Swayin’ in the Breeze

Hey guys! This week I’m coming at you with another more complex posture but not because you need strength to hold it. The asana practice I am going to be teaching you is called “tree pose,” and unlike those taught before, this movement is all about balance. My best advice if you’re typically off balance: pick a spot of the floor and focus on it and your breathing. If you have balance, then this shouldn’t be too difficult.

The steps…

  1. To begin, walk to the front of your mat and ground yourself through your feet into the base of yourtree-pose2 mat.
  2. Next, center your weight as evenly as possible and take a moment to focus on breathing properly.
  3. Following that, shift the weight of your body onto your right foot and slowly begin to bring the left foot off of the ground and have it rest in a comfortable position on the right leg. Important note: resting your foot on your knee will cause serious problems; however, anywhere above or below it are acceptable.
  4. Once in a comfortable position, take a moment to find a natural spot to fix your gaze. Your hands may rest on your hip bone, float above your head (like branches), or in any other position comfortable for you.
  5. When ready to release this pose, slowly repeat these steps when shifting to the opposite leg.

To modify this pose if you lack the balance to stay up, try standing with a wall at your back for extra support in keeping you upright, or rather than lifting your foot as high, try lowering it to rest just above your ankle.

Hopefully, you had enough balance, or the modifications worked well enough, to become a sturdy tree, or at least one swaying in the breeze!

6 Thoughts.

  1. I love that you incorporate a modification for those who lack balance, like myself. Your steps are easy to follow, I will definitely try this.

  2. I really want to give yoga a try, it’s just almost impossible to find time. If you had to pick a top three of poses to try what would you choose?

  3. I’ve actually done this pose sometimes and I find that the higher you put your foot on your other leg, the more balance you will have. Just like in the picture!

  4. I’ve tried the tree pose before, but never very successfully. Hopefully it’ll work better with the modifications you suggested!

  5. I remember learning this one from Wii Fit back when that was a relevant thing lol. Yoga was like my favorite activity on it!

  6. As I was reading your post I thought to myself that I would have no idea what you were talking about because I have never done yoga before. However it turns out that at some point (I can’t remember when) I have done this yoga pose and it is definitely a tricky one to stay balanced on! I like how you gave tips on how to modify it and control your balance.

Comments are closed.

Skip to toolbar