Mountain posture (Tadasana) – 8 Awesome Benefits

What is Mountain posture (Tadasana)

• Tadasana teaches you the art of standing correctly and increases your awareness of your body.
• This Tadasana is the easiest standing yoga pose.
• In this Mountain posture you learn to stand as firm and erect as a mountain. The word “Tada” in Sanskrit means “mountain.” Most people do not balance perfectly on both legs, leading to ailments which can be avoided.
• The name of this yoga pose signifies a stable, rooted base of support and a “crown” that reaches for the heavens.

“Tadasana is the foundation stone for other asanas. Practicing it gives rise to a sense of firmness, strength, stillness, and steadiness.”

Benefits of Mountain posture

1. Corrects bad posture by straightening the spine
2. Improves the alignment of your body
3. Counters the degenerative effects of aging on the spine, legs, and feet
4. Tones the buttock muscles
5. Strengthens the lower half of the body
6. Attenuates the coordination and the balance
7. Relaxes and calms the mind
8. Improves the organ function efficiently

Cautions of Tadasana

1. If you have Parkinson’s disease or a spinal disk disorder, you may find it helpful to stand facing a wall with your palms placed on it.
2. People with scoliosis should rest the spine against the protruding edge of two adjoining walls.

Contraindications of Mountain Posture

1. Shoulder Injury
2. Insomnia
3. Headache
4. Low Blood Pressure

How to do Mountain Pose?

Step 1

• Stand with your feet together on a smooth,uncovered floor. Make sure that your feet are in line with each other, with both the big toes and heels touching.
• If you find it difficult to keep your feet together, separate them by about 2-3 in (7 cm).
  Rest your weight on the centers of the arches of the feet. Keep the heels firm and toes extended. Stretch out your toes and keep them relaxed.

Step 2

• Press your feet firmly down on the floor and stretch both your legs upward. Keep both ankles in line with each other. Your legs should be perpendicular to the floor and aligned to each other.
• Tighten your kneecaps and quadriceps and pull them upward. Draw your hips inward by compressing them as well as your buttocks.

Step 3

• Extend your arms along the sides of your body, with your palms facing your thighs and fingers pointing down.
• Keep the head and spine in a straight line. Stretch your neck without tensing the muscles. Pull your lower abdomen in and up. Lift your sternum and broaden your chest. Breathe normally during all the steps of the asana.

Step 4

• Press your heels, as well as the mounds of your toes down on the floor. This will place equal pressure on the outer and inner edges of the feet.
• Guard against balancing on the front of the feet. Now, consciously rest most of your weight on your heels. Hold the pose for 20-30 seconds.

What are the anatomic structures involved in this Tadasana?

1. Intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles
2. quadriceps
3. iliopsoas
4. piriformis
5. abdominal wall
6. diaphragm

Actions of the joints during tadasana

• The lumbar, thoracic, and cervical curves are in mild axial extension.
• The ankle, hip, shoulder, and wrist joints are in their neutral positions, midway between flexion and extension.
• The knee joints are extended (but not hyperextended); the elbow joints are extended and the forearms are pronated.
• The arches of the feet are lifted and connecting with the upward lifting action in the pelvic floor, the lower abdomen, rib cage, cervical spine, and the top of the head.
• The shoulder blades are dropped onto the support of the rib cage and connect with the downward release of the tailbone and the grounding of the three points of contact between each foot and the floor.

Nothing lasting can be built on a shaky foundation. This may be why tadasana is considered by many yoga traditions to be the starting point of asana practice.
Interestingly, this pose is almost identical to the “anatomical position”—the starting reference point for the study of movement and anatomy.

The only major difference between the two positions is that in tadasana, the palms of the hands are facing the sides of the thighs rather than forward.

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