This morning, I got on my mat and focused my practice around Ardha Chandrasana, Half Moon, 5* on Iyengar’s scale of difficulty. And, by the end of my practice, I felt I had little to talk about with regards to the pose.
I began to feel dejected. “If I’m already grappling with what to say now, imagine how hard it will be by the 200th pose! And who’s listening anyway? Wouldn’t it be nice,” I thought, “if there was a half moon today? At least I’d have something to talk about.”
Eventually, I settled on discussing the “tent beneath the moon” as I call it – the tenting of the right fingertips as a key to balancing in the asana. Iyengar places his hand fully on the floor, but cautions that the right hand isn’t mean to bear weight. “The right hand,” he says, “is only a support to control the balance.” I place just my right fingertips on the floor instead. This provides me the ability to use subtle pressure on each fingertip to adjust my balance while also avoiding the tendency to put too much weight on my right hand.
I walked home from dinner content with my topic of choice and ready to write. After all, not every post needs to be laden with greater meaning.
I looked up at the night sky. The moon was half full.
Tags: ardha chandrasana, asana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, serendipity
i read you and love your truthful wisdom! thanks, kat! i’m teaching a class in an hour and will be playing with these ardha chandrasana thoughts.
xxoo! keep ‘em coming!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kat Saks. Kat Saks said: Serendipity Under the Half Moon of Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon): http://bit.ly/d3BRy5 #yoga #yogadork [...]
[...] to name a few! Try approaching the pose by beginning your practice with a bevy of hip-openers like Ardha Chandrasana, Agnistambasana (Ankle-to-Knee Pose), Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pidgeon Pose), and [...]