Tadasana (), Mountain pose or Samasthiti (; ) is a standing asana in modern

yoga as exercise Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of asana, postures, often connected by vinyasa, flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by pranayama, breathing exercises, and frequently ending with savasana, relaxation lying down or ...

; it is not described in medieval

hatha yoga Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह� ...

texts. It is the basis for several other standing asanas.

Etymology and origins

Tāḍāsana is from the Sanskrit words , "mountain" and meaning "posture" or "seat". Samasthitiḥ is from meaning "equal", level", or "balanced"; and , "standing". The pose was unknown in

until the 20th century '' Light on Yoga'', but it appears in the 1896 ''Vyayama Dipika'', a manual of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, as part of the "very old" sequence of ''danda'' (Sanskrit for "staff" or "stick") exercises. Norman Sjoman suggests that it was among the poses adopted into modern

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Krishnamacharya Tirumala Krishnamacharya (18 November 1888 – 28 February 1989) was an Indian yoga as exercise, yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. He is seen as one of the most important gurus of modern yoga, and is often called "Father of Modern ...

to form the "primary foundation" for his vinyasas with flowing movements between poses. The pose was then taken up by his pupils

Pattabhi Jois K. Pattabhi Jois (26 July 1915 – 18 May 2009) was an Indian Modern yoga gurus, yoga guru who developed and popularized the vinyasa, flowing style of yoga as exercise known as Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga. In 1948, Jois established the Ashtanga Yo ...

and

B. K. S. Iyengar Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is the founder of the style of yoga as exercise, known as " Iyengar Yoga", and was considered one of the foremost yoga ...

, into their worldwide Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga and Iyengar Yoga styles respectively.

Description

Tadasana is the basic standing asana on which many other poses are founded. The feet are together and the hands are at the sides of the body. The posture is entered by standing with the feet together, grounding evenly through the feet and lifting up through the crown of the head. The thighs are lifted, the waist is lifted, and the spine is elongated. The breathing is relaxed. It is used in some schools of yoga in between other poses, to allow the body and consciousness to integrate the experience of the preceding asana and to prepare for the next.

Variations

Placing the feet wider is common in vinyasa styles of yoga and provides a more stable base in this and other such standing asanas. Namaskarasana, Pranamasana, or Prayer Pose has the hands in prayer position (

Anjali mudra Añjali (Devanagari: अञ्जलि) is a Sanskrit word that means "salutation" or "reverence". It is not only a given name, but also the name given to the greeting between Hindus, Buddhists and other religions on the Indian subcontinent: Añj ...

) in front of the chest. Pashchima Namaskarasana or Reverse Prayer Pose has the hands in prayer position behind the back. Urdhva Vrikshasana, also called Urdhva Hastasana or upward tree pose, has the hands stretched straight upwards, and the gaze is upward to the Angusthamadhye Drishti (thumbs). The pose occurs twice in Ashtanga Yoga's

Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar or Salute to the Sun (, ), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th century, though s ...

. Parshvasana (Side Stretch Pose), also called Indudalasana, known from 1968, has the arms lifted and the body stretched over to one side. Anuvittasana or Hasta Uttanasana (Standing Back Bend), has the arms raised and the back arched. An extreme form of the pose is Tiryang Mukhottanasana, in which the back bend is sufficient to enable the hands to grasp the ankles. Some reclining asanas such as Supta Tadasana (Reclined Mountain Pose) stem from Tadasana.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar Yoga considers Tadasana pivotal as the foundation of most standing asanas. It teaches practitioners to balance the weight equally on the two feet.The feet are placed together, the shins and thighs are aligned, and the chest is lifted. The pose is not distinguished from Samasthitih. The arms can be raised over the head or kept at the sides of the legs. It appears in the 1st and 2nd weeks of Iyengar's āsana courses as detailed in '' Light on Yoga''.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Ashtanga yoga (not to be confused with Patanjali's '' aṣṭāṅgayoga'', the eight limbs of yoga) is a style of yoga as exercise popularised by K. Pattabhi Jois during the twentieth century, often promoted as a dynamic form of medieval ha ...

, Tadasana is performed on the toes, while Samasthitiḥ is flat footed. In this style of yoga the two āsanas are different. Samasthitiḥ is the centerpiece of the standing sequence and the foundation for the: * Hasta Vinyasas (arm vinyasas) * Parsva Bhangi (side vinyasas) * Uttanasana (forward bending vinyasas), and * squatting/hip stretching asanas In the standing sequence, the final asana of the series (before Savasana) is Tadasana, performed on the toes. In this school of yoga, Tadasana is the beginning and ending asana in the warm-up

sequence. It is sometimes interspersed throughout Ashtanga Series when full vinayasas are used, and it is the foundational pose for all standing asanas. The Nasagra Drishti at the tip of the nose is considered the correct drishti for Tadasana. Sushumna drishti is encouraged to draw the awareness inward. The school considers Uddiyana bandha,

Mula Bandha A bandha () is a kriyā in Hatha Yoga, being a kind of internal mudra described as a "body lock," to lock the vital energy into the body. ''Bandha'' literally means bond, fetter, or "catching hold of".Iyengar, 1976: pp.435–437Iyengar, 1976: p.5 ...

and Jalandhara Bandha appropriate for Tadasana.

References

Sources

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