May 08 , Issue 21
Date: 01/05/08

 

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This Month’s Posture Tree Pose - Vrksasana

 

"Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all”.
 – Buddha's Little Instruction Book

Ever since the beginning of times, trees have not ceased to capture people’s imagination, perhaps because of their size and perhaps also because of the number of years some can live for. Trees are living creatures; they are the lungs of our planet; they are absolutely essential to our survival on it.

A parallel can easily be drawn between the trunk and branches of trees and the human body.  The branches represent our arms and fingers, the trunk our torso and legs and the bark our skin.  The yoga pose Tree is meant to instill a feeling of grounded-ness and centering through our core centre together with a feeling of ascending upward.

To balance is to be able to maintain control of the body whilst in a posture.  Balancing is the ability of the body to respect the correct postural alignment and centre of gravity in relationship to the supporting leg. 

Two physical components are involved in balancing poses.  The muscular and nervous systems have to work together to maintain the postural alignment, the centre of gravity and the weight transfer during the pose.  First we need to work at improving our muscular strength and then we need to learn how to use our nervous system more efficiently.

As we age, we often gradually lose our balance skills.  This is why it is so important to keep on doing balancing postures such as Tree pose throughout our lives.

Improving balance can be a slow process for some of us.  Like all things it comes with practice and enhanced awareness.

Physical & Physiological Benefits
  • Strengthens and tones the legs (thighs, calves, ankles and feet) and spine
  • Stretches the groins and inner thighs, chest and shoulders
  • Improves sense of balance, poise and coordination
  • Increases flexibility in the hips and knees
  • Relieves sciatica and reduces flat feet
Mental Benefits
  • Harnesses the powers of mental concentration (dharana)
  • Calms the mind
  • Develops a clear focus
  • Allows to let go of the fear of falling
Energetic Benefits
  • Strengthens the muladhara or root chakra
Contraindications/Cautions
  • Headache
  • Insomnia
  • Low blood pressure
  • High blood pressure: don't raise arms overhead
Step by Step
  1. Stand in Tadasana, mountain pose to establish your foundation. Broaden the soles of your feet, separate the toes, and ground through the four corners of each foot.  Knees should point straight forward. 
  2. Bring your weight slightly onto the left foot, pick your right leg off the floor, bend the knee, and place the sole of your right foot on the inside of your left thigh as close as possible to the left inner groin, with the toes pointing downward.
  3. In this position, the pressure of the right heel against the left inner groin should be equal to the pressure of the left inner groin against the right heel.  Keep both hips level, and the pelvis directly centered over the supporting leg.
  4. Move your tailbone downwards toward the floor to elongate the spine but not so much that you lose the natural inward curve of your lower back.  The pelvis must be in a neutral position.
  5. Now bring your hands together in Namaste, prayer position in Anjali Mudra at your heart centre.
  6. Find a still point for your dristi (focus point); keep the eyes soft, look straight ahead or down at the floor.
  7. Keep the face and throat soft too.
  8. Focus on your midline.  If you try to balance on your standing leg without honouring your midline, more weight will be placed on the outer edge of your standing foot and the inner edge of your foot will lift.  This will make it impossible for you to maintain the balance.
  9. Once you are steady in the posture, raise your arms above your head, palms still pressing against each other, elbows absolutely straight and bring the arms as far back as you can without pushing the chest forward.  Alternatively, keep the arms stretching upwards, parallel to each other, palms facing each other, shoulder-width apart.  Keep the shoulders relaxed and down, the chin parallel to the floor and the back of the neck long.  Watch the quality of your breath in the pose.  The quality of your breath reflects the quality of your mind.
  10. Hold the posture for several breaths.  Relax all unnecessary tension you may be holding in your body as soon as you become aware of it.  Do not narrow your field of awareness; keep broadening it at all times.  Try to connect with that still centre within you.  Welcome whatever arises, receive everything indiscriminately.
  11. When you are ready to come out of the pose, on an exhalation, release your right foot with your right hand, and come back to Tadasana.  Repeat on the other side.

 

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