A Year with Astrology And Parts of Our Bodies:
Yoga for Nervous System Regulation, Deep Breathing, and Shoulder Mobility
Full Moon: May 1 and May 31, 2026 | New Moon: May 16, 2026
This year, May contains two full moons. The first arrives on May 1, and the second, sometimes called a blue moon, closes the month on May 31. A new moon falls on May 16 between them. Three lunations in a single month gives May a quality of completeness, with a beginning, a middle, and an end that are each marked by the moon. Astrological forecasters of varied traditions, including Mimi Young’s approach to Bazi Chinese astrology, suggest May will feel like an entire year in a single month, in part because the full moons land on both its first and last day.
In the Western astrological tradition, each sign of the zodiac corresponds to a part of the body, and the sun's movement through these signs throughout the year offers a loose map for where physical attention is expressed. In previous months, we’ve explored Capricorn and Aquarius placements on the body, along with other astrological signs and their placements. For the month of May, Taurus governs the neck, jaw, and throat, then Gemini, starting on May 21, governs the shoulders, arms, and lungs. May moves through both, meaning the month carries a natural arc from the lower, singular part of the upper body (the neck) toward the wider, dualistic, and more mobile one (the shoulders and arms).
You do not need to follow astrology closely to find this useful, as the shifts in the season alone tends to produce it. The early weeks of spring moved attention outward after the inner quality of winter, and April, with its Aries emergence and Taurus steadiness, asked you to notice where you were holding in the body, with an emphasis on the neck, the function of structure and steadying.
May moves the attention upward and outward from there. The neck releases into the shoulders, and the shoulders open into the arms. The breath, which Gemini also governs since it’s an air sign, becomes a proactive practice we can engage in the foreground rather than the background. This is the month where the body begins to participate more actively, where the energy that was being gathered and stabilized starts to move through the hands, into contact with the world, toward what is being built and shared.
May: From Earth to Air
Taurus is an Earth sign, and its body of rulership runs from the neck through the jaw and throat and into the beginnings of the shoulders. Translating this from the physical to what’s beyond, the Taurus weeks of May ask for presence, sensory contact, patience with what is slow to develop. The neck carries the weight of the skull and the electrical relay of the nervous system running between brain and body. It is one of the places where stress accumulates most in the body, and one of the places people are most likely to move through too quickly in a yoga practice.
Gemini, as mentioned, is an Air sign, and its domain is the shoulders, arms, hands, and lungs, including the breath itself. Gemini governs communication, dexterity, and the nervous system in its more outward-facing mode, the part that processes information nimbly and connects ideas across distance. When the sun moves into Gemini, there is often a palpable shift in pace of life, a quickening, a return of curiosity and appetite for contact.
The practices this month move between the stability of Taurus and the relationality of Gemini. Some are close to the floor, asking the neck and shoulders to release through sustained attention, while others introduce breath as a practice in itself, drawing on the Air element that Gemini governs and on the relationship between breathing exercises and nervous system regulation.
May's Zodiac Focus and Body PlacementS
Taurus (Earth): Neck, jaw, throat, thyroid, vocal cords, shoulders
Gemini (Air): Shoulders, arms, hands, lungs, nervous system, breath
Practices for May: Taurus into Gemini
Seated Neck Stretch with Hand Anchor
Purpose: A targeted neck stretch that works with Taurus rulership of the cervical spine and the slower, attentive quality the earth sign brings. This neck exercise for pain done at home supports the release of accumulated tension through the neck and upper trapezius, often found in bodies who spend long hours at a desk.
How-to:
Sit upright in a chair with both feet flat on the floor, or cross-legged on the floor with the spine tall.
Drop the right ear toward the right shoulder. Place the right hand lightly on the left side of the head just above the ear, adding only the weight of the hand without pulling.
Stay for 6 to 8 slow breaths, then walk the left fingertips along the floor or chair edge away from the body to increase the stretch through the side of the neck and into the shoulder.
Release, return to centre, and repeat on the left side.
Focus: The hand anchor is meant to offer weight, and should not be engaged. Neck exercises for neck pain respond to subtlety and patience, and the side-body release deepens naturally when the breath stays slow and the grip is released from the shoulder.
Supported Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana) with Props
Purpose: Sarvangasana is understood within the Hatha yoga tradition to stimulate the thyroid through increased blood flow to the throat region. Research on inversions practices has found improved heart rate variability and a measurable shift toward parasympathetic dominance in the autonomic nervous system.
How-to:
Fold two or three blankets into firm, even rectangles and stack them so that the shoulders will rest on the blankets while the head rests on the floor below.
Lie with the shoulders at the edge of the blanket stack and the head on the floor, knees bent, feet flat.
On an exhale, swing the legs up, bringing the hips above the shoulders and supporting the lower back with both hands, elbows pressing into the blanket.
Extend the legs toward the ceiling if comfortable, or keep a soft bend in the knees.
Hold for 1 to 3 minutes, breathing steadily. To come down, lower the legs slowly with control and rest in a flat position for several breaths before sitting up.
Focus: The blankets under the shoulders protect the cervical spine. The neck should have a natural curve with space between the back of the neck and the floor and not flattened. If there is any discomfort in the neck or throat, come down and use Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) instead, which offers a similar experience with less intensity.
Cow Face Arms (Gomukhasana Arms)
Purpose: A shoulder and arm stretch that works directly into the Gemini body zone, opening the anterior shoulder, chest, and the muscles of the upper arm. This arm and shoulder stretch addresses the internal rotation that accumulates through prolonged desk work and device use, and supports the fuller range of movement that Gemini season makes available.
How-to:
Sit in a comfortable position, either in a chair or on the floor.
Reach the right arm up and bend the elbow, dropping the right hand down the centre of the back.
Bring the left arm out to the side, bend the elbow, and reach the left hand up the centre of the back to meet the right.
If the hands do not meet, hold a strap, a folded belt, or a small towel between them. Avoid collapsing the right side of the chest or lifting the right elbow toward the ear.
Hold for 6 to 8 breaths on each side, allowing the breath to move into the chest and ribs as the shoulders open.
Focus: Gemini rules the arms and the nervous system in its outward, communicating mode. This arm shoulder stretch is an opportunity to notice which side is tighter, since the dominant side almost always is, and to breathe into the restriction rather than forcing past it. You are allowed to go gently here.
Box Breathing
Purpose: Box breathing, also called four-part breathing or square breathing, is one of the more studied calming breathing exercises for nervous system regulation and stress. It takes its structure from the number four, which carries a numerological relationship to Earth, symbolically grounding the Air element that Gemini governs within a stable container. Deep breathing exercises for stress work in part by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, and the even, counted structure of box breathing is particularly effective for minds that need something to focus on in order to slow down.
Research on deep breathing for anxiety consistently finds that slow, controlled exhalation activates the vagus nerve and shifts the autonomic nervous system away from sympathetic activation. Box breathing's equal-count structure ensures the exhalation is long enough to produce this effect without requiring the practitioner to focus on ratio alone.
How-to:
Sit upright with the spine supported. Close the eyes or soften the gaze downward.
Exhale completely to begin.
Inhale through the nose for a count of four.
Hold the breath at the top for a count of four.
Exhale through the nose for a count of four.
Hold the breath at the bottom for a count of four.
Repeat for 4 to 8 rounds, or for as long as it feels comfortable.
Focus: This is a yoga breathing exercise, a relaxation exercise for stress, and a mindfulness exercise in one. If the count of four feels too long, reduce to three and build gradually. The goal is a smooth, unhurried breath cycle, and any count that produces that quality is the right count for your nervous system today.
Full Moon, New Moon, and Reflection
Astrological Tarot Correspondences
Where April asked what you were willing to commit to, May asks what that commitment looks like when the pace begins to accelerate. The Tarot holds two framings for this month.
Taurus corresponds with The Hierophant in the Major Arcana. The Hierophant is often misread as institutional authority or dogma, but the archetype speaks more to the wisdom that accrues through sustained practice. Sacred habits are Taurean, and the Taurus weeks within May are a time to assess what practices have actually taken root since the Taurus new moon back in April, or on the other end, what would benefit from more discipline.
Gemini corresponds with The Lovers, which is another card that tends to be read too literally. The Lovers is less about romantic partnership than it is about the awareness of choice, and at times, the necessity of choosing between two things that both seem right. Gemini season, with its acceleration and appetite for multiplicity, presents that tension.
The Hierophant (Taurus): What practice have I actually committed to since the Taurus new moon in April? What is it teaching me now that I have stayed with it?
The Lovers (Gemini): Where am I holding two things at once that are beginning to pull in different directions? What do I actually choose?
Journaling IDEAS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY
The first full moon, on May 1, occurs during Taurus season. It is an optimal moment to review what has begun to take form since the spring equinox and what is still sitting in the category of intention alone. The new moon on May 16 in Taurus asks what you want to tend before the season shifts. The second full moon on May 31 arrives as Gemini's influence is already underway, with a more spacious, outward-facing quality. A blue moon is sometimes treated as a bonus lunation, a chance to return to something that did not get enough attention in a usual cycle.
Full Moon (May 1): What from April has shifted in my body or my practice? What am I still waiting to feel before I call something complete?
New Moon (May 16): What do I want to tend through the remainder of spring? What would I give my attention to if I were choosing from steadiness rather than urgency?
Full Moon (May 31): Where has Gemini season already begun to pull my attention outward? What from the Taurus weeks do I want to carry forward before the pace fully changes?
Upcoming Events on Bowen Island
Silent Day Retreat: June 14, 2026
As the pace of late spring picks up, the June silent day retreat offers a counterweight that can keep us centered so we don’t get swept away by momentum. On June 14, Nectar co-owners Andrea Clark and Satjeet Pandher will facilitate their Day Retreat: Meditation and Relaxation Through Silence, held in Nectar's geodesic dome on Bowen Island.
The afternoon moves through guided meditation, restorative yoga and gentle movement, walking meditation through the grounds, and breathwork, all in silence. If you’re experiencing an overabundance of cognitive inputs, too many directions, or the mind and the body running at different speeds, a silent afternoon in the forest is one of the more direct ways to interrupt that pattern.
Summer Solstice: June 21, 2026
The summer solstice on June 21 marks the longest day of the year and the point at which the sun enters Cancer, shifting from Gemini's Air into the Water element. It is a natural peak in the year, where from that day onwards, the light begins to shorten again towards the winter.
Nectar is marking the occasion with a community summer ceremony at the retreat centre, led by Andrea Clark. The evening moves through an all-levels Yin yoga and functional movement class designed to mirror the length and light of the day, followed by a meditative sound bath with crystal bowls, and a guided silent relaxation and gratitude circle. It is an evening oriented around the sun, the season, and the company of others who also want to mark the shift.
About Nectar Yoga Retreat Centre
Nestled in the heart of a temperate forest, Nectar offers British Columbia vacation packages with 2-night stays on Bowen Island, with nourishing vegetarian breakfasts, and daily guided yoga and meditation. We host mindfulness and meditation retreats, yoga retreats, sound healing, and other wellness practices with experienced instructors in holistic practice. Alongside our sister brand, Mist Thermal Sanctuary, we welcome guests from Vancouver and the lower mainland of BC, Victoria, Seattle, and beyond, to relax and renew the mind, body, and spirit.
Sources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079218301552
https://bonniegillespie.com/astrology-body-parts-ruled-by-signs
https://shopceremonie.com/on-demand-ecourses/p/year-of-the-horse-2026-predictions
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.
