The Story Behind Full Splits

Hanumanāsana, the full front splits, is named for Hanuman, the devoted monkey-god of the Rāmāyaṇa, and commemorates a single extraordinary moment: his leap across the ocean.

Hanuman was the son of Añjanā and Kesari, born with the blessing of Vāyu, the wind — an irrepressible child of enormous strength. When Rama’s wife Sītā was carried away to the island of Laṅkā, it was Hanuman who set out to find her.

To cross the sea he grew to a giant size and sprang from a mountaintop, one leg stretched far ahead and the other trailing behind, soaring the whole distance in a single bound. The pose freezes that leap: front and back legs extended fully along the floor.

So the splits are less about flexibility than about wholehearted devotion — Hanuman’s leap was carried by love and faith as much as by strength. Practised patiently, and always with warmth in the muscles, Hanumanāsana becomes a study in surrender and steady, unforced opening; honour the reach rather than forcing it.