Vrksasana ~ Getting Grounded, Staying Light

Vrksasana ~ Staying grounded while remaining light.

There can be moments in time when we feel we need to be a bit more grounded. There can also be moments in time when we feel we need to be a little more light. Vrksasana, or Tree Pose, is a wonderful way to find the physical balance of both while manifesting the energetic balance of groundedness and lightness. The asana, or posture, requires us to be grounded through our standing leg and foot while maintaining lightness through the rest of the body.

With all of the standing asanas we need to ensure that we begin with the widest base of our foot that we can.  When setting up for this asana widen your foot through the toes from left to right and lengthen from ball to heel. You want to energize down through underneath of the big toe joint, little toe joint, and the base of the heel. Visualize roots extending into the earth from your standing foot as you hug the upper thigh muscles to the upper thigh bone, lifting the knee cap up to avoid injury. A slight bend of the knee is always an option here if you have extremely tight hamstrings or gastrocnemius muscles.

You also want to ensure and maintain a level pelvis. The pelvis should be even from top to bottom, side to side, and front to back. Lengthen down through the tailbone while engaging the pelvic floor up by drawing the frontal hip parts in and up to engage the pelvic floor.

Lengthen through the spine one vertebrae at a time by extending through the crown of the head.  Draw the frontal ribs in and up while lifting the back of the ribs up. Extend the arms above the shoulders and engage the shoulders down the back through the rhomboid muscles or keep the hands at heart center.  Soften the face, jaw, and neck.

Inhale deeply visualizing the breath moving up the spine.  Exhale even more deeply while maintaining the length of the spine, groundedness of the supporting foot and leg, and lightness of the torso and arms.  Smile and enjoy the process 🤗.