Stand in Tadasana, mountain pose – feet hip width apart.
Ground your feet into your mat – drawing up through your thighs to create strength & stability.
Keep your pelvis in neutral and lengthen through your spine.
Fix your gaze on a spot that is not moving – your point of focus.
Shift your weight to the left leg, bend your right knee, externally rotate your hip to bring the sole of your right foot to place it just above your ankle or onto your shin. (Baby Tree)
Another option is to take hold of the right foot & place it onto your left inner thigh. The toes should be pointing towards the floor.
Press the foot against the inner thigh, shin or ankle to create stability.
Keep drawing the left thigh bone into the hip socket to maintain alignment in the pelvis and keep the standing leg strong.
Place your hands on your hips, or bring hands together at your heart centre (Anjani Mudra), or raise arms overhead joining the hands together.
Maintaining the pose:
- Draw the naval back to the spine to engage your core muscles to maintain stability.
- Stay in the pose keeping your gaze fixed for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remember if you’re wobbling that’s perfectly fine. I don’t know any tree that doesn’t sway in the breeze!
- Or come in & out of the pose – depending on how your body is feeling.
Releasing from the pose:
- Lower your foot to the floor coming back to standing in mountain pose.
Safety points:
- Take care not to hyper-extend the knee of your standing leg. (Pressing the knee back)
- If you’re feeling a bit unbalanced (we all do at times!) then keep one hand on the wall for additional support.
- Listen to your body.
Repeat on the other side