The first time I did this posture I fell over. The tenth time I did a Crescent Lunge… I fell over. By the hundredth time I did this posture I could stay in it, but holy cow I still had a ton of work to do to get the alignment right.

For pretty much all of my students, when I instruct to enter into Crescent Lunge there is a silent groan that I see in their energy even if it’s not vocalized. And, sometimes it just comes out – the big groan. Why? It’s not an easy posture even though it doesn’t look too complicated.

Your body is literally going in two directions. You are lunging forward and you are bending back. There’s a lot to think about. 

But, here is why working on this posture is important:

• It helps with your balance and your proprioception (the intelligence of knowing where your body is in space).
• It warms you up quickly, getting you ready for what’s to come in the sequence.
• Crescent Lunges offer an awareness of connecting your legs to your backbends. You often forget about your legs in a back bend and you should work not to. When you start also using the strength of your legs, your back-bending technique improves.
• It helps you get a huge stretch at the front of the hip, where you might have created tension over time, especially if you sit for a long time during your day.

So, to help with the whole not falling on your keester during this posture, as well as, refining your technique to get more out of your time on your mat, here are 3 things you can do to improve your Crescent Lunge today:

#1. Bring your lunging knee into alignment.  

#2. Pull your pelvis forward.

#3. Stretch up (ribs away from hips) before you begin the back bend.

There are also a ton of other tiny adjustments you can do to improve your Crescent Lunge, but most of them are on a one-to-one individual basis, so have your instructor take a look at it.

Don’t do Crescent Lunges in your practice? You should.

They are a great way to create strength, improve your back bends, and help you conquer your balance. You can find them in both my Traditional Hatha Yoga Level II Class and, at times, my Power Hatha Flow Class (depending on what we are working on that day). 

But, always remember, it’s not about the depth of a posture. It’s about building a posture from the ground up. You don’t have to nail it on the first try or even the hundredth. Work where you are and build from there.

Happy lunging!

xo, Tori

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