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february/march 2019yogajournal.com.au4 When your hand has made a connection with the top of
your right foot, hold firmly and swing your knee back
behind you. To fully open the pose, kick your right foot
into your hand as though you’re trying to straighten your
leg. Without letting your right hip pop forward, draw your
left buttock under. Be sure your bent (right) thigh stays in
line with your torso so you do not overwork your outer or
inner thigh muscles. Hold here for 3–5 breaths. To come
out, release your foot and place your right hand on your
hip, bend your standing leg, powerfully reach through
your back leg, and place your right foot on the floor,
returning to Parsvakonasana. Repeat on the other side.
Balancing act
The word chapa refers to the sugarcane stalk
that the goddess Lalita uses as her bow. Her
arrows are flowers, and she has a half moon
(ardha chandra) in her hair. For this reason,
my teacher Douglas Brooks, PhD, a scholar
of Hinduism and the comparative study of
religions, named this pose (which is a
variation of Ardha Chandrasana) Ardha
Chandra Chapasana many years ago.
The goddess who holds the bow (chapa)
represents every emotional possibility
from pleasant and agreeable to fierce and
formidable. Her intricacy is not unlike our
own complex nature. Although she may
seem sweet and demure with flower arrows
and a sugarcane bow, her weapons become
sharp and deadly when demons need
slaying. Yogis can relate to this need for inner
dichotomy: there are times to be pleasant
and agreeable, and times to stand with
ferocity and fight for what is right and moral.