Asana Lab: Ārdha Chandrasana (half-Moon Pose)

Ardha Chandrāsana is a splendidly uplifting āsana that basically opens the guts area and offers a sense of lightness and freedom. With repeated follow (abhyāsa) we will discover a place the place the pose turns into regular and comfy (sthira sukham āsanam).
From Tāḍāsana (Mountain Pose), soar or step your toes 3 – Three ½ toes aside. Turn your left foot in barely, flip your proper foot out 90 levels: rotate the entire of your proper leg out from the highest of the thigh bone all the way down to your foot. Lengthen out to the suitable along with your proper arm, exhale and go to Utthita Trikoṇāsana (Extended Triangle Pose). Rotate your rib cage and chest upwards, lengthen your backbone in the direction of your head and keep for a number of breaths.
To transfer into Ardha Chandrāsana, exhale, bend your proper leg and step your left foot in the direction of your proper foot, preserve your left leg straight and preserve the rotation of your rib cage upwards. Reach your proper hand out and place it about 1 ft away from, and consistent with, your proper foot. Direct your proper inside knee to the small toe aspect of your foot and preserve your sitting bone transferring in the direction of your groin.
With the entire of your left leg agency and the heel prolonged, start to carry your leg parallel to the ground. Start to straighten your proper leg holding the top of your femur (thigh bone) gripping into your hip socket (N.B. in the event you can’t totally straighten your standing leg along with your hand on the ground, place your hand on a brick or a stack of blocks). This is the place steadiness comes into play. The standing leg have to be vertical – if the load of the physique goes an excessive amount of in the direction of the top and into the downward hand, the standing heel turns into gentle and the foot begins to show inwards; if that occurs the entire physique will swivel and the steadiness will probably be misplaced. To forestall this, as you carry your left leg up, slowly draw your left foot to the left and firmly floor the suitable heel into the ground, straightening your proper leg as you retain lifting the inside left leg up.
Once you might be regular within the pose, with the knee of your standing leg agency, stretch your breastbone in the direction of your head and lengthen your backbone. The again of your left leg, your sacrum bone and the again of your head ought to be in a single line.
Roll your proper entrance shoulder bone again, stretch your left arm skywards consistent with your proper arm and tuck your shoulder blades in. Keep your entrance waist again to keep away from overarching your lumbar backbone. Lift your left entrance hip bone upwards to open the pelvis. If you'll be able to, lookup. Breathe!
To come out of the pose, preserve stretching your high arm up, exhale, bend your proper leg and step your left leg again. Return to Utthita Trikoṇāsana then inhale, come up, be part of the toes and repeat to the left aspect.
If steadiness is an issue, this pose could also be practised along with your again in opposition to a flat wall. Place your toes near the wall, your standing leg mustn't lean into the wall however the head of your thigh bone ought to transfer into your hip socket. Using the wall is a useful approach for anybody to practise because it not solely gives help but additionally brings consciousness to the again physique. Take your head, shoulders and high leg again to the wall and draw your waist from entrance to again to “find” the wall. Being supported permits you to keep longer and discover the pose to essentially really feel the carry and the opening.
When the pose turns into extra acquainted and the steadiness much less difficult, attempt to co-ordinate the actions of the legs and arms and straighten the standing leg as you concurrently carry the opposite, in order that the pose develops a way of rhythm and stream.
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