Essential Pose: Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
/Why Mountain Pose (Tadasana) is essential for posture and body asymmetries
Mountain Pose is the unwavering foundation of all yoga poses. To a casual observer it looks like little more than standing upright. Yet it is essential for understanding how to do most yoga poses and for becoming aware of your posture and any asymmetries you may have.
Why it is essential
First, you are standing on your own two feet. This is both a physical and psychological aspect of the pose, and there is a lot of significance in the statement. Like a mountain, you are powerful standing on your own.
Second, this pose strengthens your entire body. It tones the feet, ankles, thighs, hips, and abdominals, aiding in respiration and digestion.
Third—the greatest benefit of Mountain Pose—is that it improves posture by lengthening the spine, strengthening the muscles of the back, and improving balance. In Mountain Pose the curves—natural and asymmetrical—of your back are most apparent.
Everyone can benefit from becoming aware of their posture and strengthening their body to better keep them “on two feet.”
Mountain Pose is especially beneficial to those with body asymmetries, like scoliosis or leg length discrepancies. The pose not only helps you become more aware of your curves, but it can help you manage any differences you may have. Mountain Pose will not magically align your back or hips or add height to a leg, but it will strengthen all the muscles that support your posture and improve your balance, so you can reduce pain and have more functionality and mobility.
How to do it
Stand with your big toes together, with your heels slightly apart, or your feet hip-width apart. Either way, the outside edges of your feet should be pointed forward and parallel to each other. Feel your weight grounding into the four corners of your feet and, in contrast, pull your arches up away from the floor.
Activate your legs by pulling the front of your thighs and knees up toward your hips; also pull in your lower abdominals by bringing your hip points and lower ribs toward each other. Lengthen your spine from your sacrum to the crown of your head and broaden the front of your chest by pulling your shoulders back. Externally rotate your upper arms so the insides of your arms face away from your torso.
How I do it
I practice Mountain Pose to help monitor and manage my own body asymmetries, though anyone can try the pose this way. The mechanics are the same as above, but you can add props to increase strength and body awareness.
Place a block between your upper thighs and squeeze into it. This increases the activation of muscles in the legs and hips and helps support the lower back.
If you can do the pose in front of a bare wall, try it. Scan your body, starting at your feet and heels, to see what parts of your body touch the wall. Compare each side. Usually with scoliosis, one side will press into the wall more than the other. In short, the wall provides you with feedback, helping you become aware of how much you may lean forward or to one side. Continue to practice bringing your body back to the wall to observe your curves and whether you can slowly moderate any asymmetries.
For those with a leg length discrepancy, use a lift under the shorter leg, the block, and the wall, and think about pulling up more on the shorter leg. Do not raise your heel or your foot off the ground; this activation will slowly lengthen the muscles fibers and could bring the lower hip a little higher. Though doing so will not change the structural length of your legs, it can help reduce the functional discrepancies and therefore alleviate discomfort.
Aim to hold this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute and include it in every yoga practice. If you only have time to do one pose, Mountain Pose should often be it. It will be a guide to your body, posture, and your ability to “stand on your own two feet.”
1. Body asymmetries or lifestyles (like how you work or sleep) can affect how you hold your head, which should be straight and centered but is often tilted. Once you press yourself against the wall, notice if your head tilts to one side and see if you can find center.
2. Those with asymmetries will often have visible differences in their shoulders. One will be pulled more back and higher than the other. My right shoulder, for example, pulls further back and is lower than the left. You can moderate some of these differences when you are backed up to a wall.
3. Notice your arms and whether one arm is further away from the body. As the wall presses into your shoulders, this may change the position of your arms.
4. The hips can be uneven, especially with lumbar curves and leg length discrepancies. As you press into the wall notice if one hip is higher or if one presses into the wall more.
5. Place a block between your thighs to help strengthen your legs and support your lower back.
6. If you have a structural leg length discrepancy, use a lift under your shorter leg.