Tree pose

Tree Pose

by Steve Johansen from Hummingbird Pilates and yoga

I am pleased do you have the opportunity to share my passion of yoga with you all, with the aim of inspiring you to give it a try. This month I'm going to be focusing on one of the most common standing balances Vrksasana (vrik-SHAHS-ah-nah) or tree pose.

Yoga for me is all about balance, in fact the word yoga translates as ‘union’ or ‘yoke’, the union of mind, body, and spirit, working together in harmony, in a mindful and balanced way. However, we so rarely get the opportunity during our day to do any real balance, despite it being so vitally important to our mental and physical well-being.

At first glance, Tree Pose may seem easy, however, it is a deceptively challenging pose, after all we're not born with our sense of balance, it is something we must learn, and once learnt, we must keep practising it to maintain and improve it. Balance poses help to develop body awareness (where and how we move our body) and improve our physical strength and flexibility. The secret though, as with all yoga, is not allowing your mind to wander. To help develop mental focus, we introduce a Dristi, or focused gaze.

Improving our balance, like anything else, takes time and practise. If you're worried about falling you can always stand near a wall or use the back of a chair, using just your fingertips to reassure you yourself as you start to find your balance and increase in confidence.

Where to start:

As with many standing poses, we start in (Tadasana) or Mountain Pose. Choose a point, which is not moving, and focus your eyes on that point, called Dristi, or a focused gaze. The further away that focus point is, the better your balance often is, this will also stop you being distracted and help to develop your mental focus. Then establish a good foundation, by grounding the four corners of your feet, soften the knees and tuck the tailbone under, Lengthen through the spine, helping you to stand a little taller, roll your shoulder blades down your back away from your ears, lifting the crown of the head to the ceiling. Standing tall, strong, immovable like a mountain. Start to introduce your three-part breath, breathing slowly and evenly in and out through your nose to help establish your mindfulness.

Slowly transfer your weight into your left foot, keeping the weight evenly on the four corners of your left foot, bending your right knee in showing you keep your hips still, slide the right toes backwards to the inside of your left ankle then turn on the outwards without moving the hips, the heel of your right foot can rest against your left ankle, toes just touching the mat for a bit of moral support. Again, think about your four corners of your left foot, if the white transfer's to the outside edge it's probably because you've lifted your right hip, if your weight rose inwards it's because you've dropped your right hip, level the hips.

If you're feeling confident you can flex your right foot or bring the soul of your right foot to the inside of your left calf, with your toes pointing towards the ground, gently pressing evenly with your toes and heel. It's very important to avoid placing the sole of your foot on the inside off your knee joint itself to avoid knee pain is the knee bends forwards and backwards. Your hands come together at your heart centre In a preposition – Then, if you're feeling balanced you can raise the arms above the head while maintaining the preposition of the hands.

Now comes the hard bit, maintaining your focused gaze (Dristi), whilst keeping your balance for three to five long, slow, steady breaths, before returning to mountain pose and repeating the same steps on the other foot.

I often cooperate this post into my daily routine, practising it while waiting for the kettle to boil. I hope this article encourages you to give yoga a try and that you find a moment of stillness while you're improving your balance. Remember life and yoga should be fun just enjoy yourself. If you feel that you benefit from a regular load yoga practise I would like help mastering this and other beneficial poses join me for a healthy yoga class at Hummingbird Pilates & Yoga this new year. Here is a free pass code HPYFREECLASS so there really is no excuse not to try!