The paper bridges the need for a theoretical formulation for the ponderomotive force, which is necessary for laboratory regimes where plasmas are thermally anisotropic. The calculations are based on a closed set of moment equations obtained from the Vlasov equation, under the assumption of negligible heat flow, for an arbitrary strength of the external magnetic field. The formulation also results in the inclusion of the finite Larmor radius effect, besides pointing out the limitations in the Chew, Goldberger, and Low [Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 236, 112 (1956)] equations which have been frequently used to describe an anisotropic temperature plasma.