August 2024

Skandasana / Side Lunge

From our teaching team · Jen Villegas

Pose category: Neutral Spine, Hip Opener, Standing.

Practice safely

These guides are for general education and are not medical advice or a substitute for in-person instruction. Yoga is physical, and every body is different: practice at your own risk, move within your own limits, and stop if something hurts. Talk with your physician before starting any new physical practice, especially if you are pregnant, injured, or managing a health condition. The safest place to learn any of these poses is in the room with a teacher who can see you, and our teachers adjust for every level in every class.

Getting into the posture

  • From prasarita (standing wide-legged forward bend), come up onto fingertips and lengthen the spine. Stay on fingertips and bend the right knee for a side lunge.
  • Choose to stay here, or turn the right toes out slightly so they point toward the upper-right corner of the mat. To deepen, turn the left leg out so the toes face up toward the ceiling with the same heel remaining on the floor.
  • Option to go deeper, bringing the pelvis lower to the ground and widening the stance if needed. Keep the sole of the right foot on the floor, or lift the heel onto the ball of the right foot.

Variations

  • Play with lifting the hands off the floor, bringing the torso more upright and challenging balance.
  • Bring hands to heart.
  • Reach arms out like shooting a bow.
  • Take a bind.

Cues to try

  • "Press your heel into the floor and give resistance to engage your hamstring."
  • "Try drawing your knee up to engage your quadricep."

Modifications

  • If sitting deep bothers the knee or feels too intense on the hamstrings, stick with the simple side lunge from a half wide-legged forward bend.
  • Cue keeping the bent knee tracking in the same direction as the toes.
  • If the floor feels far away, prop hands or fingertips up on blocks.

The best way to learn it is in the room.

Our teachers break down poses like this in every class, at every level. First class is $8.

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