Invite Stability, Power, & Calm With Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

During times of uncertainty, mindful movement & breathwork offer a welcome calm and peace. This gentle yoga practice focuses on tadasana, mountain pose. The intention of this simple sequence is to invite a sense of stability & power through the engagement of the whole body in mountain pose. You are invited to be intentional in creating the physical posture of each pose, focus on breath & a steady gaze. This is an energizing AND relaxing practice, suitable for all levels, day or night. Namaste

Transcript

Welcome to your practice today.

Set up your mat,

And start with standing at the top of your mat with your feet hip-width apart.

And look at your feet,

The outside edges of your feet.

Place them so that they're parallel to each other.

And I'm going to start with creating an intentional mountain pose,

Tadasana.

So mountain pose establishes the foundation,

Starting with the feet,

Pressing down evenly into your mat.

And imagine that you can sense four mounds underneath each foot.

The ball of the foot under the big toe,

I'll refer to as the big toe mound.

And then there's another ball or another mound underneath the pinky toe.

And sense underneath each heel two mounds underneath each heel,

Creating four points of contact underneath each foot.

Close your eyes and sense the right foot,

Pressing into the mat and pressing evenly the big toe mound,

The pinky toe mound,

The two mounds underneath each heel,

Underneath the right heel.

And then bring your attention to your left foot.

Bring attention to the left big toe mound,

The pinky toe mound,

The two mounds underneath the heel of the left foot.

And now bring attention to both feet.

Can you sense an even distribution,

Even pressure underneath all four mounds of each foot?

And can you create a sense of evenness of pressure underneath the right foot and the left foot?

Now stay here with this intention of pressing both feet down into your mat.

And as you press both feet down,

Notice the energy traveling up the legs.

You might sense a lifting of the kneecaps,

A contraction of the muscles of both thighs.

And stay here connected to the legs,

The pressure of the feet down into the mat,

Into the earth,

Traveling all the way up both legs.

And then from here,

Travel your attention to your pelvis.

Lift the front of your pelvis up towards your belly button,

Which might create a sense of rooting your tailbone down towards your mat.

Now keep the feet engaged,

The legs engaged,

The pelvis engaged,

The tilting of the pelvis,

Creating what we call a neutral pelvis.

And then travel up to the belly button.

And imagine that there's a string from your belly button that you can pull all the way through the belly,

Through the back,

As if you could pull that string from the back,

And it sucks that belly button in towards the spine.

So keeping that engagement,

Empowering the power center at the belly,

The navel.

And now place your hands,

Your right hand on your right rib cage,

And your left hand on your left rib cage.

And using the muscles in your midline,

Imagine that there's energy from your belly button.

And up one,

Two,

Three inches.

And using the muscles at midline,

Imagine that you could pull the right and left rib cages in towards the center of the belly.

And then traveling up,

Travel up to the shoulders.

And now relax the hands,

Hands next to the hips,

Palms facing forward.

And then shrug your shoulders up to your ears.

And exhale,

Drop the shoulders down.

Do that again.

Inhale,

Bring the shoulders up to the ears,

Stay here,

And bring your attention to your upper back,

In between the shoulder blades.

And can you bring attention to the muscles in between the shoulder blades in the upper back?

And then pull the shoulder blades in towards each other,

And you might notice the fronts of your shoulders roll back.

And now relax the shoulders,

Relax the arms.

We'll do that again.

This is called shoulder integration.

And what I'm inviting you to do is integrate the shoulder blades in towards each other into the middle of your back,

And initiating that action from the upper back,

The muscles in between the shoulder blades.

And those of you that know anatomy,

We're talking about activating the rhomboids.

And if you don't know what the rhomboids are,

Those are the muscles in the upper back.

So using those upper back muscles to draw the shoulder blades in towards the midline,

Resulting in the front of your shoulders rolling back.

So one more time.

Inhale the shoulders up towards the ears.

Activate the muscles in the upper back,

The rhomboid muscles.

Squeeze those shoulder blades together.

And then notice the shoulder blades pull back.

The fronts of the shoulders roll to the back body.

And you might even notice the tops of the shoulders softly drop down from the ears.

We'll do that one more time.

Inhale,

Shoulders up to the ears.

Activate the upper back.

Squeeze the shoulder blades together.

And now gently drop your chin down towards your chest,

Lengthening the back of your neck.

And as you feel that length in the back of your neck,

Imagine that there's a string at the top of your head.

And as you pull that string up towards the sky,

Up towards the ceiling,

A reaching of the top of your head,

The crown of your head,

Up towards the sky.

So inviting a lengthening of the neck,

A reaching of energy from the top of your head up towards the sky,

Up towards what is sacred,

Up towards what is divine.

And now let's create Tadasana all the way from the feet to the crown of your head.

Activate both feet.

Press down into your mat.

Engage the muscles of the legs.

Root the tailbone down.

Lift the front of the pelvis up.

Pull that belly button in and back towards the spine.

Lower ribs in towards the midline.

Shrug your shoulders up.

Activate the upper back muscles,

Pulling the shoulder blades back,

Noticing the shoulders might drop down from the ears.

Gently drop the chin down towards the chest,

Lengthening the back of the neck,

Reaching the top of your head up towards the sky.

And keep this engagement all the way from the feet up through the crown of the head.

And now open up the fingers wide and reach your fingertips down towards the earth.

And as you reach the fingertips down,

You might notice an engagement of the biceps,

The triceps,

The entire right and left arm.

Standing powerfully in Tadasana in your Mountain Pose.

Stay here in Mountain Pose,

Five more breaths.

Stand in your power.

Man rooted with intention.

You might feel a gentle heat arising,

That is the tapas,

The inner fire.

The inner fire gently invites a detox,

A warming of the body.

Take a breath,

Keep the mouth closed as you continue to inhale and exhale through the nostrils.

Two more breaths,

Inhale.

Exhale,

Mouth closed.

Still in Mountain Pose,

Tadasana,

Inhale.

And exhale.

Standing in Mountain Pose,

And now relax a little bit in Mountain Pose.

Let the fingers relax.

Let the shoulders relax.

And bring your intention to the feet rooting down into the earth and the crown of the head reaching up towards the sky.

Bring your hands together,

Palms together in prayer hands or Anjali Mudra.

And touch your thumbs to your heart center.

Keep your eyes open or close your eyes.

And connect to the physical sensation in the body as you stand in this Mountain Pose,

Inviting power,

Power rooted in peace.

And feeling yourself stand with intention.

Now stay here creating an intentional Ujjayi breath and observe your breath.

Stand in your power.

Stand rooted in foundation and stability.

Activating your Ujjayi breath.

Equalizing your inhale and exhale.

Stay with your Ujjayi breath.

Now slowly step the feet together.

Let the big toe mounds touch gently and consider separating the heels about three inches.

Reestablish the even distribution underneath the four mounds of each foot into the earth.

And then bow your head down,

Open your eyes,

Look to your index fingers.

Open your eyes.

Gaze at the spot where your index fingers touch.

Set your Drishti.

In Sanskrit,

Drishti means gaze,

Focus.

Cultivate clarity of the mind through this practice of Drishti.

And this practice of anchoring your attention to an even inhale and exhale.

Now set an intention to bring into your practice here as you stand in Mountain Pose.

And maybe a separate intention to bring into your life off your mat.

Fill up with breath,

Inhale.

Sigh and empty the breath out.

Release the arms next to your sides,

Arms are relaxed,

Elbows are straight.

Now take your gaze up as you sweep the arms up with an inhale.

Let your palms touch.

Exhale,

Pull your palms to your heart,

Thumbs to your heart center.

Anjali mudra,

Look to your index fingers,

Hold.

Set your Drishti,

Inhale.

Ooh,

Jai breath,

Exhale.

Sweep the arms up,

Inhale.

Eyes open,

Bring the palms together,

Touch together,

Exhale,

Pull the thumbs into your heart center.

Look to your index fingers,

Inhale.

Mouth closed,

Exhale.

Two more,

Sweep the arms up,

Look up the hands.

Palms together,

Fill up with breath.

Exhale,

Pull the hands into the heart,

Thumbs into the heart center.

Set your gaze,

Your Drishti,

Inhale.

Mouth closed,

Exhale.

One more,

Inhale,

Sweep the arms up,

Look up.

Palms together,

Touch the palms together,

Exhale,

Pull the thumbs into the heart.

Eyes open,

Ooh,

Jai breath,

Inhale.

Mouth closed,

Exhale.

We'll move into our next sequence,

Inhale,

Reach the arms up.

Eyes open,

Look at the palms,

Palms touch,

Exhale,

Hands to heart.

Bow all the way down,

Hinge at the hips,

Forward fold,

Uttanasana,

Fingertips touch the floor.

And to touch the floor,

Consider bending your knees.

Bend your knees as deeply as you need,

Touch the floor,

Hold here.

And now look at your feet,

Separate your feet hip width apart,

Feet at 12 o'clock,

Outside edges of the feet parallel to each other,

And grab your elbows and hang like a ragdoll.

Long and loose in the upper torso.

Neck relaxed.

Shoulders relaxed.

Gaze relaxed,

Open your eyes.

And focus your eyes on one specific spot.

The practice of Drishti invites clarity of mind,

Clarity of focus.

Stay in this ragdoll pose,

Three more breaths.

And the focus as you anchor to the sound of each inhale and exhale invites a sense of mindfulness,

Invites a meditation as you flow breath to breath,

Pose to pose,

Inviting mindfulness and stillness,

And in movement when you transition to the next pose.

Keep your eyes open,

Fingertips to the mat.

Halfway lift,

Inhale,

Lengthen your spine,

Hold here in halfway lift.

What halfway lift looks like is lifting your upper torso so that your chest and belly are parallel to the floor,

And keep your gaze on the mat.

Long spine,

Long neck.

Exhale,

Forward fold,

Uttanasana.

Bend your knees as deeply as you need.

Halfway lift,

Lengthen your spine.

As you halfway lift,

You hinge at the hips,

Lengthen from the tailbone,

Out through the neck,

Out through the crown of the head.

Forward fold,

Fingers to the floor.

Bend your knees as deeply as you need.

One more halfway lift,

Inhale,

Hold,

Full breath.

Empty the breath,

Hands to the floor,

Uttanasana,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Sweep your arms up,

Rise up,

Extend in mountain pose,

Eyes up,

Palms together.

Exhale,

Hands to your heart.

Look to your index fingers,

Stay in mountain pose.

Two more breaths.

One more breath.

Sweep the arms up,

Look up,

Palms together,

Exhale,

Hands to heart.

Look to your index fingers,

Forward fold,

Fingertips touch the floor.

Bend your knees deeply.

And slowly bend your knees so deep that you gently take a seat on your mat.

And slowly work your way all the way onto your back.

Put your right knee into your chest,

Your left knee into your chest,

Hugging both knees in as both arms hug into your shins,

Pulling your thighs into your chest and rock side to side.

Gently massaging the lower back.

And now set your feet down onto your mat.

Keep your knees bent and take your feet out wide,

As wide as your mat.

And feet at 12 o'clock,

The outer edges of each foot parallel to the outer edge of your mat.

And take your arms out to a T,

Palms facing up.

So out to a T looks like the right arm is straight,

The left arm is straight,

The back of each arm is resting on the floor.

And then gently windshield wiper your right leg and the left leg side to side.

So what that looks like is the right knee gently lowers towards the center of your mat.

And then it lifts up and then the left knee,

Left leg gently lowers towards the middle of the mat.

And then both legs side to side,

Looking like windshield wipers,

Slowly,

Gently inviting a gentle space,

Creating in the sides of the hips,

The right inside of the hips and the side of the legs.

You might feel it gently in the lower back.

And keep your attention on your breath.

And then pause.

And then step your feet together,

Knees are bent,

And pull your right knee into your chest.

Keep your left leg long and rest your left heel.

Your left leg is now straight and your left leg is heavy on your mat.

And with your right arm out to a T,

Gently rotate your head so you look towards your right hand and pause.

Sense what you feel.

Relax the neck,

Relax the shoulders,

Relax that right arm.

And take your left hand and gently place it on the outside of your right knee.

And slowly invite that right knee to cross to the left side of your body,

Inviting a gentle twist of your spine.

Gently creating a stretch on the right side of the hip and the waist and the right leg.

And in yoga and in any type of movement practice,

Any type of exercise,

Always being mindful.

Listen to your body and knowing to back off if you feel any sharp pain.

And here,

If you're comfortable here in this pose,

Stay here three more breaths and allow the body to receive the shape of this pose.

Allow the body to receive and release each breath.

Yoga is union and connection.

Invite a connection to the sensations in the body and the mind.

Slowly back to center,

Pull the knees,

Both knees in,

Pull the right knee in and the left knee in.

And as you hug the shins again,

Massage side to side,

Slowly,

Gently.

Hold on to the left knee,

The left shin,

And straighten the right leg.

Right heel relaxes,

Right leg is completely relaxed.

And we'll begin the twist on the other side.

Left arm is out to a T.

Slowly rotate your head to look towards your left hand and mindfully place your right hand on the outside of your left knee.

Gently inviting the crossing of the left knee,

The left leg,

Across to the right side of the body.

Observe and breathe.

In yoga,

There's a practice of Ahimsa.

Ahimsa in Sanskrit means self-care,

Non-harming,

Non-violence.

Ahimsa applies to the body and in yoga that can show up as modifying your practice as you need.

Non-violence also applies to the thoughts.

Inviting encouraging thoughts and replacing any discouraging thoughts with thoughts that invite self-acceptance,

Self-love.

And Ahimsa also applies to non-violence to all beings.

Invite Ahimsa,

One more breath here in this pose.

Back to center,

Hug your knees in one last time.

I'm going to move into our final pose,

Savasana.

And a couple options here,

Start with your knees bent and bring attention to your lower back.

And with your knees bent and your feet on the mat,

Lift your booty up off the mat gently and then slowly lower it down and create a sense of rooting your tailbone down towards your feet,

Releasing any tension in your lower back.

And straighten the right leg,

Straighten the left leg.

Let both legs be relaxed and notice your lower back.

If you're noticing any tension here,

Consider grabbing a pillow or a bolster or finding a blanket or a towel to roll up underneath your knees.

You'll create your position of your legs so that your lower back is relaxed,

Supporting yourself as you need.

And another option is to keep the knees bent with your feet out as wide as your mat and letting your knees fall in towards the midline so that they land in towards each other.

Now laying on your back,

Lift your shoulders up towards your ears.

And again,

Just like in the beginning of the class,

Squeeze the shoulder blades together,

Initiate from the upper back muscles,

The rhomboid muscles,

And then allow the upper shoulders to open the backs of the arms to gently move away from the body with the palms facing up.

And pay attention to your body.

So if for some reason,

Palms facing up,

Feels uncomfortable,

Practice that ahimsa,

Practice that self-care,

And then maybe for you today,

Palms need to face down.

So create this final pose,

Savasana,

Which is our pose to breathe and release in deep rest.

And here you're invited to let go of the ujjayi breathing and instead allow a natural breath.

And here in this final savasana,

After you've moved,

Mindfully breathed,

Inviting prana,

Which is vital life force.

Your practice of drishti,

Invited mental clarity and focus.

Your practice of yoga can boost your immune system and your overall sense of well-being.

So as you lay here for four more minutes,

Nothing to do.

Allow yourself to be as still as possible and allow all the benefits of your practice to infuse into the body,

Into the mind,

Into every cell of your being.

Deep rest.

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

Gently wiggle your fingers and your toes and inhale your arms up above your head.

Full body stretch.

And take a big sigh out.

Pull your right knee and your left knee into your chest,

Hug in.

Roll over to your right side.

And with your left hand,

Gently press into your mat to press up to a seat.

And create your seat to end this practice with 10 breaths of meditation.

Palms together at Anjali Mudra.

As you breathe,

Consider setting an intention to bring into your life off your mat.

My intention for you today in this practice is to invite a sense of foundation and stability.

Through the physical practice of rooting yourself into Tadasana,

Mountain Pose.

And to invite the elements of our yoga practice,

The breath.

May you acknowledge and invite prana,

This vital life force into the body and the mind.

May you awaken a connection to the divine.

And with your practice of Drishti,

With your eyes,

Your physical eyes and your mind's eye,

Sit on one spot,

Cultivating focus and clarity.

May you experience clarity as you move through your life with purpose and mindfulness.

May you be free of suffering.

May I be free of suffering.

May all beings be free of suffering.

I wish you peace.

Namaste.

Reviews

Interesting to focus most of a practice on Tadasana. Calming and gentle practice. Thank you and namaste 🙏

Amazing. Extremely slow and mindful.

Slower than I anticipated but exactly what I needed. Loved the intention to every small detail physically and mentally. Felt grounded and strong in my power. 🙏

A bit physical to be filed under sleep meditations.