Teaching Hatha Yoga – Tadasana

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT 500

In Hatha Yoga, Tadasana is also called Mountain Posture. Although you appear as steady as a mountain you are not as rigid as rock. On the outside, your mountain appears to be still, but internally it is very much alive. Blood and fluids are moving around your body at a fair pace. Your breath will make your stance sway slightly. If you are not aware of it, close your eyes and notice how your body sways in one direction or another.  The following are step-by-step instructions on how to practice the Yoga asana known as Tadasana.

1. Come to a standing position with your toes in line with your heals, heels the heals, anklebones and toes touching if possible. Find your center of gravity by distributing your weight evenly over the inner and outer edges of your feet.

2. Without locking the knees lift the kneecaps up, then lift the hamstring muscles at the back of the thighs. Lift the weight off the ankles and lengthen the spine through the crown of the head allowing the chest and diaphragm to open.

3. Firm the lower abs in and up. Contract the buttocks and anus pushing the coccyx (tailbone) and sacrum (mid pelvis) forward and up.

4. Roll the shoulders back and down. Let the arms hang freely from the shoulders with the bicep muscles and elbow creases forward and the palms facing the body.

5. Lengthen the neck from between the shoulder blades while keeping the chin parallel to the floor and in line with the notch at the base of the throat between the collarbones.

6. Soften the face and relax the jaw muscles. Find a focal point and gaze straight ahead maintaining a soft focus.

7. Breathe naturally and visualize your body grounded and as steady as a mountain without being hard as a rock.

Hari Om Tat Sat

© Copyright 2011 – Sanjeev Patel / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Sanjeev Patel is a certified Yoga teacher and an exclusive author for Aura Wellness Center.

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