Yoga with Modi Ji: Ardha Chakrasana

Ardha chakrasana is an intermediate asana that can help to prepare the body and mind for deeper backbends and heart-opening postures like chakrasana (wheel pose). The name is derived from the Sanskrit ardha, meaning “half,” chakra, meaning “wheel,” and asana, meaning “pose.”

To enter ardha chakrasana, the practitioner begins in tadasana (mountain pose). The hands are placed on the lower back, then the body leans back, bending the back and opening the chest.

Ardha chakrasana is known as half wheel pose in English.