David Kam guides us through Crescent Lunge, a dynamic standing pose that stretches and strengthens the lower and upper body.

Benefits of Crescent Lunge

The kinder sibling of Warrior 1 and a common connector between postures, Crescent Lunge can be very adaptable towards addressing different focuses to serve the changing needs of our practice. This ranges from heart opening, strengthening the quads and glutes, stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and groin, to developing lower spine stability, improving balance and inner focus.

Common Mistakes

We tend to be preoccupied with only what is in front of us. This usually manifests in our subconscious habit to lean forwards in this posture, displacing the head and tailbone off our natural plumb line. For the same reason, the back foot can also be overlooked where the pinky toe is lifted, causing the big toe to bear additional stress.

Awareness

Be mindful of keeping the front big toe in view from inside the front knee at all times and always return to your breath whilst in Alanasana. Ground the feet through your inhale and sigh yourselves into a deeper stretch.

Tips

To create a generous spinal extension, allow the reach of your arms to begin from the waistline towards the most gradual curvature across the body. In short, iron out the muffin tops or love handles, particularly in the lower back and the neck!
To minimise the occasional wobbles, draw your belly into the spine as you direct both the front knee and the back heel away from each other. Magnetise your inner thighs together as they are internally rotated and encourage particularly the front big toe to ground.

David Kam is an international movement artist and yoga teacher who guides people towards rediscovering their inner athletic artists through joy in movement (davidkamkiawei.com)

Find more Man on the Mat poses here.

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