Half Moon

TRADITIONAL ALIGNMENT

Foot to Hip : Standing leg; hip flexed (bent) and externally rotated (turned out), knee extended (leg straight) foot ground, lifting arches. Raised leg; abducted (lifted away), hip extended (open) and internally rotated (turned in), knee extended (leg straight).
Spine : Neutral and long. Core engaged obliques rotate torso to face long edge of the mat. Neck neutral or twisted.
Shoulder to Hand : Arms abducted (apart), elbows extended (arms straight), arms strong.

INTEGRATION

This standing balance sequences nicely with other hip open postures, its quite accessible for even beginners. Use block under hand lifts the chest and keeps the spine more long and neutral, hand on floor flexes the hip further and may add more of a side bend to the spine and even a forward fold. Prepare the body with other inner thigh/hamstring stretches such as triangle or side angle pose or prepare with poses that work the outer thigh and glutes, kicking the raise leg to the side as in Kneeling Half Moon or side leg raises.

EXPLORATION

Foot to Hip : knee slightly bent vs locked out
Spine : keeping it long vs laterally flexing
Shoulder to Hand : hand placement on a tight rope or staggered

MODIFICATION

- Kneeling
- Back against a wall
- Triangle pose

ADVANCEMENT

Bound Half Moon or no hand support in Half Moon makes the pose more unstable and challenging to balance. The bind adds a further stretch to the shoulder and chest.
Sugar Cane : hold the raised foot and kick it back into the hand to add a front body and shoulder stretch.
Hip open Standing Split increases the stretch in the supporting leg hamstrings and inner thigh.

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