In short: monkey pose, Hanumanasana, is the full front split: one leg stretched straight forward, the other straight back, the pelvis facing the front of the mat and lowered toward the floor. It asks for long hamstrings in the front leg and long hip flexors in the back leg, so for most people it is a pose to work toward over months, sitting on blocks or a bolster on the way.
Monkey pose looks like the splits of ballet or gymnastics, and B.K.S. Iyengar makes the same comparison in Light on Yoga. What makes the yoga version different is the attention to how you get there: hips square, both legs neutral, the spine long, and props under the pelvis for as long as you need them. Approached that way, the progress is slow but steady. Forced, it is one of the easier ways to strain a hamstring.
The name and the story behind it
Hanumānāsana is named after Hanumān, the monkey hero of the Rāmāyaṇa. In the story he crosses the sea to Laṅkā in one great leap to find Sītā, and later leaps to the Himalayas to fetch a healing herb; Light on Yoga says the pose commemorates those leaps. The same Sanskrit name, and the same shape, appear in Light on Yoga (1966), in the Bihar School’s Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha and in the third (advanced A) series of Ashtanga yoga as documented by AshtangaYoga.info, where the pose is followed by a forward fold over the front leg. In English it is usually called monkey pose or the front split. The half version, with the back knee down and the front leg straight, has its own page: half split.
Making the split work
The two legs do opposite jobs. The front leg flexes at the hip, so the hamstrings and the back of the knee lengthen; the back leg extends, so the front of that hip, the hip flexors and the front of the thigh, lengthen. AshtangaYoga.info points out that the back leg is usually the real limit, and warns against the common shortcut of turning the pelvis open to the side: the split then gets lower, but the stretch moves to the inner thigh and the inner knee, and the hip flexors that the pose is meant to open are left out. Yoga Journal gives the same priority: keep the pelvis square and the back thigh from rolling outward.
That is why props matter more here than in most poses. A thick bolster placed lengthwise under the pelvis, or one or two blocks under the front-leg hip, lifts the floor to meet you, so you can keep the hips square and still feel the full stretch. Blocks under the hands let you keep the spine upright. Many teachers also suggest practising on a bare floor with a folded blanket under the back knee and the front heel, so the legs can slide gradually; on a sticky mat they tend to stop dead. Lower only while the breath stays slow, and come out if the sensation turns sharp or sits in the back of the knee.
Precautions in plain words
Monkey pose is an advanced stretch. It is not suitable with a recent or recurring hamstring tear, groin strain, hip labrum problems or a knee injury, and people with very mobile joints should take care not to sink into the joints rather than using the muscles. Warm up thoroughly first: a split attempted cold is the classic way to pull a hamstring. In pregnancy, do not work toward new depth; keep to supported versions and follow your health care provider’s advice. If you have any hip, knee or back condition, check with a doctor or physical therapist first. This page is general information, not individual advice.
Preparation and what comes next
The usual path runs through low lunge for the back-leg hip flexors, half split for the front-leg hamstrings, pyramid pose and reclining hand-to-big-toe pose. Afterward, rest in child’s pose or fold forward in seated forward bend. Once the split is comfortable, it becomes the base of deeper poses: in Light on Yoga the fourth variation of one-legged king pigeon is done from the split, with the back foot drawn up to the head. The side-to-side split, Samakonasana, is a different pose that Light on Yoga rates as harder still.
Where it is taught
You will meet monkey pose in Iyengar classes, in the advanced series of Ashtanga, and as a peak pose in vinyasa workshops, usually after a long warm-up. Our yoga for flexibility plan builds the lunges and forward bends it depends on. Browse more hip and leg stretches in the pose library.
