Inner World of Yoga – Day 2
Inner World of Yoga Day 2
Breathe and stand as still, strong, and silent as the mountain. 30 Day Challenge: Yoga practices for Joy, Creativity and Wholeness
Today we’ll practice the asana, Tadasana (Mountain Pose) as a guided imagery for an experience of building alignment, ease, steadiness, balance and strength. If you have a foam block, please use it. If not, don’t worry, the experience will be valuable either way. If you have a block, during the video, I will ask that you place it in the position shown, just above the knee joints between the inner thighs.
Tadasana is a standing pose, and foundational for all standing poses, as building core alignment is essential for greatest benefit. Like all asanas, we are looking for the qualities of Sukha and Sthira. In the Yoga Sutras compiled by Patanjali, he describes Yoga asana, the third limb of the system of YOGA, using only three words: Sthira sukham asanam.
Sthira is a Sanskrit word meaning steadiness, strength, firmness, lasting while Sukham is defined as happiness, ease, sweetness, surrender. These are the qualities we seek to develop in the pose — Asana. This is virtually the only Sutra dedicated exclusively to the third limb of YOGA, and it is therefore considered to apply to the practice of all asanas.
As we practice Tadasana over time developing the qualities of sukha and sthira in our practice, the benefits of balance, alignment and integration become evident as these qualities grow in our body, mind and spirit.
