Hot Yoga Pose Forums > Chapter: Ardha Chandrasana
Irene - I agree with you: this pose is so complex, so many moving parts, and actually IS three separate poses combined into one that you can spend a lifetime experiencing its many nuances and even finding more! Its one of the many reasons I love this pose - it just seems to expand along with you and show you more and more surprises that all feel so amazing! So be patient - the best is ALWAYS yet to come in this pose! You master one aspect and another gift shows up for you - at exactly the time you are ready for it. Never push yourself beyond where you can go but always be willing to follow your teachers instructions - because she is showing you the way to all the sweet spots of this amazing asana!
I've loved this pose from day one due to the invigoration felt afterwards. I constantly have to realign my shoulders and hips in order to stay square. I have to actively listen to the breathing cues or I tend to hold my breath. But when I breath on cue, the rush I feel when I come back to center is amazing. Since reading about the airbag for the spine I have been able to go deeper into the back end more comfortably.
Airbag for the spine - isnt that great?! Our bodies have so many checks and balances, so many tips and tricks to keep us safe and balanced, so many many more miraculous systems that conspire together to keep us not only healthy but enjoying our bodies its quite illogical that any of us would ever get sick! And yoga is how we come to feel it and experience it and believe in the power of our physiology. Yes I love this pose so much - but I didnt at first! Once I really aligned and allowed myself to relax into all those places while holding the others stable, I can honestly say that it returns me to myself - I feel physically and emotionally like myself when this pose is complete. Its like it roots out any dissention in my body or mind and returns me home again
Reading these have put at peace with self. I am not so much of a fan of this pose, but I am starting to feel in to it and relax and I am able to stop the shaky resistance and open up, feel the heat radiate threw my body. I am working on armpits square and hips square. I am opem to any all suggestions to get my body square; do you have any? I will not be shocked if this ends up being one of my favorite poses. Pada Hastasana is one of my favorite, I am still practicing and learning to let go.amd relax.
Yea lisa every pose is a pose in practice - the more you practice the more the pose evolves (and takes you along with it). Getting hips square often requires moving one hip more forward and the other more backā¦ give. It a try and watch this pose become your favorite sinner rather than later!
Thank you Rhonda...I try to do that but I don't feel like I am getting it correct. I move the hip the other comes forward and the shoulder drops. I'm thinking if I flex a muscle in the upper and lower part of my body that could help. Maybe the rhomboids and the psoas? I have realized that when I use the correct muscles, learn what the agonist and antagonist is then I am able to let my body do what it is supposed to. In the past I would try to tighten all my muscles and now I know why I felt the shakiness/resistance.
Lisa, its natural that as you move say the left hip forward, the left shoulder comes along and almost curls in...so you then move that shoulder back again, and then the hip again, and again and again,. Gently, patiently, working the yin-and-yang of these two opposing movements of the pose...and eventually you will feel the twist that occurs mid-spine and allows the movement you want. Use deliberate focus on these two body parts and let the muscle groups support the movement you want - but yes, you must RELAX FIRST in order to allow the support of the agonist and antagonist muscles.
Paula - can you explain more? Im not clear about what you're saying here....!