Struggling with Ardha Chandrasana

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Would anyone be able to illuminate the path to a shinier half-moon pose?

To preface my concern, I’ve been practicing yoga for about a year now, with a daily practice the past 3 months. I say I have a solid foundation, I am young and fit which certainly helps, but I still have problems with my Ardha Chandrasana. I don’t have much difficulty with Virabhadrasana III, but whenever I open my side to “fly” and “reach” from my five corners of my body I end up falling over, unable to sustain myself in this pose.

I’ve watched tons of videos, read some instructional threads on how to get into the pose, but have been unable to locate any “troubleshooting” posts. How far should my hand be in front of me? Should it be directly in front of my standing foot, or slightly to the side? Should I aim for my torso be parallel to the ground? Where should be my center of balance?

#2

Have you done the pose with your back to the wall or with the back foot on a wall? Each of these allows for a different focus in the pose due to added stability in different regions. One for the pelvis, which allows the spreading you allude to and one for the back leg which facilitates rotation.

I would also recommend placing the hand of the descending arm on a block or “brick”.

I tend to stay away from “should” in my teaching and my practice. However for a student with a year of practice who is having balance issues in this pose I would suggest that the brick be several inches in front of the standing foot and off to its pinky toe side. To place the brick (or hand) elsewhere before the body is ready would be pure ego and therefore the residue of the pose is greatly reduced if not completely obliterated.

I would turn my focus to the actions in the standing leg starting from the foundation (sole) and working up (top of the femur).

gordon

#3

I used to hate this pose!! And now, of course, I love it!

For me, when I couldn’t find my balance in Half Moon, I was allowing my back leg to over-extend behind me, and my back to over arch. Try peaking at your back foot as it’s lifting off the floor and make sure you can still see your toes- if not, move the leg forward slightly. Many people, especially women, tend to do let the back leg open too far behind them and over arch the back, thus losing a lot of the core containment required to stabilize the pose. Draw your lower front ribs down towards the hip bones- almost as if you were doing a crunch- and keep your lifted leg pulled into the core, and slightly forwards, as if you were suctioning your femor (thigh bone) into your pelvis.

With everything pulled in and contained allow your chest to open and relax. Soften the shoulders. Definitely use blocks at first- start on highest height and gradually work down towards the floor. Place the block about 12 inches in front of your foot and off to the pinky side. Also, using a wall to check alignment, as Inner Athlete suggested is very helpful.

Good luck!

#4

@GY

I wonder if you might expound on the concept you shared relative to the hip of the back leg as it sounds as though you are advocating compression in the joint.

#5

Yes, I guess I am advocating a slight compression of the hip.

If you were to work into virabhadrasana 3 from the floor- this would be the action I am referring to. With the heels under the hips and the hands a few feet in front of the feet, with the fingertips on blocks or the floor, and the spine long, begin to lift a leg off the ground, lift it an inch or two straight up first, into the socket. And then as you lift the leg up behind you you keep some of this pulling in action with the back leg.

This is the action I am speaking of in Ardha C. It’s the way that my I have been taught, and it’s also how I teach, since I find that it keeps the “core connection” between the leg and the pelvic floor. Same thing in plank pose- pull the legs up into the core.

Perhaps it is advocating compression of the joint- I would love to hear some feedback on how this method can be unhealthy! I learned this from my teachers, who I respect and trust, but I am always open to hearing other thoughts.