Vṛkṣāsana - Tree Pose (Facing a Wall)

 
 

(vrik-SHAHS-anna)
vṛkṣa = tree

  1. Stand about one of your feet’s length away from a wall, facing towards it.

  2. Raise up one of your legs and place the heel at the top of the opposite thigh, pressing the heel and thigh together firmly.

  3. Place both hands onto the wall on the finger tips (cupped) at shoulder height.

  4. Look straight ahead, with the head upright.

  5. Create some traction with the finger tips and use the energy from the movement to raise the chest and draw the shoulder blades down and in towards the front chest.

  6. Adjust the head position to aid the movement of the mid and upper thoracic spine to allow the body to pivot into a more lifted, natural position for the rib cage.

  7. Concentrate on ‘waking up’ any sleepy vertebrae.

  8. Keep the knee on the raised leg drawn back (away from the wall) without disturbing the alignment of the hips, so keep the hip joint drawing towards the wall on the same leg.

  9. Maintain a steady lift through the standing leg without making the leg hard or tight. Checking the breath to make sure it is free will help to avoid any such tightening.

  10. Keep the foot on the floor balanced and the weight aligned and create the lift from there.

  11. Support the front of the standing thigh’s lift by deepening the back thigh and drawing up the front in relationship to one another.

  12. Keep the head of the standing thigh bone back and the gluteal crease on the same leg deep, and make space in the front groin.

  13. Keep a steady calm lift on the pelvic floor and maintain length in the waist.

  14. Repeat on other side.