01/16/2025
I love teaching the same shape in different ways. This week, I’m teaching a sequence for Ardha Chandrasana, half moon pose. But before we get there, we’ll practice Supta Hasta Padangusthasana (reclined hand-to-big toe pose), on the ground, and Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (extended hand-to-big-toe pose), standing upright. (Option to use straps, of course!)
These are essentially the same pose with different orientations to the ground—for all three, both legs are straight and engaged, feet flexed; one leg is neutral (in Tadasana, mountain pose), the other leg is externally rotated at the hip and abducted (moving away from the body); the arms are spread wide, the chest expanding and in the same plane as the neutral leg. (Notice that in Ardha Chandrasana, the neutral, Tadasana leg is actually the aerial leg, and the standing leg is in external rotation!)
As a student and practitioner, it’s useful to practice these poses together and understand their relationship to each other. As a teacher, it’s helpful to include multiple ways of being in the same or similar shapes in a sequence, to help reinforce students’ understanding of alignment, to encourage them to work from generally more accessible versions of poses to more challenging versions, thereby building confidence, and to let them know they have options if a pose isn’t for them.
