Half Moon Pose Tips
Tips, modifications, & Common misalignments
* Any core pose that reminds you of the core stability you need for Half Moon. Activate the deep core muscles like you're zipping up tight pants.
* Mountain Pose: reminding you of the long, neutral spinal alignment you need.
* Poses that prepare your hips for the flexibility needed. Try some supine hip mobility circles, which simply rotate the hip joints. Try Crescent Lunge or Kneeling Crescent Lunge to stretch the hip flexors.
* Simple Chest Stretch: to help you have the opening needed at the torso, chest and front of the shoulders.
* Lengthen the hamstrings: use forward folds, straddle splits, or Pyramid pose.
• Squeeze the core, including the obliques to keep your spine supported.
• To keep the hips, torso, and shoulders aligned, think of trying to revolve those areas toward the sky. The tendency is to let them revolve towards the floor. Refer to the photo above to see the difference.
• Active arms that reach in opposite directions.
• Be nice to your neck. You neck is part of your spine, so try to keep it in alignment with the rest of your spine. You can gaze up, straight ahead, or even down, but try not to strain or crane your neck. It's delicate; be nice to it. Again, take a look at the photo breakdown above to compare the neck alignment.
• Maybe the biggest tip of all: Use a block to avoid coming out of neutral spinal alignment. You'll notice in the diagram that my legs are much longer than my arms. So, for me, a block is an amazing prop to help me make this pose better, stronger, and safer by bringing the floor up to my hand.
• Another fantastic prop for Half Moon: the wall! Practice the pose with your hips just a few inches from the wall, so that when you try to open the hips and revolve the torso into the pose, the wall is behind you for physical support. You can approach this in one of two ways. The first is to use the wall. Work on understanding how the pose should feel when your hips, torso and shoulders are aligned (perpendicular to the floor), trying to touch both hips and shoulder blades to the wall. The second is to try the pose without needing the wall, but it's there to catch you if you lose your balance.
Balance poses take practice and patience. Keep practicing in an aware and safe way and remember not to force any pose on your body. We're all put together a little differently, and some poses come more naturally than others. Here's the biggest tip of all: be mindful and keep it fun.
Love & Light.