T.G.I.F. love! Today I wanted to help you look like a pro when you post your favorite yoga pose to Instagram. In the past year, I have scrolled through instagram and ran across multiple acquaintances or friends doing a cute yoga pose on top of a wine field, on a hike, or some other fun place. Unfortunately, most were missing a key detail of this pose. Since tree pose, or Vrksasana in Sanskrit, is a well-known pose. In fact, it was the only yoga pose I remember knowing before I really knew what yoga was. I am definitely guilty of posting bad yoga poses to social media!
Tree Pose is the asana (physical posture) that pose I see most often butchered on Instagram. Most people stick and press their lifted foot right into their kneecap and it makes me cringe! I have weak knees and am big on alignment, so maybe that is why I am particular about this detail. In fact, I remember feeling appalled when I saw a Wendy’s commercial of women practicing yoga and nearly all of them had their foot on their knee.
Tree pose improves balance, coordination, and stability. It helps me find the calm during struggle by keeping my hands at heart center, and practicing the pose helps me focus. I have also read that it reduces flat feet and relieves sciatic pain. Scroll down to learn exactly how to do tree pose:
How to do Tree Pose
- Spread the toes of your right foot as wide as possible to create a wide, stable base.
- Come up onto the ball of your left foot, bringing that heel against your standing leg.
- If you are balanced, bring the sole of your left foot up to your calf. If you are feeling adventurous, grab your left foot and bring the sole to your thigh. Whichever you choose, AVOID THE KNEE joint completely. *Stay at your calf if you cannot do this safely.
- Keep your hips even above the ground.
- Activate and pull your belly in to straighten up your spine.
- Bring your hands together and hold in front of your sternum or chest at heart center.
- Relax your shoulders, gently pull your shoulder blades into the other and down your back.
- Inhale, fill your chest with air, growing a little taller in your spine as energy moves up your right, standing foot all the way to through the top of your head.
- Exhale, feel energy move back down through your left, bent leg this time, grounding back into the earth.
- Think about mentally pulling your left knee backward and in line with the rest of your body so that you are gently stretching your hips and groin as you breath.
- Keep your eyes focused on one unmoving focal point or “drishti” to help you maintain balance.
- Press your body into the ground to lift and grow your tree tall.
Bonus: Try one of these different arm variations: Goal post your arms, grow your ‘branches’ or arms toward the sky, grab opposite elbows behind your back, clasp your hands behind your back, locking your elbows,
Challenge #3: Close your eyes and see how long you can balance.
Challenge #2: Try toppled tree pose: Rest your left hand on your left knee, raise your right hand to the sky, leaning over your head to the left. Lean your torso toward your left and lifted knee to stretch your entire right side body.
Be sure to make sure to even out your body by doing the same on your left side. Favoring one side can cause injury over time. Congratulations you are an expert in tree pose!
