Achieve Flying BalanceArm BalanceACHIEVE FLYING BALANCE Achieving an arm balance is quite extraordinary when you consider all that’s involved. And when we refer to an arm balance as a “flying balance,” there is even more involved. The “flying” in Eka Pada...
Mountain Pose Mechanics
Mountain Pose Mechanics
tadasana
MOUNTAIN POSE MECHANICS
How often do we go back to refine the “basics”? Revisiting a posture like Mountain Pose (Tadasana) is like pruning a tree. We may have already developed a foundation, but it’s important to continue to clip away what no longer serves us in order to make room for greater development. We flourish when we stay open to the possibility of something new. There’s always the option to choose what we know, but what if we explore in a different direction?
In today’s video, Matt demonstrates both the dogmatic and the functional approach to Mountain Pose. The terms don’t mean that one or the other is right or wrong, but when we’re equipped with more education, we can choose what’s right for our individual practice. We learn where to strengthen and how to align so that the roots that are planted burgeon into postures that require more complex techniques.
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THE DOGMATIC APPROACH
The dogmatic approach is usually thought of as “the right way” to approach a posture, but Matt suggests that we consider it to be “a way” to do so. The specific cues of the dogmatic Mountain Pose method provide a road map that includes
- Feet together, toes spread
- “Tuck your tail” = Flatten the low back
- Belly in and up
- “Lengthen the spine” = Flatten the spinal curves
- Shoulders pulled down
- “Lengthen the neck” = Flatten the neck
Not that this approach isn’t valuable, but it provokes us to consider whether or not certain cues are working for us, particularly when we have a specific intent or if we’re experiencing pain, discomfort, or injury. It’s up to us to find the confidence to discern what is right for our own bodies.
WATCH THE VIDEO
MOUNTAIN POSE MECHANICS : FORMULATE THE FOUNDATION FOR A SOLID PRACTICE
THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
In the functional approach to Mountain Pose, tapping into our individual makeup serves as a lens for greater understanding. It creates opportunities to build on our current strengths and highlight where we require transformation.
Matt offers these cues to explore:
- Big and little toe down, middle toes lifted
- Inner thighs back (knees relaxed)
- Tailbone drawn downward
- Belly in and up/Back ribs up
- Shoulders back and relaxed down
- Back of the skull lifted
We might argue that the cue to “draw the tailbone down,” for example, is the same as to “lengthen the spine” in the dogmatic approach; the difference to the functional approach is that we maintain the natural curve of the lumbar. This will help strengthen our back muscles, offsetting the flat spine we might carry throughout our day.
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PAY ATTENTION TO THIS
We may not associate Tadasana with cultivating back strength, but the pose provides an opportunity to zero in on it if we pay attention to the details.
In today’s video, Matt demonstrates the shift of the pelvis: moving it back to sit above the heels while the inner thighs internally rotate. When we adopt this setup, we can feel the activation of the back muscles.
In Urdhva Hastasana, a Mountain Pose variation, Matt notes the common tendency to sway the hips forward due to the lift of the arms up overhead. The details to pay attention to here: sending the pelvis back, lifting the shoulders up to the ears, and lifting the back of the heart up to avoid overextending in the spine.
It’s the finer articulations that propel us forward.
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WHERE TO FIND THE PATTERNS OF MOUNTAIN POSE
What does a solid foundation actually create in our yoga practice? It etches the patterns we’ve practiced into the brain. These patterns reveal themselves in other postures. Our body can more easily recognize them and uses what we know for more elaborate postures to bloom.
Let’s look at how Mountain Pose shows up in Warrior 3 preparation. Remember the internal rotation of the thighs? We embrace this action in Warrior 3, which helps to level off the pelvis for increased stability.
When repeated in our practice, cues like this become more automatic. Our bodies learn to respond, activate, and stabilize when this is the intent.
We can better understand and teach the crossover of postures like Mountain Pose in Matt’s upcoming Chromatic Global Training.
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Article by Trish Curling
Videos Extracted From: Alignment Immersion and 300 Hour Teacher Training
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