In yoga, the mind and body are simultaneously engaged; they are connected through our practice. The best place to begin that relationship is in the neutrality and calmness of the traditional standing posture (asana) of the mountain pose (tadasana). Externally, the practitioner simply appears to be standing straight and still. Internally, you must guide yourself through a series of transformations and levels of awareness to achieve the physical and mental state of the strong and steady mountain.
Becoming one's own yoga coach is one of the essential aspects of learning the science and art of yoga. Here are some basic guidelines for achieving mountain pose. A similar approach can be applied to many other asanas.
1. Start with your foundation
The foundation of any pose is the essential origin of our stability and balance. In the case of mountain pose, your attention should first be directed to your feet. Feel their arches and balls as you press down into the mat. Rock back and forth on your heels and toes as well as the inner and outer edges of the feet. Lift all ten toes up off your mat and spread them as wide as you can, then press them back into the mat. Finally, feel your weight balanced across the surface of your feet. Allow your attention to slowly rise up through the body.
2. Engage the muscles
As your awareness moves upward, engage and energize the muscles of the legs. The action should feel different from contracting or tensing the muscles; rather, you are increasing your awareness of the physical activity within these parts of the body and engaging the energy in the negative space between them. You should feel your knee caps lift slightly as the thigh muscles lift up and the femur bones spiral the legs in towards the midline of your body.
3. Use all your faculties of perception
The external expression of mountain pose is absolute alignment of the body from head to foot. Internally, feel the parts of the body stacked one on top of the other. Observe the sensations of your body. Does your chest and heart feel more open? Do you feel taller, stronger?
4. Experiment with range of movement to understand your neutral position
The core of our body and our spine is the most challenging and complex area of alignment. Use your hands to feel the positioning of your pelvis, low back, abdomen and chest. Begin at the base of the spine. Place the palm of one hand on the lower abdomen and the back of the other over your tail bone and sacral area. Begin to rock the pelvis back and forth to determine your neutral position in which the base of the pelvis is parallel with the earth. Float your hands up to the sides of your abdomen; gently engage these muscles. As you inhale, feel the chest rise up from the abdomen as the spine lengthens. Next, roll your shoulders up and back, bringing the shoulder blades close together, then exhale and relax them down the back, opening the chest and shoulders. Finally, place the back of one hand underneath your chin and the fingertips of the other against the back of your neck. Feel your neck lengthen as you inhale, creating space in the cervical vertebrae as the chin becomes level with the floor.
5. Use the breath
With each breath, you should feel space being created throughout the body. The spine lengthens, the chest opens, the feet root deeper into the ground and the head floats gently above the body as all you fall deeper into the relaxation of neutrality and alignment.
6. Soften the face
The eyes should be closed or softened so that the gaze is toward the nose and the eyelids are heavy. Consciously scan each part of the face, asking the muscles around the mouth, eyes, and forehead to release.
7. Feel the entire vertebrae from tail to head
In tadasana, our spine is aligned in its natural, neutral position. This central axis of our body is also the main channel of energy in our body and the major pathway of our central nervous system, the spinal cord. When this area is free of physical contortions, the energy within our bodies is more open. Spend time in the posture to become aware of this. The time spent in this way will also help the position become more natural in your daily life.
8. Follow your alignment all the way out of the crown of the head
As the energy flows through you, it also flows out of you. Just as your feet become rooted into the earth in this pose, your energy is also flowing upward. The head becomes lighter, as if it were floating above the foundation of the body. Let your awareness follow the path of this energy.
In yoga, asanas such as tadasana should be experienced with the same practice of patience and awareness that we endeavor to apply in our meditation and relaxation. Enjoy the pose and take the time to observe all that it creates within the body and mind.
