How to Do a Mountain Pose in Yoga
It might look like you’re just standing there, but Mountain Pose —Tadasana (tah-DAHS-uh-nuh) — is an active pose that helps improve posture, balance, and calm focus. Its name comes from the Sanskrit words "tada" (meaning "mountain") and "asana" (meaning "pose"). Tadasana is the foundational pose for all standing yoga postures and full inversions, such as Handstand and Headstand. It is the pose from which every other standing pose in your practice is born! The alignment, muscle movements, and mindset you learn in Tadasana are applied every time you do a standing yoga pose. So, it’s important to learn how to do it correctly. Once you understand the proper form of Mountain Pose, it will be easier to gain and maintain the alignment for all other standing poses and inversions.
Benefits of Mountain Pose
A correctly executed Tadasana will use every muscle in the body. It improves posture and, when practiced regularly, can help reduce back pain. This pose strengthens the thighs, knees, ankles, abdomen, and buttocks. It is also helpful for relieving sciatica and for reducing the affects of flat feet.
Breathe and all will be revealed; love and all will be healed. This is yoga.
Seane Corn
Tadasana steadies the mind and body, bringing a calm focus to the practitioner. Practicing the pose with steady and smooth breath will help relieve stress and improve concentration.
Cautions
Due to the balancing nature of the posture, do not practice Mountain Pose if you are currently experiencing headaches, insomnia, low blood pressure, or if you are lightheaded and/or dizzy. Always work within your own range of limits and abilities. If you have any medical concerns, talk with your doctor before practicing yoga.
Instructions
- Stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Press your weight evenly across the balls and arches of your feet. Breathe steadily and rhythmically. Draw your awareness inward. Focus on the present moment, letting all worries and concerns fade away.
- Press your big toes together (separate your heels if you need to). Lift your toes and spread them apart. Then, place them back down on the mat, one at a time.
- Draw down through your heels and straighten your legs. Ground your feet firmly into the earth, pressing evenly across all four corners of both feet.
- Then, lift your ankles and the arches of your feet. Squeeze your outer shins toward each other.
- Draw the top of your thighs up and back, engaging the quadriceps. Rotate your thighs slightly inward, widening your sit bones.
- Tuck in your tailbone slightly, but don’t round your lower back. Lift the back of your thighs, but release your buttocks. Keep your hips even with the center line of your body.
- Bring your pelvis to its neutral position. Do not let your front hip bones point down or up; instead, point them straight forward. Draw your belly in slightly.
- As you inhale, elongate through your torso. Exhale and release your shoulder blades away from your head, toward the back of your waist.
- Broaden across your collarbones, keeping your shoulders in line with the sides of your body.
- Press your shoulder blades toward the back ribs, but don’t squeeze them together. Keep your arms straight, fingers extended, and triceps firm. Allow your inner arms to rotate slightly outward.
- Elongate your neck. Your ears, shoulders, hips, and ankles should all be in one line.
- Keep your breathing smooth and even. With each exhalation, feel your spine elongating. Softly gaze forward toward the horizon line. Hold the pose for up to one minute.
Modifications & Variations
Since Mountain Pose is the foundation for all other standing poses and inversions, it’s important to learn the correct alignment. Often, this means changing habitual patterns of alignment in your body. Standing up properly can take some getting used to! Try these simple changes to learn the pose correctly:
Tips
In order for the alignment of Tadasana to translate to the rest of your standing and inverted yoga postures, it’s vital to get this basic pose right. Here are a couple of tips to help you stand up straight:
Stand Up Tall
You can practice Mountain Pose many times throughout your normal day: While brushing your teeth, standing in line, or riding the elevator. You can even practice it while walking, running, or doing the dishes! Once you have a hang of the correct alignment, you may find yourself standing and sitting straighter throughout your day with reduced back pain and a calm, clear mind.
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