Tadasana

Tadasana (Palm Tree Pose)

Starting Position

Stand with your feet together, about 10 cm apart. Let your arms hang naturally by your sides.

Pose Execution

  1.  Steady your body and evenly distribute your weight on both feet.
  2. Raise your arms overhead and interlock your fingers, turning your palms upward.
  3. Place your hands on the top of your head.
  4. Fix your gaze on a point slightly above eye level on the wall in front of you. Keep your eyes focused on this point throughout the practice.
  5. Inhale deeply as you stretch your arms, shoulders, and chest upward.
  6. Lift your heels, rising onto your toes.
  7. While maintaining balance and without moving your feet, stretch your entire body from top to bottom. Hold this position and your breath for a few seconds. Initially, maintaining balance might be challenging, but it improves with practice.
  8. Lower your heels as you exhale and bring your hands back to the top of your head. This completes one round.
  9. Relax for a few seconds before proceeding to the next round.
  10. Practice a total of 10 rounds

Breathing

Inhale while raising your arms, hold your breath while in the stretched position, and exhale as you lower your arms.

Focus

Direct your awareness physically to the stretch throughout your body and your ability to maintain balance. Also, focus on your breath.

Spiritual Aspect

Initially, focus on the Mooladhara Chakra for stability. Once you’ve achieved balance, shift your focus to the Ajna Chakra.

Sequence

Tadasana can be followed by any inverted asana.

Benefits

Tadasana cultivates both physical and mental equilibrium. It provides a gentle stretch to the entire spine, helping alleviate congestion of the spinal nerves as they exit the spinal column. The pose supports height increase by elongating muscles and ligaments, aiding the growth of bones. Tadasana also stretches the rectus abdominis muscles and intestines. It’s beneficial during the first six months of pregnancy to maintain abdominal muscle tone and nerve health.

Variations

  1. Tadasana can also be practiced with the gaze directed upward at the interlocked fingers, adding a level of difficulty to the final position.
  2. Stand in Tadasana with both arms overhead. While balancing on your toes, lift one leg and extend it forward or backward. Repeat with the other leg. Practice this variation 10 times.

Practice Note

Practitioners proficient in Tadasana with open eyes can attempt the pose with closed eyes.

Note

This asana is one of the postures used in Shankhaprakshalana, a yogic cleansing practice.

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