Ardha Chandrasana is also defined as a half-moon-asana. In Sanskrit Ardha means half, and Chandra mean moon. Yoga belief holds the moon in the high analogy. The sun and moon are symbolic of the polar energies of human anatomy. Regarding Hatha Yoga, the syllable ha is called to signify solar energies, and the signifies lunar energies. This asana is one of the Hatha Yoga asanas, and it is helpful to channelize lunar energies.
This yoga asana is considered to be graceful. It helps to activate the opposing sides of the human body. Moon is the perfect balance between the moon and sun. This yoga asana is responsible for body balancing while laterally stretching the leg and torso. There are different benefits of Ardha-Chandrasana. It helps to strengthen the body and correct alignment.
Things to know before doing Ardha Chandrasana
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Ardha Chandrasana must be practiced on an empty stomach. You must eat before 6-hours before the practice to make the food digested and get the energy to stretch. Also, make sure to keep your bowels empty before doing this yoga. Practice this yoga at dusk or dawn for the best results.
How to Do Ardha Chandrasana?
Start with the Trikonasana over your right. Put your left hand to your left side hip. At that point, as you take in, flex your right knee, and move the comparative foot around 12-inches front. While you do this, move right-hand front and keep it behind the toes of the right foot.
Breath out, and move right hand to the floor. Press it down and straighten the right leg. As you do that, raise the left leg off the floor. Make sure it is level with the floor. Get your balance and manage your left leg strong. Do not lock the right knee. Keep the knee straight and not aligned inside.
Turn upper torso to the left and move left hip lightly front. Keep left hand over the left hip. Place head in a neutral position as you see the front. Keep body weight on the leg that you are standing over. Your lower hand should be pressed to the ground such that it helps to balance. Make sure you strongly push the scapulas and scrum opposite to the back of the torso.
Be in this pose for some seconds and release and do again on the other side.
Precautions
These are some essential cautions to remember while doing this asana.
Avoid this yoga if you are suffering from neck problems.
Do not perform this yoga if you are suffering from diarrhea, low blood pressure, insomnia, headaches, and Migraines.
Beginners’ tips
It is a solid asana to perform with various components. It challenges your body and expands strength, adaptability, and equilibrium.
You may feel discomfort or cramps in your standing buttock and leg to adjust the spend time in the pose gently.
Use a wall to work on different elements of this yoga. Bring the small edge of the mat to the wall and sit in Dandasana using feet opposite to wall to set yourself up.
Keep a block or something to mark where hips are. Then stand upward-facing away from the wall and keep your right foot straight with the block. Follow the right instructions over to come into the pose and press into the wall using the lifted foot.
If you need to balance your position to get both hands to the floor and shift front foot frontside or backside till your back foot is comfortably level opposite to the wall. Place a hand over the short edge of the block so that it for its highest. From here you can work on all the other actions of the position with more stability.
Advanced Variations
Once you become perfect in this asana, you could try and deepen the pose. Make sure to raise your arm on top and vertical to the floor. Now, think of a wall in the front direction. Push the top hand into this illusory wall. Once you get your balance, turn head and look up at the lifted hand.
You can also keep the below hand on the thigh of the standing leg to make this asana more challenging. Balance yourself as you keep the pose for some time and release.
Common Mistakes
Skip doing chest rotation to the floor. A common cause of this is trying to reach the floor with one hand. Keep a block under the right hand can provide the extra elevation that makes the chest open to the ceiling more effectively.
Alignment Tips for an Ardha Chandrasana
Practice using your back foot against a wall. For many people, Ardha Chandrasana feels more comfortable and freer, specifically on the bottom-leg side of the pelvis if you keep the bottom hand on a block. However, using a wobbly yoga block particularly a standard uber-light foam block can feel less stable than keeping fingertips on the ground. Doing with back foot pressing into a wall makes the pose way more stable even when you do with the block.
The Setup
Get the short edge of the mat to the wall, toting a set of blocks along with you. Keep blocks near the top of the mat, at their highest height, and sit using back opposite the wall, legs stretched front as in Dand asana. Take note of where your heels in that same spot. From here, come into Ardha Uttanasana with the spine long and all fingertips pressing into the blocks.
Transfer weight onto right foot, and stretch left leg back behind you, as in warrior III both hip-points facing the floor to the beginning. In this position, you want back foot pushing into the wall, back heel at hip height, toes facing down toward the floor, and front hip right on the front heel.
If this is not happening for you, scoot front foot front or backward till you get this alignment.
Keep Front Knee Safe
It is super common for the front knee to collapse into the center in the Ardha Chandra, which can make the pose feel wobblier and with time, can cause some not much good knees. Before you open up into the position, align your front knee by flexing it lightly and raising your heel, as though you were wearing a high-heeled shoe.
Press into the ball of the right big toe, and track knee to the pinky-toe side of the foot. Keep rooting from the ball of your big toe and keep to track knee toward the pinky toe as you gently lower the front heel to the floor.
You can have a small flex in your front knee if it serves to keep it arranged or you can move the front leg direct. Support this healthy-knee alignment as you open up into the pose.
Before you open upward into the posture, fix your front knee by flexing it cautiously and raising your heel like you were wearing a high obeyed shoe.
Opening into the Pose
Once you are strong in this sustained warrior-III variation, you can start leading into an Ardha asana.
Attempt to improve the top square with the goal that it is 6-10 lengths front way on the pinky-toe-side of your right foot (fundamentally to a point where you sense great, and where your right shoulder is put away on your hand and check in the area, and right shoulder is piled close by and block in this posture.
Now you are in half-moon using your back foot against the wall at hip height. Instead of pointing down to the floor, now back toes point near the direction you face like they would in half moon away from the wall.
Balance Tip
Keep the front knee straight and press the front foot down into the floor, and resist it to the right, as if you were trying to move your front foot outside but you cannot because it is stuck toward the floor. Keep that and press back foot opposite to wall and resist upward as if someone was trying to push back thigh you were resisting opposite to them. Balancing this dual resistance using down press and resisting outward with your front foot and pushing back near the wall and resisting upward with the back foot, you might even know that you are very stable that you can stretch top arm upward and lift bottom hand away from the block.
Keeping It Away from The Wall
Once you have worked with stabilizing actions at the wall for some time, you may naturally know that a half-moon in the middle of the room is much easier to balance.
Join the Pose with Control and Mindful Awareness
When doing in the center of the room, you can join the pose from supported warrior III similar to the wall. But the most common change you will encounter in the practice room is entering Ardha asana from an open-hip standing pose. For example, warrior II, triangle, reverse warrior, or side angle. While it can be tempting to use force to execute front into a half-moon, you will likely have an easier time maintaining if you are doing slow. Change your weight onto front food, walk front leg side fingertips or block 6-10 inches in front of the pinky-toe side of your foot. Breath in, float back leg upward.
Finding Stability
Keep the knee of the standing leg pointing upright ahead. Sense free to flex your standing leg knee to help in getting an adjustment. Keep lifted leg hip height and skip using the toes outward or in. Work the similar actions in legs that you performed at the wall. Without touching it, resist standing leg foot out to help work the outer hip. Think that you are pressing your elevated foot level back into a wall back you and continue up.
Do not Turn Your Top Hip Back
Resist the urge to roll to the top of the hip back which can be destabilizing and somewhat important for the pelvis. Instead, keep working the actions in the legs, and turn from the belly, spin the right side of the belly to the top side of the belly and turn belly and chest near the ceiling. Stretch top arm up only if your shoulders are stacked and feel stable with balance.
Keep your back of the skull in level with the back of the pelvis and either gaze down to your front big toe level ahead or upward.
The Benefits of Ardha Chandrasana
Stronger Lower Body
This asana helps to increase and maintain strong glutes, legs, hamstrings, quads, and entire mobility and muscle strength.
Alleviate Sciatica Pain
Ardha Chandrasana is therapeutic for sciatica pain. The asana soothes inflammation and irritation of the sciatic nerve and providing far-reaching results. It is a non-invasive method even when feeling more pain.
An Improved Sense of Balance
A decent equilibrium is needed to forestall falls, to keep internally deft, and in agreement with the environmental factors. The Ardha Chandrasana gives great coordination and a sensation of mental and actual pressure in professionals. It likewise causes us to situate ourselves in regular day to day existences and the universe.
Tranquilize the Brain
This asana helps to get a calm mind and create positivity in life. A calm mind is vital for total health to raise an optimistic outlook on life or deal with other situations of life.
Relieve Menstrual Problems
The half-moon position is the best way to reduce menstrual pain. Most experts recommend not to perform yoga during menstruation, but this yoga will help.
Healthy Digestion
The digestion process is always aggressive. Acids go to take over the food consumption to extract all proteins and vitamins so the body can function properly. Asanas like this help people with a robust digestive system help them assimilate and elements provided to them.
The Science After The Ardha Chandrasana
The energy in the standing leg and stretched out arm is said to sparkle like the brilliant moon. This asana is bewildering, yet preparing it will assist with making you educated and create balance. It is difficult to spread out in a representative that additionally needs balance. Yet, on the off chance that you focus on the asana and spotlight on building security through your standing leg, shoulder edges, and tailbone, your help will be solid, and you will have the option to extend and grow.