Mastering the Art of Half Moon Pose
Techniques for Perfecting Your Balance
I love everything about Ardha Chandrasana, or Half Moon Pose. On a really good day, when I’m balancing effortlessly in Half Moon, with my standing leg firm and rooted like a pillar, ribcage revolving open, and shoulder blades pressing into my back, I truly marvel at the magic of balancing my entire body weight on five tented fingertips and one tiny foot. It’s the closest I’ll ever come to experiencing the exhilaration of Michelle Kwan’s signature spiral on the ice.
No other balancing pose brings me such joy. Arm balances come close, but they require considerable effort—both physical and mental. Sometimes, just figuring out how to get into them feels like a game of Twister: “You want me to put my right knee on my left triceps and my left knee where?” In contrast, Half Moon feels like unraveling, like coming completely undone in a good way. I once told my husband that Half Moon makes me feel inexplicably sunny. When I later explored the benefits of the pose in Yoga as Medicine by Timothy McCall, MD and Iyengar practitioner, I discovered that the suggested sequence for depression (written by renowned Iyengar Yoga teacher Patricia Walden) includes Half Moon. It reads:
“Patricia finds this pose particularly helpful for a tense, constricted mind because it directs your focus to the periphery of the body—extending through the fingers, extending through the toes, extending from the center outward. There’s a freedom and a liberation in that.”
This resonates deeply with me, especially as I’ve battled depression in the past. Half Moon feels incredibly expansive, yet it demands laser-like focus and grounded stability.
Explore More Yoga Tips: If you find this pose intriguing, check out our guide on other yoga poses that can uplift your mood and enhance your practice. Discover More Yoga Poses
Half Moon Pose certainly has its challenges: You must root down through the standing leg while finding buoyancy in your torso, top arm, and top leg. Initially, you might feel as though your pelvis and top leg are weighing you down or throwing you off balance. To find your sweet spot, try pressing your back foot against a wall. This pressure will lighten the pose and help stabilize your balance. As you achieve balance, you can more easily align and engage the muscles of the standing leg, making the entire pose feel lighter. Your pelvis will feel as if it’s floating on top of your standing leg rather than sinking heavily onto it.
Get Personalized Yoga Guidance: Want more tips on mastering poses? Join Our Yoga Workshop for personalized guidance and expert instruction.
Using the wall also facilitates skillful engagement of your standing leg. I notice that instead of jamming my standing leg back into a desperate state of hyperextension, I can press the standing thigh back while externally rotating the top outer edge of the thigh. While the rotation might not be significant, visualizing it creates balance in the leg.
Additionally, the wall aids in aligning your lower back and torso. If you have a tendency to overarch your lower back and puff your ribs out, creating a banana shape, balancing becomes significantly harder. By pressing your foot into the wall, draw your front lower ribs in and down. Lengthen your tailbone toward your heels and engage your abdomen. From there, you’ll feel buoyant and ready to soar—much like Michelle as she glides across the ice.
The Practice
To practice Half Moon at a wall, start with a modified Triangle Pose, pressing the outer edge of your left foot against the wall. Position your feet about a foot closer together than usual in Triangle Pose, as you’ll need to move away from the wall for Half Moon.
From Triangle Pose, place your left hand on your left hip and look down at the floor. Simultaneously, position your right fingertips 8 to 12 inches in front of the pinky toe side of your right foot while lifting your left leg and pressing the sole of your foot into the wall.
Adjust your right arm and standing leg to ensure your right fingertips are directly underneath your right shoulder and your right leg is directly underneath your pelvis. This alignment will simplify balancing.
Ready to Master Your Yoga Practice?: Check out our Comprehensive Yoga Guide for detailed instructions and tips on various poses, including Half Moon.
From this clear alignment, refine your legs’ work: Bend your right knee slightly and draw the outer edge of your right hip back toward the wall. To straighten the right leg, press down deliberately with the mound of your big toe, the pinky toe, and the heel while taking the top of your thigh back. Your standing leg should feel firm and strong, like a pillar. Firm both legs and send energy through them, out through your toes. Notice the steadiness when both legs are engaged and aligned.
Once you have the foundation set, it’s time to fly. With your left hand on your left hip, imagine your ribcage as a corkscrew, turning it open toward the ceiling. Your left shoulder will ultimately stack above your right as you extend your left arm up. Avoid over-bending the lower back or thrusting the lower ribs out. Instead, imagine two balloons on your kidneys (just below your back ribs) keeping the lower back full, light, and buoyant. This helps draw the lower ribs into your body. You’ll feel your lower abdomen engage and draw back as you do this.
From here, reach through the fingers, feet, and top of your head as if extending rays of light from a full moon. Can you balance this engagement while keeping your breath continuous and your eyes soft? Can you feel yourself gliding on ice?
When you’re ready to come down, exhale and return your left leg to Triangle Pose. Inhale to come up and switch sides.
An editor at Yoga Journal for nearly a decade, Andrea Ferretti has had the honor of writing about and learning from some of the best yoga teachers in the West. She has been greatly influenced by Sarah Powers, Sally Kempton, Cyndi Lee, and her husband, Jason Crandell. For more of her personal writing, visit her blog, Mindful Living.
