body, which is why the weeks of Aries season often bring a particular kind of alertness, a feeling of the mind running slightly ahead of everything else. Over the winter months, attention settled inward and downward, toward the feet and the slower rhythms that Pisces governs. March pulled it back upward again, toward the face and eyes and the part of the head where decisions live.
Taurus rules the neck, the jaw, and the throat, which is the corridor connecting all of that head-forward Aries energy back down into the rest of the body. When the sun moves into Taurus, something in the physical body responds to that shift, often first in the jaw, which many people hold without realizing it. The masseter muscle, running along the side of the jaw, is one of the strongest muscles in the body relative to its size, and it tends to absorb whatever has not yet found its way into words.
Before you read further, take a moment right now and notice: is your jaw loose or held? Is there space between your upper and lower teeth? According to Andrea Clark, the co-creatrix of Nectar Retreat and Mist Thermal, most of us walk around in a low-grade clench that we often don’t even notice anymore.
Ruled by Venus, Taurus is the sign most attentive to the physical world as a source of genuine pleasure: the bark of a tree under your palm, the hardiness of a good meal, an afternoon soaking in the warming spring light. Taurus knows that the body needs contact with what is real and close, and that without that contact, even the most grounded Earth energy loses its steadiness.
April's Zodiac Focus and Body Placement
• Aries (Fire): Head, brain, face
• Taurus (Earth): Neck, jaw, throat, thyroid, vocal cords, shoulders
The practices this month move between both of these areas, some with the chest-opening quality of Aries season forward through the throat, others inviting the jaw and neck to release what has been building. Together they support the downward movement that April makes available, starting from the increased awareness in the head, and moving downward through the throat, and into the shoulders and the rest of the body.
Practices for April: Aries into Taurus
Camel Pose (Ustrasana): Supported Variation
Purpose: Continues the front-body opening that began in March while introducing a grounded backbend, supporting the throat and chest without requiring a deep range of motion.
How-to:
Kneel with knees hip-width apart and the tops of the feet pressing into the floor.
Place both hands on the low back with fingers pointing down and elbows drawing toward each other.
Inhale to lengthen the spine, then on the exhale press the hips forward and let the chest open, leaning back only as far as feels stable.
Hold for 4 to 6 breaths, return upright slowly, and rest in a neutral kneeling position before repeating.
Focus: Keep the hands at the low back rather than reaching for the heels, since the intention here is to open the throat rather than to deepen the backbend. While Aries teaches alertness and readiness, the lesson is to let the posture feel prepared without urgency. A reminder to go gently.
How To Release Jaw Tension from Anxiety: Sphinx Pose with Jaw Release
Purpose: A mild, sustained backbend close to the floor, paired with direct attention to the jaw. The masseter is one of the strongest muscles in the body relative to its size, and most people are surprised by how much they are holding there once they begin to pay attention.
How-to:
Lie face down and bring the forearms to the floor with elbows beneath the shoulders, pressing gently upward to lift the chest.
Once settled, use the fingertips to massage the jaw in small circular motions along the cheekbone and down toward the chin.
Let the mouth fall open slightly and stay for 1 to 2 minutes, breathing steadily.
Focus: Taurus teaches body presence is not the same as clenching, and this practice tends to make very clear how much clenching has been passing for neutral. What you find there is not a ‘problem’ to ‘fix’. Rather, just take it as information and stay compassionate. Let the jaw do less, and notice what that makes room for.
Stretching Exercises For Neck Muscles: Seated Neck Rolls
Purpose: A gentle cervical exercise that releases accumulated tension through the cervical spine, and supports the shift from the forward-moving quality of Aries into the more settled energy of Taurus. If you have been dealing with neck pain, these neck pain exercises done at home, under the guidance of your doctor, are a good place to start.
How-to:
• Sit upright, either cross-legged or in a chair with feet flat on the floor.
• Drop the right ear toward the right shoulder and breathe there for 3 counts, then roll slowly through chin-to-chest and continue to the left side.
• Move slowly and pause wherever you notice resistance, avoiding rolling the head back fully. Complete 3 to 4 rounds in each direction.
Focus: Go slower than what you may feel is necessary. Neck exercises in general respond to patience.
Shinrin Yoku Forest Bathing
Purpose: Taurus approaches the natural world as the main character compared to the tendency for a distracted mind to treat the land as a backdrop, and shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of spending unhurried time among trees, has documented effects on cortisol, blood pressure, and immune function. If you ever ask yourself what to do on Bowen Island, consider forest bathing here in the spring. If you're curious, read more about what is forest bathing here.
How-to:
Find a forested area and give yourself at least 30 minutes with no particular ‘end goal’.
Leave the phone in your pocket, walk slowly, and let your attention move between what you can smell, what you can hear, and what your feet feel through your shoes.
If it feels right, stop at a tree and place your hand against the bark, staying long enough for the contact to become real rather than symbolic.
When you're ready to come in from the forest, Mist Thermal Sanctuary shares the same valley of conifers as Nectar. Its private units each include a wood-fired sauna, cold plunge, transition tub, outdoor eucalyptus shower, private fire lounge, and a tea bar of in-house herbal teas, all of it sitting within the trees so the forest never really leaves. Many guests combine a Nectar stay with a Mist circuit, moving from morning yoga and breakfast into an afternoon of heat, cold, and rest. Book your Mist Circuit here.
Focus: Taurus rules the five senses and is the sign most associated with the pleasure of being a body in a physical world, and the forest is particularly good at making that available to us.
Full Moon, New Moon, and Reflection
Astrological Tarot Correspondences
Where February asked us to stay with what we were feeling, and March began testing what could be carried into action, April asks what we are genuinely willing to commit to. The Tarot holds a useful framing for this.
Aries corresponds with The Emperor in the Major Arcana, a card of structure, agency, and the willingness to take up space and make decisions without waiting for someone else’s permission. Taurus corresponds with The Hierophant, which is often misread as dogma but more accurately speaks to the wisdom that accrues through practice, through returning to the same thing over and over until it has taught you sacred discipline. Where The Emperor initiates, The Hierophant stays with the practice. Sacred discipline is not rigidity. It is the quiet agreement you make with yourself to keep showing up to something, even when there is no visible reward yet. That is a Taurus skill, and April is a good month to practice it.
The Emperor (Aries): What am I taking responsibility for this month? Where does structure serve me rather than constrain me?
The Hierophant (Taurus): What is worth practising and cultivating? What have I been moving past too quickly?
Journalling
April holds two lunations with quite different qualities. The Full Moon on April 2 arrives while Aries is still present, making it a useful moment for honest accounting: what did March actually produce, and what are you still carrying that belongs to an earlier chapter? The New Moon on April 17 falls in Taurus and carries a different quality entirely, where the focus is about planting something you intend to tend slowly, without forcing a timeline on it.
The moon phases do not need you to have it all pulled together; the moon simply asks you to look.
Full Moon (April 2): What from March is genuinely finished? What am I still waiting for closure that I could simply let go of?
New Moon (April 17): What do I want to give my body’s attention to? What would I tend to more carefully if I put my phone down?
SILENT YOGA DAY RETREATS ON BOWEN ISLAND
Taurus season asks us to slow down the somatic body, and there is no better way to meet that invitation than in silence. On April 12 and September 13, Nectar co-owners Andrea Clark and Satjeet Pandher are facilitating their Day Retreat: Meditation and Relaxation Through Silence, held in Nectar's geodesic dome on Bowen Island, just a 20-minute ferry from Vancouver.
Each afternoon runs from 1:00 to 5:45pm and moves through guided meditation, restorative yoga and gentle movement, a walking meditation through the grounds, and breathwork, all without the noise that can prevent us from being fully present. There is something very Taurus about it: the body stays close to the earth, the mind is given somewhere quiet to land, and the forest is right outside.
Book the April 12 Silent Yoga Day Retreat here. Book the September 13 Silent Day Retreat here.
About Nectar Yoga Retreat
Nestled beneath towering conifers on Bowen Island, Nectar offers British Columbia vacation packages with 2-night stays on Bowen Island, nourishing vegetarian breakfasts, and daily guided yoga and meditation. We host mindfulness and meditation retreats, yoga retreats, sound healing workshops, yoga and other wellness practices with experienced instructors in holistic practice. Alongside our sister brand, Mist Thermal Sanctuary, we welcome guests from Vancouver, the lower mainland of BC, Victoria, Seattle, and beyond to relax and renew the mind, body, and spirit.
References
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-019-01717-x
https://bonniegillespie.com/astrology-body-parts-ruled-by-signs
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical guidance. Please consult a healthcare provider before beginning any new wellness practice, particularly if you are pregnant or have health or physical and mental health considerations.
