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Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Tadasana teaches how to stand properly. Standing properly is without knees bent, the abdomen protruded, the weight on one foot or the other or the feet at an angle, as these are all detrimental to the spinal column. Tadasana gives a light and alert body and the mind acquires agility.

Benefits:

Corrects bad posture by straightening the spine.

Improves the alignment of the body.

Counters the degenerative effects of ageing on the spine, legs and feet.

Tones the buttock muscles.

Contra-indications:

For Parkinson's disease or spinal disc disorders, it may be helpful to stand facing a wall with the palms placed on it.

For Scoliosis, rest the spine against the two adjoining walls that protrude from a corner.

Instructions

  • Stand erect with the feet together and the big toes and the heels touching.
  • See that the weight of the body is neither on the heels nor on the toes but in the centre of the arches.
  • Do not tighten the toes, but stretch them from the bottom and keep them relaxed.
  • Keep the ankles in line with each other.
  • Press the feet firmly down on the floor and stretch both the legs upward.
  • Keep both ankles in line with each other.
  • Keep the legs perpendicular to the floor and aligned to each other with the shin bones in line with the thigh bones.
  • Tighten the knees, pull the kneecaps upwards and tighten the quadriceps.
  • Compress the hips inward, tighten the buttocks and pull up the muscles at the back of the thighs.
  • Press the front of the thighs back.
  • Keep the spine erect, raise the sternum, expand the chest. Do not protrude the abdomen but lift it upwards.
  • Roll the shoulder bones back and tuck the shoulder blades in.
  • Keep the neck erect and the head straight. Stretch the neck without tensing the muscles.
  • Do not tilt forwards or backwards. Look straight ahead.
  • Keep the arms by the sides of the body, extend the fingers downwards and keep the palms facing the thighs, in line with them. Do not lift the shoulders. Keep the fingers together.
  • Breath normally throughout.
  • Press the heels, as well as the mounds of the toes down on the floor. This will place equal pressure on the outer and inner edges of the feet. Do not balance on the front of the feet. Then, consciously rest most of the weight on the heels.
  • Stand still for 20 to 30 seconds and breath normally.

BKS Iyengar is generally acknowledged to have refined and systemised the yoga poses that those in the West know today. The above instructions are a consolidation of those given by BKS Iyengar, Geeta Iyengar and senior Iyengar Yoga teachers, both from their books and from classes personally attended. We pay our deepest respect to BKS Iyengar and to his senior teachers, and recommend books by the Iyengar family as the most authoritative sources of yoga instruction.