A sedentary lifestyle can be the biggest cause of pain and stiffness in our body. Why not choose a natural and effective way to correct our spine alignment and bring it back to a neutral stance. The mountain pose Tadasana is one such “blueprint pose”, which is a cure for problems related to your back. Want to know more about the benefits of the mountain pose? Read on!
What Is Tadasana?
Regarded as the ‘mother of asanas’, Samasthiti is a basic standing asana. The aim of this asana is to strengthen the legs and the abdomen. The simple pose can correct your spinal alignment and calm your nervous system too!
Since the feet carry the weight of the rest of the body, the strength of the feet is of critical importance. A minor change or variation in the feet position can affect the body posture.
Things You Should Know Before You Try Tadasana
The word ‘Tada’ in this yoga technique means mountain. So what should you know before trying out mountain poses? Read below to find out.
- Check your body alignment and maintain the correct posture while doing tadasana.
- You can practice tadasana at any time of the day.
- It is not a “rule” to do tadasana on an empty belly. But if you are doing yoga asanas before or after tadasana, then you can have meals 4 to 6 hours before doing the mountain pose.
- Remember to attend nature’s call before trying tadasana.
How To Do The Tadasana:
Now that I have introduced the concept of samasthiti, it is time to learn how to do mountain pose. The style is Hatha Yoga and is to be repeated 10 times with an average duration of 10 to 20 seconds.
1. Tadasana For Beginners
Samasthiti is an ideal exercise for beginners as it tries to instill calmness and a sense of relaxation. Here is tadasana for beginners:
- Stand straight and keep your feet together with your arms at your sides.
- Press your weight evenly across the arches of your feet.
- Lift and spread your toes and the balls of your feet. Then bring them back on the ground.
- Firm up your thigh muscles, lift your knees and then lift your ankles.
- Keep your shoulder blades straight.
- Lift the top of your sternum (the breastbone) towards the ceiling.
- Look slightly upward.
- Stay in this pose for up to 1 minute and breathe normally.
Hey, how to release from tadasana?
Just exhale and return to the standing position. Bring back your arms to the side. Practice deep breathing in between the poses. This will strengthen your mind and body connection.
Keep following these samasthiti steps carefully. Try not to make any changes in them, as this will allow you to focus your energy and calm your mind.
[ Also Read: Halasana ]
2. Advanced Guide
Just use your arms to stretch your body a little more. That should take you through the advanced form of samasthiti poses.
- Extend your arms not sideways but upwards. They should be parallel to each other and the palms should be facing each other.
- As an option, you can interlace your fingers, and stretch your arms upwards.
- By the way, you can also cross your arms behind your back in such a way that each arm holds the opposite elbow. Repeat this pose by interchanging your hands.
Are there any precautions that one should take while following the mountain pose steps? Yes, the next section tells you about that.
Precautions
The benefits of tadasana are immense. But at the same time, here are some precautions you need to take before trying out this pose.
- Avoid doing mountain pose if you have low BP. If you hold the pose for too long, then the blood flow to your lower half of the body may increase.
- Have a headache? Refrain from doing tadasana as your headache will worsen.
- Are you pregnant? Keep your feet wide apart, not close to each other. If you have knock-knees, place your heels slightly apart. But do all this only after you have consulted a professional yoga trainer.
Benefits Of Tadasana
How does practicing the mountain pose improve our health? Let’s see what Franny Chandra, Yoga Instructor at The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi has to say about tadasana benefits:
“The Tadasana helps to create space within the body and allows the internal organs to work more efficiently, improves the respiratory system, digestive system, and blood circulation. In addition, it improves concentration, increased strength for knees, thighs, and ankles, greater flexibility of the spine, relief from sciatica, as well as an overall increase in energy. The steady and concentrated posture of the pose can really help calm the mind. Considering a lot of our guests are beginners at yoga, the Samasthiti is the perfect pose to introduce them to the art of yoga”.
Now that we have an industry professional telling us about the goodness of tadasana, let us check out its benefits in a nutshell.
To sum it up, Tadasana is an important yoga technique, which helps you balance your body and mind. This is very important for your overall health and well-being. Have you ever tried the mountain pose or do you regularly practice it? How has it helped you? Write in and tell us about your wellness regimen.
