Category: Standing
Level: beginner
Hold: 5–8 breaths
Type: Asana
Breath: Steady breaths; exhale to sink a little deeper into the front leg.

High Lunge

Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana — "extended horse-riding posture"

Also known as: Crescent Lunge

A lunge on the ball of the back foot with arms reaching high. High Lunge builds serious leg strength and balance without asking the hips to square like Warrior I.

Step by step

1From standing, step your left foot back into a long stance, staying on the ball of the back foot.
2Bend your right knee over the ankle, back leg straight and strong.
3Keep your feet on separate tracks, hip-width apart, for stability.
4Inhale and reach your arms overhead, palms facing each other.
5Draw your lower ribs in and lengthen your tailbone toward the floor.
6Press back through your left heel while sinking evenly into the front leg.
7Hold, then step forward and repeat on the second side.

Benefits

✓ Strengthens the thighs, glutes, and calves
✓ Stretches the hip flexors of the back leg
✓ Improves balance and ankle stability
✓ Opens the chest and shoulders

Make it yours

· Lower the back knee to the mat to convert to Low Lunge.
· Practice with fingertips on blocks either side of the front foot.
· Shorten the stance for easier balance.

Take care

Reduce the depth of the lunge, or lower the back knee, if you have knee discomfort.
Keep hands on the hips if balance feels shaky today.

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Practiced in

Props that help here

Manduka PRO — The buy-it-once option — dense, stable, famously durable. Heavy, so it lives at home, which is where practice happens anyway. find one
Liforme Original — The grippiest mat we've used, with alignment markers that genuinely help beginners place hands and feet. Priciest of the three. find one

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