The One Yoga Pose We Must Master
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And the pose is... Shabasna, Relaxation pose. Just kidding! It's Tadasana or Samasthiti - Standing Mountain Pose. Sounds like a joke still but this pose is considered the blueprint of all other poses. It should be held in high regard. I love the below quote.
“You want to stand on your head and you don’t even know how to stand on your feet.”
The Sanskrit word Tada: meaning mountain and Asana: meaning posture, give you Tadasana: Standing Mountain Pose. Or Sama: meaning equal, level or balanced and Sthiti: meaning stand or stay, give you Samasthiti: equal Standing.
These poses, used in different styles of yoga, are one in the same. Maty Exraty describes them as the following: "Samasthiti (Equal Standing) is a command to attention, to stand in balanced stillness. It is the practice of standing with equal, steady, and still attention. Tadasana (Mountain Pose) is the posture that invokes Samasthiti. These poses are not different. They are the same."
Understanding Tadasana gives you a more complete awareness throughout your entire yoga practice. Each pose is a variation of Tadasana. Let's talk about the bodies posture in the pose.
Tadasana in the feet: Always begin by planting the feet, as a solid foundation. Focus on even distribution from the heal to the balls of the feet. With your big toes and heals touching, the second toe pointed straight forward, focus on spreading your feet from the center of you foot outwards in every direction. Keep the arches lifted to strengthen them. Allow your feet to be soft yet balanced. Make sure you do not scrunch your toes!
Tadasana in the legs: Shins should be directly over the ankles, calf muscle pressing forward toward your shins, knees over ankles and thighs over ankles, but do not hyper extend. You want to have the feeling of hugging your muscles into your bones. Hug your calf and thigh muscles in toward your bones. As you hug your muscles you want to lift them upwards. Lift your knee caps and continue to do this if the slid down. Squeeze your inner thighs together and lift your outer thighs up towards your hips. Stretch your legs strongly! Your legs are very active in this pose.
Tadasana of the hips: You should be drawing your tailbone underneath and forward as you engage and lift your pubic bone towards your chest keeping the Mula Bandha and Uddiyana bandha activated. You are not squeezing your buttocks together but rather you are engaging them forward, especially the top of the buttocks. Be sure that your pelvis is level, front and back, side to side should all be on the same plane.
“To feel the correct Tadasana of the shoulder blades, sit on a chair with your knees under a table, put your hands underneath the table with your elbows at your sides, and pull the table gently upward with your palms. Remember the shoulder blades belong with the back.”
Tadasana in the upper body: Lengthen your torso from both sides away from your hips upwards towards your armpits. Along with this action, lift your sternum towards heaven and expand your ribcage breathing into it to expand it even more. Your spin stays back. You must open your chest, lengthen the collar bones and broaden the upper back. The shoulders should naturally fall away from the ears lengthening the neck gently. You want to draw your shoulder blades down your back. Arms should be extended fully and lengthen in a strong but relaxed way. Keeping Nasagrai Drishti gazing just beyond the tip of your nose. Keep the crown of your head gently extended toward the sky. Be as tall and as strong as you can be. Like an unmovable, unshakable mountain. Standing balanced, ready.
Practice this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time. You can practice while standing in line anywhere you are! Perfect this pose and watch your practice evolve!
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Please note that there are variations of this pose, its is important to do your own research and learn these poses through practice and guidance. The information above is my own method developed through mentors, research and practice.