Pose of the Month

“Pose of the Month” By Amy Ippoliti, certified Anusara Yoga^® teacher

Vrksasana (Tree Pose) is a wonderful balancing pose that is a delight to practice, once you know the alignment gateways that can move you into its fullest form. Here are some key points to help you perform the pose with ease, groundedness, empowerment, and a feeling of triumph.

In Vrksasana, you balance standing on one foot with your other foot placed on your inner thigh and your knee turned out to the side. Your arms can move creatively in many variations on this pose.  (For ideas, see photos of our very own Darren Rhodes, creator of the "From Tadasana to Savasana Poster," and the "Tigresses" from our Colorado kula!)

The Benefits

• Strengthens thighs, calves, and concentric muscles around the ankles.
  
  
• Stretches the groins and inner thighs, chest and shoulders.
  
  
• Improves balance.
  
  
• Enhances posture.
  
  
• Encourages mental clarity and focus.
  
  
• Connects you to Nature.
  
  
• Relieves sciatica and promotes healthy feet.

What it Takes
To balance steadily and take the shape of this pose requires one pointed focus (akagrata), strength in the standing leg, the ability to open and externally rotate the hips, while at the same time having a willingness and ability to flow with the spring breezes as they gently blow you to and fro.

Preparation
To most effectively and safely open the hips in order to get your foot positioned up on the inner thigh (or lower as a modification), make some time to first practice hip opening poses. Keep your leg muscles engaged and toned while you stretch.  Some basic poses that will help you work on the hips in this way include Utthita Parsvokanasana, Virabhadrasana 2, and Baddhakonasana.

First Principle
To get in to the first Principle, Open to Grace, attempt to embody the feeling of being a tree or even a plant that is powerfully coming to life by sending its roots into the earth, and rising victoriously toward the vault of the sky. I imagine that from the focal point in the pelvis down, I am the roots of the tree, and from that point up, I am the trunk, foliage, and blossoms of the tree. 

Alignment
As an Anusara Yoga practitioner, you are probably aware that most yoga students think of hip-opening as stretching the inner thighs and externally rotating the legs. However, we know that another aspect of hip-opening particularly important for Vrksasana is to engage and tone the legs while simultaneously rotating both legs internally at first, drawing the upper, inner thighs backward and widening the thighs and pelvis. This will help beginners more easily lift their foot to their inner thigh, and get better turn out. Once the thighs are back and the groins are soft, maintain that and draw the base of your sacrum and tailbone forward into the body, and spin the pelvic loop (draw the buttock flesh down from the top of the hip, and lift the pubis up toward the navel) faster on the bent leg side. Root powerfully from the focal point in the pelvis down through the bones (roots!) of your legs and from the sacrum up, grow your psoas, spine, arms, and loops of the upper body like branches twisting up toward the sun. Embody the feeling of unfoldment, jubilant, after unveiling from the dark. When you can enact this on the mat, the effects off the mat will be profound, shifting the consciousness of everyone around you to do the same.

Arm variations include Anjali Mudra, arms above the head with palms facing each other, hands clasped behind your back, or palms above the head touching. Alternatively, you may also crescent toward the bent knee, resting your palm face up on top of the thigh. When the arms are above the head, one of the coolest things John taught me, was to hug my arms in so close to the midline, that I actually squeezed my ears.  This powerful commitment to the midline gives me 100% more power to rise up from the focal point. 

Finally, like a spring bulb busting right out of the snow, cultivate a resilient attitude. Although in the beginning, this pose can look more like an Irish jig as one repeatedly stumbles spastically out of the pose, with each fall, there is refinement, and every attempt makes a lasting impression in the energetic's of your mind-body. Devote yourself to regular practice of this pose, with the above alignment guides, and you will soon be a great grandmother or grandfather tree, a leader in the forest of yoga!

Adjustments to Give Your Students
In general, a balancing pose like this is tricky to adjust when students are trying to find their core and just stay up; however, there are a few great adjustments you can try.

• From behind and with sensitivity to his or her balance, root and externally rotate your student's upper arms as you hug them in toward the midline. Simultaneously guide the student to extend organic energy up from the focal point.
  
  
• Place your palm on the crown of your student's head to provide resistance and ask the student to push up organically into your hand to find balance and proper energy distribution.

You can find Vrksasana on the following asana practice CD's:

John Friend's Anusara Yoga 101 (Double CD Set) can be ordered online. It is a detailed class/practice that covers the basic alignment principles of Anusara Yoga. It is one of the most comprehensive, sophisticated and heart-opening yoga audio presentation ever produced.

Suzie Hurley has one of our Kula Offered CD's this month. A Daily Yoga Practice for Beginners can also be ordered online. It is a well-rounded 60-minute practice for those newer to the Anusara Yoga Universal Principles of Alignment™.