Some of you may remember a few months ago I was asking for comments and input about an article I was writing on the yoga blogosphere.  Well the article came out in this month’s Yoga and Health magazine.  Marianne, Bree and Heather are all quoted!  Click on the thumbnail to read.

Enjoy!

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Tadasana
Mountain Pose
Joining heaven and earth

This is the posture from which all standing poses are born, so it is worth spending some time working on it rather than just seeing it as somewhere to rest between standing asana!

Stand with the feet hip distance apart, rotating the thighs slightly away from each other, lifting the arches of the feet whilst making sure that the big toe joints remain on the floor.  Then draw the navel gently into the spine, make sure the shoulders are drawn back and down, away from the ears, the shoulder blades are drawn in towards the back and the back of the neck is long.

Now notice if you are leaning to one side, if there is more weight on one foot than the other. If there is try to evenly distribute the weight between the two feet. Use a mirror or have partner observe whether the shoulders and hips are at even height. Spend some time now trying to re-align your “plumbline”, evening up the shoulders and aligning the head over the pelvis. At first this re-alignment may feel crooked! This is because you are starting to break an habitual stance.

Bring your awareness to your breath and with each exhalation feel that the spine is stretching and elongating.  There is no better way than being aware of the internal flow of energy than watching the path of the breath within our bodies.

If you look closely you can see my scoliosis in these pictures. Tadasana is a great posture for any spinal curvature because you can really work on re-evaluating your centre. I love it, even though I’m never quite straight!