Tadasana - Mountain Pose

Tadasana is also known as ‘Mountain Pose’.  While in this posture you stand firm and erect – just like a mountain. The word ‘Tada’ means mountain.

The Mountain Pose teaches you how to stand correctly and will increase your awareness of your body. Most people don’t have good balance and long term this can lead to many ailments.

The benefits of Tadasana are:

• Straightens the spine and corrects bad posture
• Improves the body’s alignment
• Helps to counteract the degenerative effect of ageing on the spine, legs and feet
• Tones the muscles in the buttocks.

Steps for Tadasana:

1. Stand with your feet together with big toes and heels touching.  Balance your weight on the centres of the arches of your feet.  Stretch your toes out and keep them relaxed.
2. With your feet firmly pressed against the floor stretch your legs upwards.  Keep your ankles in line with each other.  Tighten your kneecaps and pull them upward.  Draw in your hips and your buttocks.
3. Let your arms hang down beside your body with your palms facing your thighs and fingers pointing down.  Keep your head and your spine in a straight line. Without tensing the muscles in your neck, stretch it upward.  Pull in your abdomen and lift your sternum and broaden your chest.
4. Press your heals and mounds of your toes into the floor.  Make sure you are balanced equally on the back and front of your feet.  Now, move most of your weight onto your heels.
5. Hold the pose for 20 to 30 seconds.

Tadasana is the foundation to many other yoga poses so it is a good one to get to know before proceeding further.  This pose will help you to get a sense of strengh, stillness, firmness and steadiness.

To find out more about yoga visit BandhaYoga.com

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