Ardha Chandrāsana
How do we do it ?
Pārśva Ardha Chandrāsana . We start with brining the feet together and then brining the arms over the head sideways, the fingers interlaced and the index fingers pointed while thumbs say crossed. The arms (the biceps) with the ears! Neck and spine long. In the class we do a bit of a warmup by bending right and left a few times before stretching to the sides. After stoping in the middle we can try to stretch up before going into the main movement – Slowly bend right and continuously push the hips to left all the while trying not to let the spine twist, arched back, or hunched forward. The front side of the body is opened and the back of the body stays tall. To tweak the alignment we make sure the hips are even and the shoulders are not hunched forward or the lower back isn’t arched in a backbend. Starting from the feet up, the feet stay together. Knee caps lifted and legs straight. Hold in stillness. Don’t forget to breathe! The intentions is to deeply stretch the whole side of the body. This is know as Lateral Flexion.