Half Moon: Ardha Chandrasana
Balancing Heaven and Earth
I teach the hot yoga sequence with Half Moon pose. I learned under Kristin Campbell who reorganized the 26and2 set sequence and added in optional poses.
I will be speaking to the aesthetic alignment of Half Moon in this blog article, as most students ask me how to get in to the typical shape of this pose.
What Half Moon pose does for the body:
Strengthens the core, spine, bum, thighs, and ankles.
Stretches the hamstrings, calves, chest, and shoulders.
Improves overall balance.
What I often see when students appear to have a difficult time to stay in Half Moon:
Not enough space to balance. The hand is too close to the foot, causing a tipping sensation. Move the hand further away from the foot to the point where the shoulder is stacked above the wrist.
The top hip is not stacked on top of the bottom hip.
The foot of the standing leg has turned inwards as the other leg lifts up, in an effort to keep the balance. However, with the foot turning in, this also has an effect on the hip and pelvis of the standing leg that can cause more imbalance.
Chest faces the floor, instead of the side. Shoulders are not stacked.
Core is not engaged.
What we need to move into and out of Half Moon pose:
Core awareness. Belly is in and up. Keep it contracted to help with balance. Think about balance less as a static state, but making barely perceptible adjustments every now and then to come back to your stillness.
Open hips and open hamstrings and inner thigh muscles. If the hips cannot stack or the legs are tight, it can be difficult to keep the top leg straight and raised.
Strong standing leg. The standing leg should not have moved as you begin to balance on it. Requires strength for stability but also openness as the leg stretches as it straightens.
Helpful reminders:
Go slow. Many students with flexibility will go right into it, but this can mean losing the balance and falling. We will have days when wobbling is more common, so it’s a good opportunity to see how long it takes before we fall. How long can we stay in the wobble? Balance on the tightrope? This is the time to control yourself and respect the balance.
Strengthen through the core and steady breathing, as well as anchor your feet and strengthen ankles for lower body balancing.
Open chest to the side and stack shoulders on top to help with upper body balancing.
How to flow into this pose:
One of the most common transitions is to move from Warrior 2 into Half Moon. I like to shorten the stance between my feet so it makes balancing the focus rather than launching forward and then balancing. Similar to Warrior 2 is flowing from Triangle into Half Moon.
Options:
If Half Moon is too challenging, try it with your floating foot against the wall. You can also try it on your knees. There is no shame. One of the best ways to understand the fundamental ask of a yoga pose is to see it from different perspectives.
Written By: Irene Lo