Cultivating Power With Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Cues to Practice
When we think of powerful poses in yoga, what’s the image that comes to mind?
I used to think of crazy-looking poses like a handstand, bird of paradise, or other crazy backbends and balancing poses. The truth is, everyday, staple poses of yoga asana are so powerful and full of meaning - doesn’t matter if you are just about to start yoga or you have been practicing years down the road.
In this first post, we are going to get a closer look into Tadasana (Sanskrit breakdown, tāḍa = mountain and āsana = posture/seat). Yes, it’s that pose, where you stand still - but there’s so much more to it.
The Symbolism Behind Mountain Pose
If learning the context and stories behind the pose can help you find meaning in the pose, this pose has a great background story. The Indian mythology goes that the pose was based on an event a long time ago when the earth was stricken with a devastating drought.
Derived on the book of the Story Behind the Poses by Dr. Raj Balkaran, the deities decided to call the great celestial river, Gaṅgā, to come down to earth and helped the drought. But they realized a problem, the great celestial river would descended in such great power that it would be catastrophic.
So Lord Viṣṇu, the deity responsible for keeping the protecting the earth, went to the Himalaya mountain range where Lord Śiva, known to be the ultimate guru of yogi, was living and meditating.
It is there that Lord Śiva called Gaṅgā to descend. When Gaṅgā descended in her might, she felt so sure that she would have cracked the earth in two pieces, but Lord Śiva positioned himself to receive her, and Gaṅgā felt that grounding energy and it calmed down and stabilized her speed and power. In the end, she was able to slide down the mountain, and settled in along the mountain range and nourished the dying earth.
Dr. Balkaran concludes that “…[t]his energized, attentive standing is more than milling about, it is the standing which we refer to when something stands the test of time. This is the standing of trees, of pyramids, of mountains.”
Cues for Mountain Pose:
Mountain pose helps us to improve awareness, posture of our natural spine and strengthen the core, hips and legs. Although you're not in motion, it's a highly active pose. Here're some cues to get you into your powerful Tadasana:
⭐ With your feet in comfortable distance to one another, root down the feet by pressing the heels, big and little toe mounds to the ground.
⭐ Activate the quads by lifting the knee cap up.
⭐ Face the palms facing forward as the pinkies land on the center of the seam.
⭐ Don't forget to breathe and check in with yourself.
⭐ Lift the tailbone back and activate the ribs to prevent it from back-bending or rounding.
⭐ Soften the jaw and neck.
⭐ Don't forget to breathe and check in with yourself.
Questions to Ask Yourself in Mountain Pose
How are you feeling? What can you soften and/or strengthen? What feels unstable? What props can you use to help you feel more stable and strong?
Now, let’s try this again and keep checking in with yourself. Remember that yoga is more than just the physical aspect but a journey of connecting with your mind and spirit too. What can we learn from ourselves through the internal dialogues we have while practicing yoga?
Come Practice with us
Practice knows no boundaries, but if you want to practice this pose and other powerful poses with like-minded and supportive community, we are here for you.. If you just got here and want to try our open-level classes that are friendly to all body types, sign up to any of our weekly classes using our 7 days unlimited intro pack. See you on the mat!
By: Tanita Rahmani, an audio journalist and yoga practitioner.