Asana of the Month: Low Crescent Lunge
Photo credit to Orel Revivo Photography
Low Crescent Lunge, known in Sanskrit as अञ्जनेयासन / Añjaneyasana (pronounced AHN-Jah-nay-AHS-uh-nuh), is a standing posture that opens up the hips, strengthens the back, improves the quality of breath, and stretches various parts of the legs and back. It is an excellent preparatory pose for more advanced back bends and hip-openers and is beloved by yogis and yoga teachers for its use as a transitional pose during sequences that effortlessly flow. Many practitioners will recognize variations of this pose from Sun and Moon Salutations.
Like most standing postures, Low Crescent Lunge wasn’t apart of medieval hatha yoga; it was introduced in the 20th century and is used in modern styles of yoga (like Sivananda and Ashtanga yoga). Añjaneyasana literally translates to “son of Anjani pose”; Añjaneya is another name for Hanuman, a monkey god that was a great companion of King Rama (of the Ancient Indian epic the Ramayana).
As an asymmetrical hip-opener, this posture offers a safe way for beginners to work their way up to more challenging floor hip-openers (like Pigeon Pose). Because this pose includes a back bend that is adjustable to the level of the practioner, it can also be used to build up the back flexibility and strength that is required for more advanced back bends (like Bow Pose or Wheel Pose). Even though this posture is incredibly beginner-friendly, it can be adapted easily for intermediate or advanced practitioners. Common variations include Lizard Pose, Parivritta Anjaneyasana (Crescent Low Lunge Pose Twist), and Low Lunge Pose.
Energetically, this posture is a powerful heart-opener that revitalizes your internal battery, stimulates your creativity, and grounds you.
Low Crescent Lunge: Asana Overview
English — Low Crescent Lunge
Sanskrit — Añjaneyasana (pronounced AHN-Jah-nay-AHS-uh-nuh)
Level — Beginner
Position — Standing
Type — Back-Bend, Stretch, Balance, Strength
Chakra Balancing — Heart Chakra (Anahata), Solar Plexus (Manipura), Sacral Chakra (Swadisthana), Root Chakra (Muladhara)
Benefits — Physically, this hip-opening asana develops balance, strengthens and stretches the back and legs, and improves breathing. Energetically, this posture expands your heart, recharges your solar plexus, removes creative blocks, and grounds you. Mentally, this posture cultivates the fortitude, stability, and equilibrium necessary for developing discipline and maintaining steadiness during stress.
How to Practice: Step-by-Step Instructions for Low Crescent Lunge
Contraindications: This posture requires a fair amount of balance and a certain level of physical fitness. Please respect where your body is right now, otherwise your body will never get to where you want it to go. If you are finding it difficult to balance, keep to the low lunge position and do not proceed past step 2. Students practicing this posture should have familiarity with breath-body consciousness or the idea of connecting your breath to your movement and keeping yourself calm and focused, especially when adding in the back-bending elements of this posture. In general, it is a good idea to take this pose slowly and consciously, to respect resistance and honor it (versus pushing past it), and to spend some time centering yourself and becoming aware of your breath before practicing. Those with recent injuries to the hips or knees, as well as recent surgery of the spine, hips, knees, and shoulders, should avoid this posture.
Come into a low lunge position. Your front knee should be at a 90-degree angle, the knee stacked on top of the ankle. This is a great place to stay if your balance or strength isn’t strong enough to maintain the posture. Feel free to incorporate blocks on both sides (to keep your hands on top of), or perform a variation of this posture with your hands on each side of the front leg.
Bring your hands into Anjali mudra (prayer) at heart center. Take 5 - 10 long inhales and exhales. Use the exhales to slowly release the hips. Bring the awareness to these areas. If it’s available to you, close your eyes and visualize sending your breath to your hips.
Bring the arms up, aligning the sides of your arms with your ears.
Inhale and start to reach your arms behind you, allowing the back to bend slowly. You can stay here for 5 - 10 breaths or…
Exhale as you come out of the back bend.
Repeat steps 1 - 5 on the opposite side of the body.
Therapeutic Modifications
Support the knees — Use a blanket underneath the knee to ease any pressure placed on the joint.
Keep the back knee up — To build strength in the legs and/or avoid overdoing the opening of the hips, keep the back leg up. To control how much the hip opens, you can stack multiple blankets underneath the knee on the ground to decrease the hip-opening.
Explore the low lunge variations — Before introducing the back bend or attempting to open up the hips wider, build up the strength and balance necessary for maintaining this posture with ease by giving one of the many low lunge variations a try. You can remain in a low lunge with hands beside the front leg, hands on the knee, or hands at heart center.
Try engaging different body parts to strengthen and stretch certain muscle groups and improve targeted stability — Engaging the front leg will improve knee stability; engaging the abdominal muscles while strengthen the corresponding region; activating the shoulders will strengthen the muscles near the scapula, etc.
Anatomy of Low Crescent Lunge
Low Crescent Lunge strengthens the spinal extensors and stretches various leg, arm, and back muscles, including but not limited to the hip flexors, the hip adductors, the gluteus maximus, and the upper hamstrings. It increases endurance, balance, and mobility of the spine. Due to the opening of the chest through the stretching of latissimus dorsi, an accessory muscle of respiration, breathing is improved.
Asymmetrical balancing pose
In the upper body, stretches the arms, armpits, shoulders, and neck
In the torso, stretches the intercostal muscles (the muscles between the ribs), abdomen, and the psoas muscles (deep muscles that connect the upper body to the lower body via the spine and hips)
In the lower body, stretches the quadriceps, shin muscles, pelvic muscles, as well as the deeper tissues in the groin and inner thigh region
Lengthens the spine, improves spine mobility
Improves knee stability when bent
Strengthens the shoulders, the front leg’s hip in flexion, and the spinal extensors
Different activations/engagements will activate and strength or stretch different muscle groups