In This Chapter

>- The importance of standing poses

Lots of fun standing postures to try: mountain, triangle, side angle stretch, warrior, and lightning bolt

>- Balance poses, too: tree, eagle, plank, and arm balance

So, are you ready to start moving? Great! You may be eager to jump right in and try the headstand or the full lotus position, but learning the basics first is important. You wouldn't be able to play an advanced piano concerto competently without first mastering the scales. In yoga, those "scales" can be likened to the most basic of poses: the mountain pose, from which many standing poses begin.

The mountain pose is an important basic pose to learn well. It is deceptively simple in that it appears as easy as standing, but it actually requires great concentration because the entire body must be equally balanced. Tada means "mountain," and sana means "straight," so tadasana (pronounced tah-DAH-sah-nah) means standing straight like a mountain. As you stand in tadasana, try to feel the firmness and stability of a mountain.

The mountain pose benefits your body in many ways. It helps to maintain balance and posture, which leads to internal balance, which leads to good health. You must have a clear understanding of this pose and be able to hold it well before you can hold any of the other standing poses well—including the headstand, which is really just an upside-down version of tadasana!

Tadasana: Mountain Pose

When holding tadasana, it's important to breathe. Let your lower ribs expand on the inhalation. Imagine your diaphragm lowering to make room in your lower chest. You are a soldier of peace in tadasana, so there's no need to put up your armor or feel any tension. Try to notice the difference between tension and simple awareness.

As you complete the pose, distribute your weight evenly between your heels and toes, between each leg, over each hip. Think balance. Let your belly expand and release its tension with each inhalation.

Put your feet together with your toes pointed forward. Your arms should hang by your sides with the palms facing toward your body.

Lift your toes off the ground. Notice how the arches of your feet feel. Slightly lift up. Now, slowly place your toes back on the ground while you maintain the feeling of the lift in your arches. Feel the lift all the way up your entire body.

Feel your spine and the back of your neck lengthening. (Remember that string pulling up the crown of your head?) Pull up the thigh muscles and lift the front of your body. Relax your hands and face.

Yoga Adventure: Visualization is an effective tool for the mountain pose. As you hold this pose, imagine you are a mountain. Feel how steady, strong, solid, balanced you are. Feel

how you are both a unique, powerful manifestation, and at the same time no different from the planet you rise out of.

5. Ta Da (sana)!

Trikonasana: Triangle, the Happy Pose

Forming triangles with your body will teach it a sense of direction. The basic triangle, or trikonasana (pronounced trih-koh-NAH-sah-nah), is known as the happy pose because it opens your Venus chakra (the energy center located behind your heart) and allows joy to fill your body and radiate within you and from you. Trikonasana tones your spine and waist. It stimulates your bowels and intestines, strengthens your legs and ankles, improves your circulation, and develops your chest. It also strengthens the breath.

As you come back into tadasana, feel your chest opening. Breathe freely and deeply.

1. Stand with your feet about three feet apart, right foot pointed forward, left foot turned out comfortably, about 90 degrees.

2. Bend to the left, reaching your left arm toward your left foot, and stretching your right arm straight up over your head. If you can, rest your left hand on your left ankle or calf.

3. Look straight ahead or toward the sky and stretch your neck. Feel the triangle formed by your legs and the ground, as well as the rough triangle shape formed by your entire body. Breathe deeply.

4. Slowly come back to a standing position, then repeat on the other side.

5. Yoga Adventure: Take the triangle pose a step further with the revolved triangle pose. After holding the pose for a few breaths, switch your arms. Bring the raised arm down, and hold the other side of your calf or ankle. Bring the arm that was holding your calf or ankle straight up above you. Breathe, then return to the mountain pose, and repeat on the other side.

The revolved triangle pose may, upon first glance, look like the regular triangle pose, but look closer. The body is twisted around so the left hand is by the right foot. This is considered a more difficult pose that incorporates a full spinal twist into the triangle.

Wise Yogi Tells Us

In trikonasana, don't worry if you can't reach your ankle at first. The length of your stretch doesn't equal the quality of your yoga. Don't be so eager to touch your ankle that you tilt your body forward, cutting off your body's energy flow. Pretend your shoulders must stay pressed against an invisible wall behind you. You'll stay straight and your energy will soar!

Parshvakonasana: Side Angle Stretch

Parshva means "flank" or "side," and kona means "angle"—hence, parshvakonasana (pronounced par-shvah-KOH-nah-sah-nah) means side angle stretch! This pose tones your legs, strengthens your knees, and lengthens your spine. It relieves back pain and sciatica problems, and stretches and strengthens the hips and stomach.

Exhale as you go into this pose, and inhale as you come out; breathe while you hold the pose.

1. Stand with your feet three to four feet apart. Point your left foot forward and turn your right foot out.

2. Bend your right knee into a right angle with the floor and lean into the stretch so that the right side of your body moves toward the top of your right thigh and your right hand reaches toward the ground beside your right foot. Don't worry about touching the floor with your hand. Concentrate on the side stretch of your body.

3. Stretch your left arm over your head so that it forms a relatively straight line with your left leg and torso. Your left palm should face downward. Look up toward your arm and feel the stretch from your toes into your fingertips. Breathe deeply.

4. Return to the mountain pose, then repeat on the other side.

5. Getting Started: The side angle stretch feels amazing first thing in the morning when your muscles really need a good stretch to wake up fully. This pose is so energizing that it might eventually replace that cup of coffee!

Virabhadrasana: Warrior Pose

It takes the tremendous strength of a warrior to "conquer" inner peace. The warrior pose, or virabhadrasana (pronounced vee-rab-hah-DRAH-sah-nah), fills the body with nobility and strength, calling upon the power and nourishment of the sun while firmly planting the feet upon the earth. Vira means "hero" and bhadra means "auspicious," so virabhadrasana means "heroic auspicious posture." Wow! Didn't you always want to be part yogi and part Conan?

We demonstrate three different versions of virabhadrasana here: warrior 1, warrior 2, and warrior 3.

The first warrior pose aids in deep breathing, relieves a stiff neck and shoulders, strengthens the legs, and trims the hips.

Be sure to exhale as you go into the warrior pose, and inhale as you go out of the pose. Think "strength" instead of "tense." Be careful to relax your muscles while in the warrior pose. Keep your face and neck relaxed. Breathe normally. Feel the warrior strength gathering inside you. Strength doesn't come from muscle contraction. Strength comes from the mind.

1. Stand with your feet three to four feet apart. Turn your right foot out, and turn your left foot so that it is facing slightly toward the right foot.

Warrior 1

2. Bend your left leg into or close to a right angle and rotate your body to the right, directly in line with the left leg.

3. Raise both arms over your head with your palms facing each other. Look straight ahead or upward at your hands. If your shoulders are relaxed, bring your palms together. For those of us with tight shoulders, it's best to keep the hands apart, which will help the shoulders stay down away from the ears.

4. Keep your back foot firmly planted and your back leg straight. Push down on your back heel. Take three rich, full breaths.

5. Remember that lift of your arches in mountain pose? Notice what happens when you apply that technique here. Lift the toes of the back foot. Watch the arch slightly lift. Slowly place your toes back on the ground while maintaining the lift in the arch. As the toes touch the ground, let the lift of the arch ascend throughout the rest of your body. Breathe.

6. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

7. Yoga Adventure: Bring your palms together and interlace your fingers over your head, while keeping your index fingers pointed straight up. Keep your shoulders down, away from your ears. Look up at your hands while keeping your neck strong. Imagine strength and energy shooting out of the tips of your index fingers. This variation intensifies the strength and energy of the warrior 1 pose.

Warrior 2

The second warrior pose has the same benefits as the first, but it also strengthens and shapes the legs, relieves leg cramps, brings flexibility to the legs and back, tones the abdomen, and strengthens the ankles and arms.

Begin as for the warrior 1 pose, but keep your upper body facing forward as you bend your left leg into or close to a right angle with the floor.

Lift both arms straight out to form a "T" shape with your body. Look toward your left arm. Keep your shoulders down.

Hold the pose for at least a few breaths, return to the starting position, then repeat on the other side.

Yoga Adventure: Combining warrior 1 and warrior 2 into vinyasa, or a flowing sequence, is a great way to get your heart pumping and to energize your body and mind for a challenging day. Begin in the mountain pose, then flow into warrior 1 according to the earlier instructions, then rotate your torso and bring your arms down into the warrior 2 position, then flow back into the mountain. Repeat as many times as you like. Once you've combined these two, add warrior 3 and the lightning bolt pose to the sequence, flowing from warrior 1 to warrior 2 to warrior 3 to lightning bolt back to tadasana, then starting all over again. What a way to wake yourself up in the morning! Keep the movements flowing and full of energy. This warrior vinyasa is a real confidence builder.

Warrior 3

The warrior 3 position develops the strength and shape of your legs and abdomen; it also gives you agility, poise, better concentration, and improved balance. It is a more difficult pose than the first two warrior poses. Be sure to exhale going into all the warrior poses, and inhale coming out.

1. Assume the warrior 1 pose, then lean forward slightly, slowly straightening your front leg as you lift your back leg.

2. Extend your arms in front of you with your palms together, and look toward your hands. Work toward bringing your arms and lifted leg perpendicular to the floor, but if you can't do that at first, no problem. This is something you will be able to do when you have gained sufficient strength and balance.

3. Return to a neutral position, then repeat on the opposite side.

4. Yoga Adventure: How long can you hold this pose? This balance pose is challenging both because you have to balance on one leg and because it takes strength to keep your arms and other leg lifted. Work on extending the amount of time you can hold this pose, for a super-powered, strength-building, balance-honing workout. Watch your breath! As the breath comes into balance, so do the balance poses. Don't hold your breath. Keep breathing, slowly and steadily.

Utkatasana: Lightning Bolt Pose

The lightning bolt pose, or utkatasana (pronounced oot-kah-TAH-sah-nah), is a powerful pose. Utkatasana means "raised posture." As you form the shape of a lightning bolt, you are filled with the dynamic energy of lightning. Utkatasana removes shoulder stiffness, strengthens your legs and ankles, lifts your diaphragm, massages your heart, tones your back and stomach, and develops your chest. It also warms up the body.

1. Begin in tadasana, the mountain pose.

2. Bend your knees and lift your arms over your head with your palms together or slightly apart. Be careful to keep your knees from buckling inward; keep your feet together, or slightly apart.

3. Extend your arms so they are in line with your torso. Feel the shape of the lightning and breathe deeply. ZAP!

4. Return to tadasana.

5. Yoga Adventure: Vary the lightning bolt pose by turning it into a "squat on

heels and toes" pose. Stand with your feet hip-distance apart. Squat, first standing on your toes, then rocking back on your heels. This variation develops the ankles, knees, and arches. Be careful to keep your knees over your ankles. Don't let them droop in or out as you bend. This further strengthens the quadriceps and ankles.

We've emphasized before that balance is extremely important in the practice of yoga. When your body is balanced, a connection is formed between the two sides of your body (ha and tha, as in Hatha Yoga). But balance poses do more than coordinate your left and right sides. They help tie your entire body and mind together into a more integrated and fully functioning whole. Balance poses also increase self-confidence, because they teach you to stay centered, calm, and strong in precarious circumstances. If you accomplished the warrior 3 pose in the earlier section, remember how great you felt? That's just a taste of the power of balance poses.

Vrikshasana (pronounced vrik-SHAH-sah-nah) is one of the most basic balance poses. Vriksha means "tree," and a tree is soundly rooted in the earth but grows upward with branches reaching out to the sun. Wind may move the branches, but the tree stands firm. Vrikshasana tones the legs, opens the hips, and promotes physical balance. It also develops concentration and mindfulness.

Balance Poses

Vrikshasana: Tree Pose

Throughout vrikshasana, keep your breathing steady and regular so it doesn't interfere with your balance.

1. Begin in tadasana, the mountain pose.

2. Bring your hands together in front of your chest with your palms together (as if you were praying).

3. Bring your left leg up and balance the sole of your left foot on the inner thigh of your right leg, as high as you are able. If it's been a "vida loca" kind of day and you have a hard time balancing on one foot, keep your toes on the ground, turn your one knee out to open the hips, then simply balance the heel against your ankle. It's amazing how calming and balancing this pose can be!

4. Raise your arms over your head, keeping your palms together.

5. Return to tadasana, then repeat with the right leg.

6. Getting Started: If you find it too difficult to balance in tadasana, you can vary the pose slightly. Bring the sole of your foot to your opposite leg's inner calf instead of the thigh, or even rest it against your opposite ankle, to get a more secure feeling of the balance before hiking that foot all the way up to the opposite thigh. Also, you can leave your palms apart when you raise your arms. This great separation between your hands can help you balance more easily. When you feel more confident in the pose, you can bring that foot up and those palms together.

Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana: Standing Half Bound Lotus Pose

The purpose of this more advanced variation of the tree pose is to keep the trunk steady with the help of your arm. It has the same benefits as the tree pose but allows you to open your hips more fully, which in turn opens the Jupiter chakra (the energy center located on your spine behind your pelvis). It also allows a fuller chest expansion.

Don't be frustrated if you have trouble getting into the standing half bound lotus pose. If your hips are not open enough yet and your knee isn't pointing toward the floor, it'll be difficult to connect your hand with your foot and could also overstrain your knee. Give yourself time and keep practicing the regular tree pose. Eventually your body will accommodate you.

1. The standing half bound lotus is similar to the tree pose, except your bent right ankle rests on the front of your straight left thigh.

2. Bring your right arm behind your back and connect it to your right foot in front.

3. Lower your knee slightly toward the floor and raise your left arm over your head. Take three breaths.

4. Return to the starting position, then repeat on the other side.

5. Getting Started: This is a challenging pose and not for beginners. Poses that open the chest and increase shoulder and spinal flexibility will help get you to a point where you can reach your arm far enough behind you to grab your foot. Practice the eagle pose (following), side angle stretch (earlier in this chapter), bow pose and upward facing dog (Chapter 14), and both standing and lying down spinal twists (Chapter 15) to help your body prepare for the half bound lotus.

The eagle is a god in Indian mythology, and so is considered sacred and important. As with the tree pose, garudasana (pronounced gah-roo-DAH-sah-nah) improves balance and concentration as well as develops the ankles and removes stiffness in the shoulders. Symbolically, the eagle represents the life force/prana.

1. Begin in tadasana, but with the knees slightly bent.

2. Bend one leg over the other like you are crossing your thighs, then hook your ankle around the back of your other ankle. Try to stay balanced between your heel and toe.

Garudasana: Eagle

3. Bend your elbows and bring one arm under the other arm, connecting your palms in front of your face. Even though your body is twisting every which way, imagine your torso lifting and straightening. Breathe!

4. Return to tadasana, and repeat on the other side. This pose is usually easier going one way than it is going the other way, but try it both ways and eventually you'll balance.

5. Getting Started: The eagle pose is a challenging pose. Don't force that ankle around your standing leg, or you could injure your knee! If your ankle doesn't hook around your standing leg easily, just place the top of your foot behind the ankle or calf of your standing leg. Eventually your flexibility will increase. Better to work within your own limits than to injure yourself!

Plank Pose

The plank pose develops strength in your arms and legs. It helps to create a balanced and strong body. It is often used as a transition pose, leading or connecting one pose to another.

1. Lie on your stomach, with your fingertips in line with your shoulders and your elbows bent in toward the body, toes curled under.

2. Push yourself up into an extended pushup position (the "up" end of the pushup) and hold.

3. Try to keep your body in a straight line from ears to ankles. You will discover where the weakest sections of your body are the longer you hold this position: They are the parts that start to sag toward the floor!

4. Breathe. Push your heels out to keep your lower back from caving in.

5. Come back down onto your stomach, or use this pose as a transition into the following arm balance pose.

Vashishthasana: Arm Balance

Vashishthasana (pronounced VAH-shish-THAH-sah-nah) is a pose named after the Indian sage Vashishtha. Vashishthasana strengthens the wrists and arms, and tones the lumbar and coccyx regions of the spine. It also develops concentration, nonattachment to either achievement or failure, and an undisturbed, steady mind.

1. Begin in the plank pose.

2. Turn your entire body to the right, and balance on your right arm and foot on the side of your body. Your torso should be in a straight line, held in a diagonal to the floor by your right arm.

3. Lift your left arm up straight in the air with your palm facing forward.

4. Getting Started: Don't lock your elbow in this pose, or you could injure it. Keep your arm straight, but keep strength and flexibility in your elbow so you could bend it easily at any time during the pose (just as you would keep your knees just slightly bent rather than locked when standing for a long time). Your muscles should be holding your weight, not your elbow joint. And when you feel you can't hold your own weight for another second? For goodness's sake, stop!

Learning the basic standing postures is a great way to start, and balance poses will increase your stability. Practicing these basics will improve all aspects of your yoga practice and give you an inner peace and strength.

The Least You Need to Know

Standing poses like the mountain, triangle, side angle stretch, warrior, and lightning bolt are an important basis for strength and balance.

Posture isn't just about looking good. It has a profound effect on health and well-being.

>- Practice the basic standing postures before you progress to more complicated poses.

>- Balance poses like the tree, eagle, plank, and arm balance create stability and a centered sense of being.

>- Hatha is finding balance. (If you can't find the balance, let out a good "HA!" and try again.)