Tree pose – probably the most ubiquitous of balances in the yoga studio – I know I’m guilty of slotting it in to one too many classes! Like Trikonasana it appears right from the beginning of your yoga journey and is often thought of as a “beginner’s” pose (whatever that means, we’re all beginners in my eyes), but it can be difficult for both newbie and long-term practitioner alike.
Like all balances Vrkasana helps to develop and maintain mental and physical equilibrium. Like all balances it can also help to develop and maintain an endless feeling of frustration! One day it all clicks, you get it and suddenly you’re balancing. Hurrah, you think, I’ve knocked this Vrkasana thing on the head once and for all.
And then you turn up to class the next week and it’s just not happening again.
Balances depend on your mood, your stress levels, how tired you are, the phases of the moon. It’s a bit like baking really. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
The trick is focus and slowness.
Stand in Tadasana, feel those four corners of the feet grounding down, place the hands on the hips. Then slowly bring the weight into the right foot lifting the left leg and drawing the left knee towards the chest.
Focus on a point on the wall or floor, breathe and open the left knee out to the side placing the left foot on the inside of the right thigh. Slowly bring the hands into prayer position.
If it’s a good day you can raise the arms up. I prefer to keep the hands at least shoulder width apart to release through the shoulders, rather than the more traditional way of keeping the hands in prayer above the head.
For beginners, pregnant students + bad balancing days you can place that foot on the inside of the calf rather than the thigh.
Or even on the ankle with the toes on the floor for added balance.
It’s still Vrkasana – breathe and focus. It’s all yoga!
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Ah balancing poses… Sometimes love, sometimes hate
As you so rightly wrote it, some days they work, some days they don’t. They’re the ones that tell me when I’m really tired, they’re the all-powerful ego-killers. And yes, it’s all yoga!
I really love Vrkasana, possibly because it took me AGES to work out that whole mind-body thing, and the need to use the ENTIRE body to help me balance, not just my legs!
I consider balance poses to very much be a diagnosis of where my mind is at. And if I can’t get my balance happening, then it’s more asana and relaxation for me until I can! And I teach most beginners the foot on the floor or on the calf version regularly, because the full version can be both challenging and a little scary for some people!