WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.902 - Hi everyone, my name is Adriene, 00:00:01.902 --> 00:00:04.838 and welcome to Yoga With Adriene. 00:00:04.838 --> 00:00:05.973 Ding! 00:00:05.973 --> 00:00:08.865 Today we're going to learn Tadasana, 00:00:08.865 --> 00:00:10.277 one of my favorite poses. 00:00:10.277 --> 00:00:14.081 A very basic pose but it has a lot going on, 00:00:14.081 --> 00:00:16.369 a more than meets the eye kind of pose. 00:00:16.977 --> 00:00:20.921 So Mountain Pose, or Tadasana, is great for sciatica, 00:00:20.921 --> 00:00:23.190 it's great for stress, it's just an overall great, 00:00:23.190 --> 00:00:25.372 grounding pose. 00:00:25.372 --> 00:00:28.061 Definitely can help you improve your posture, 00:00:28.061 --> 00:00:29.629 and it's a great little container for 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:31.638 tapping into the breath. 00:00:31.638 --> 00:00:35.002 So let's hop on the mat and learn Tadasana. 00:00:35.002 --> 00:00:38.565 (upbeat music) 00:00:46.847 --> 00:00:49.535 Okay, so to begin we're going 00:00:49.535 --> 00:00:53.523 to be standing on our feet. 00:00:53.523 --> 00:00:56.723 I'm gonna take my feet, and I can do this, 00:00:56.723 --> 00:00:59.393 typically in a yoga class this is a basic foundational 00:00:59.393 --> 00:01:03.496 pose that you often do at the front of your mat, 00:01:03.496 --> 00:01:05.933 but stand anywhere on your mat or if you don't have a mat 00:01:05.933 --> 00:01:07.200 and you're on the floor, great. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.603 Stand anywhere in your house that you like. 00:01:09.603 --> 00:01:12.639 Or in your office, or wherever you are. 00:01:12.639 --> 00:01:16.710 And let's bring the feet hip-width apart to start. 00:01:17.816 --> 00:01:21.682 And because I have been practicing building my poses 00:01:21.682 --> 00:01:24.985 from the ground up, I'm going to immediately think about 00:01:24.985 --> 00:01:28.258 my foundation, that which is touching the earth, 00:01:28.258 --> 00:01:30.490 and look down at my feet. 00:01:30.490 --> 00:01:32.392 I'm going to lift my toes... 00:01:32.392 --> 00:01:34.561 I got distracted by my own toes there, sorry, 00:01:34.561 --> 00:01:38.065 'cause I realized you're all going to see my bling toe, 00:01:38.065 --> 00:01:42.069 which there's a great story behind my big toe art. 00:01:43.126 --> 00:01:44.237 It's a new thing for me 00:01:44.237 --> 00:01:46.873 and I will write that story on my blog. 00:01:46.873 --> 00:01:50.310 So if you're curious you can read that story on the blog. 00:01:50.310 --> 00:01:51.912 Let's stay focused together. 00:01:51.912 --> 00:01:53.780 Tadasana, the Mountain Pose. 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:56.483 Starting at the feet, I'm going to lift my toes, 00:01:56.483 --> 00:01:58.552 and right away I'm gonna see if I can connect 00:01:58.552 --> 00:02:01.321 all four corners of my feet, okay? 00:02:01.321 --> 00:02:03.457 So that's the ball joint of the big toe, the ball joint 00:02:03.457 --> 00:02:07.427 of the pinky toe, and the back two corners of the heels. 00:02:07.427 --> 00:02:09.763 So I'm going to turn to the side here just so you can see 00:02:09.763 --> 00:02:13.530 that when I lift my feet I can really tell if I've been 00:02:13.530 --> 00:02:15.702 sitting in the front part of my feet, 00:02:15.702 --> 00:02:18.739 or if I tend to hang out on the back part, 00:02:18.739 --> 00:02:21.938 by lifting the toes 'cause then it requires me to go 00:02:21.938 --> 00:02:25.014 through all four corners of the feet. 00:02:25.014 --> 00:02:27.347 We also call this in yoga, in Hatha Yoga, 00:02:27.347 --> 00:02:29.349 four part standing. 00:02:29.349 --> 00:02:31.084 So that's where that comes from is 00:02:31.084 --> 00:02:34.254 ball joint of the big toe, ball joint of the pinky toe, 00:02:34.254 --> 00:02:36.523 and the back two corners of the heels. 00:02:37.391 --> 00:02:39.659 So I'm going to spread my toes wide, 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:41.932 and then I'll relax my toes back down once I have 00:02:41.932 --> 00:02:45.165 more of an awareness or consciousness of my footing, 00:02:45.165 --> 00:02:47.475 or where I distribute my weight. 00:02:48.235 --> 00:02:52.039 That alone is worth the price of your time in this video. 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:54.875 Just understanding where we carry our weight. 00:02:54.875 --> 00:02:56.977 And you'll notice the more you start to practice this 00:02:56.977 --> 00:03:00.490 four part equal standing, 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:03.583 the more comfortable we become in our bodies. 00:03:03.583 --> 00:03:06.486 The posture improves naturally and we just gain 00:03:06.486 --> 00:03:08.522 more awareness of how we stand regularly. 00:03:08.522 --> 00:03:10.316 And it makes sense, because if we're hanging out 00:03:10.316 --> 00:03:12.759 here all the time, with a child, 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:15.195 or just carrying things all the time, then we need 00:03:15.195 --> 00:03:18.598 to take the time, consciously, to counteract that. 00:03:18.598 --> 00:03:21.334 Even in line, paying bills at HEB, sometimes I'm like, 00:03:21.334 --> 00:03:24.004 "Oh my god, this person cut me! 00:03:24.004 --> 00:03:25.605 "Who cuts people anymore?!" 00:03:25.605 --> 00:03:27.574 And then I'll just take a deep breath, 00:03:27.574 --> 00:03:29.943 and come to my four part standing, 00:03:29.943 --> 00:03:32.179 just building a little bit more awareness in the body 00:03:32.179 --> 00:03:34.332 and becoming a happier person. 00:03:35.382 --> 00:03:36.716 But back to the pose. 00:03:36.716 --> 00:03:41.154 So I'm going to lift the toes, then I'll relax them down. 00:03:41.154 --> 00:03:44.091 And, let's see, we're at feet hip-width apart. 00:03:44.091 --> 00:03:46.693 Then I'm going to travel up from my foundation, 00:03:46.693 --> 00:03:50.337 drawing energy up from the arches of the feet 00:03:50.337 --> 00:03:53.800 all the way up through the legs, engaging the legs, 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:57.337 all the way up through the groin, the pelvis area, 00:03:57.337 --> 00:03:59.673 and then of course, traveling up the spine through, up the 00:03:59.673 --> 00:04:04.144 crown of the head, fingertips relaxing down at my sides. 00:04:04.144 --> 00:04:06.893 So Mountain Pose, or Tadasana, 00:04:06.893 --> 00:04:11.952 it's as if the tip of my head is the top of the mountain, 00:04:12.937 --> 00:04:15.592 and then my fingertips grazing the sides. 00:04:15.592 --> 00:04:20.093 You can turn your palms open or keep them parallel. 00:04:20.460 --> 00:04:22.496 This is a good moment to give a shout-out to my family 00:04:22.496 --> 00:04:24.631 and friends in Colorado. 00:04:24.631 --> 00:04:28.301 Mountains. The Rocky Mountains. 00:04:28.301 --> 00:04:30.237 And now for some action points. 00:04:30.237 --> 00:04:33.940 So the great thing about Tadasana is, 00:04:33.940 --> 00:04:38.941 and this is great for sciatica, by the way, great posture pose. 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:42.883 I want to notice right away, and I'll turn to the side here, 00:04:42.883 --> 00:04:46.787 I want to notice if my heart is beginning to collapse in 00:04:46.787 --> 00:04:49.156 and I'm finding this roundness in the spine. 00:04:49.156 --> 00:04:51.625 And so of course I'll want to loop the shoulders open 00:04:51.625 --> 00:04:53.960 and find that natural lift in the heart, 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:56.053 that lift in the sternum. 00:04:56.053 --> 00:04:58.832 This is going to allow me to draw my navel in, 00:04:58.832 --> 00:05:03.337 supporting the belly and toning the belly, 00:05:03.337 --> 00:05:05.687 so we can get beach body ready, 00:05:05.687 --> 00:05:08.061 as my friend Dustin likes to say. 00:05:09.075 --> 00:05:13.513 And as I loop the shoulders, draw the navel in, 00:05:13.513 --> 00:05:17.717 open my heart, I have what I kind of call 00:05:17.717 --> 00:05:19.519 "Adriene getting carried away" 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:23.156 which is like, I'm like "Oh yes. Feels so good. Yoga!" 00:05:23.156 --> 00:05:25.692 And then I start to feel this pressure and pain in my 00:05:25.692 --> 00:05:28.028 lower back, and I'm like "I feel so open!" 00:05:28.028 --> 00:05:29.529 And then, pain. 00:05:29.529 --> 00:05:34.467 So I'll take that awareness, that check-in, and I'll scoot 00:05:34.467 --> 00:05:38.672 my tailbone in to support this openness that I have. 00:05:38.672 --> 00:05:41.841 So I'll literally, I'm gonna exaggerate for a second, 00:05:41.841 --> 00:05:45.545 so I'm going from here, like Titanic... 00:05:46.427 --> 00:05:49.016 Titanic. I love Titanic. 00:05:49.016 --> 00:05:52.752 So I'm going to go from here to scooping my tailbone in 00:05:52.752 --> 00:05:55.088 to meet the pubic bone, or the pelvis, 00:05:55.088 --> 00:05:57.557 which also tones my belly naturally without having to 00:05:57.557 --> 00:05:59.826 hold any tension, but engages it. 00:05:59.826 --> 00:06:02.229 So navel draws in as the tailbone scoops in, 00:06:02.229 --> 00:06:04.083 I've opened my shoulders and my heart. 00:06:04.083 --> 00:06:08.668 And now you're starting to see that I'm not forward or back, 00:06:08.668 --> 00:06:11.137 but I'm centered, head over the heart, 00:06:11.137 --> 00:06:13.406 heart over the pelvis. 00:06:13.406 --> 00:06:18.178 And then it's like, okay, well boring, Mountain Pose, Tadasana. 00:06:18.178 --> 00:06:21.248 In kids' yoga we go "Tada!...sana" 00:06:22.171 --> 00:06:24.040 But actually it's all but boring. 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:28.121 It's a very conscious place, where I'm present with 00:06:28.121 --> 00:06:31.391 the breath and there's a lot of activity going on, 00:06:31.391 --> 00:06:35.228 where I'm actually engaged from the crown of the head 00:06:35.228 --> 00:06:37.457 all the way down to my heels. 00:06:37.457 --> 00:06:40.900 I'm drawing energy up from the earth, 00:06:40.900 --> 00:06:43.069 and the tops of the thighs have this really sweet 00:06:43.069 --> 00:06:44.633 inner rotation. 00:06:45.572 --> 00:06:48.208 They're rotating in towards each other, 00:06:48.208 --> 00:06:52.612 out towards the wall behind you, or the windows behind me. 00:06:52.612 --> 00:06:54.648 Right? And then same thing, just to show you a little 00:06:54.648 --> 00:06:59.023 exaggerated version is I have this engaging quality 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:02.622 in the legs, where the tops of the thighs, the quads, 00:07:02.622 --> 00:07:05.258 are rotating in and out towards the back wall. 00:07:05.258 --> 00:07:07.603 And a great way to feel this, actually, 00:07:07.603 --> 00:07:10.797 is if you have a block, or you can just, I don't know, 00:07:10.797 --> 00:07:12.832 put your smartphone in-between your legs? 00:07:12.832 --> 00:07:14.034 Don't do that. But you can put 00:07:14.034 --> 00:07:17.103 anything substantial or square 00:07:17.103 --> 00:07:19.706 between the legs. How about a yoga block? 00:07:19.706 --> 00:07:22.042 And this is just a great place for me to feel 00:07:22.042 --> 00:07:23.353 that engaging quality. 00:07:23.353 --> 00:07:26.046 So here I'm kind of standing with my pelvis forward. 00:07:26.046 --> 00:07:27.480 A lot of us stand like this naturally, 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.196 putting a lot of pressure on the lower back. 00:07:30.196 --> 00:07:33.987 But with the block there I feel this intense squeezing 00:07:33.987 --> 00:07:37.157 sensation, and when I rotate my thighs towards 00:07:37.157 --> 00:07:39.326 each other and towards the wall behind me, 00:07:39.326 --> 00:07:41.030 it's almost like a Pez dispenser, 00:07:41.030 --> 00:07:43.163 I really feel that action. 00:07:43.163 --> 00:07:47.343 And now my legs are like, "whoo," working like mad. 00:07:47.343 --> 00:07:49.235 So I'll just come into alignment here, 00:07:49.235 --> 00:07:52.706 just so we can experience the full thing. 00:07:52.706 --> 00:07:56.242 Navel drawing back, heart lifted, shoulder blades, 00:07:56.242 --> 00:07:58.156 shoulder blades are coming together, 00:07:58.156 --> 00:08:00.546 melting down towards the tail, 00:08:00.546 --> 00:08:03.400 and the tail is scooping in to meet the pelvis. 00:08:04.884 --> 00:08:06.986 I would invest in a block, it's awesome. 00:08:06.986 --> 00:08:08.988 If I had tons of money I would say 00:08:08.988 --> 00:08:10.890 "Send me an email and I'll send you a block." 00:08:10.890 --> 00:08:12.900 Maybe one day, but not today. 00:08:13.693 --> 00:08:18.237 Someday it will happen. Blocks for everyone! 00:08:18.237 --> 00:08:19.866 Another great way to... 00:08:19.866 --> 00:08:22.411 I shouldn't make promises I can't keep. 00:08:22.411 --> 00:08:24.270 Another great way to practice this pose, 00:08:24.270 --> 00:08:28.108 particularly for beginners, is to back it up against a wall. 00:08:28.108 --> 00:08:31.690 And use the wall to really check in 00:08:31.690 --> 00:08:34.639 with that alignment of the head over the heart, 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.549 the heart over the pelvis. 00:08:37.984 --> 00:08:40.887 Then once I'm here in Tadasana, 00:08:40.887 --> 00:08:43.556 tops of the thighs rolling in together, 00:08:43.556 --> 00:08:45.846 tailbone scooping under to meet the pelvis bone, 00:08:45.846 --> 00:08:48.027 heart open, shoulders open, 00:08:48.027 --> 00:08:50.430 let your armpit chest breathe sometimes. 00:08:50.430 --> 00:08:53.967 Long neck, lengthening through the crown of the head. 00:08:53.967 --> 00:08:56.534 Of course, I'll begin to tap into my breath. 00:08:57.641 --> 00:09:00.273 What good is doing the asana, or the pose, 00:09:00.273 --> 00:09:03.443 without marrying it to the breath? 00:09:04.677 --> 00:09:07.714 And then from here I can close my eyes, 00:09:07.714 --> 00:09:09.949 and if you close your eyes you may start to feel 00:09:09.949 --> 00:09:12.118 a little drunk, a little wobbly. 00:09:12.118 --> 00:09:15.110 So that's okay. 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:18.458 Just hold onto your foundation, spread the toes, 00:09:18.458 --> 00:09:21.194 stay rooted in all four corners of the feet. 00:09:21.194 --> 00:09:23.430 And if you still start to feel a little unbalanced 00:09:23.430 --> 00:09:26.232 or dizzy, or like "I don't know if this is safe," 00:09:26.232 --> 00:09:29.436 just part the eyes open, and find a Drishti, 00:09:29.436 --> 00:09:32.505 or a focal point on the earth to kind of hold onto. 00:09:32.505 --> 00:09:35.475 A great tip for balancing poses to talk about another day. 00:09:35.475 --> 00:09:40.452 But holding onto a little piece of lint or a little 00:09:40.452 --> 00:09:44.684 heart-shaped piece of grass or dirt or dust or whatever 00:09:44.684 --> 00:09:46.266 on the earth. 00:09:46.266 --> 00:09:49.310 Holding onto that as we lift and lengthen 00:09:49.310 --> 00:09:51.925 and engage the full body. 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:56.296 Often we'll bring the palms together here in Tadasana, 00:09:56.296 --> 00:09:58.798 lifting the sternum to the thumbs, 00:09:58.798 --> 00:10:01.935 lengthening through the crown of the head. 00:10:01.935 --> 00:10:04.671 And another option that's super yummy just while we're here 00:10:04.671 --> 00:10:07.807 is we can take the fingertips, 00:10:07.807 --> 00:10:10.777 bring them up behind the tailbone here, 00:10:10.777 --> 00:10:13.746 still checking in with the lower body, going through 00:10:13.746 --> 00:10:17.784 all my checkpoints of Mountain Pose, or Tadasana, 00:10:17.784 --> 00:10:19.959 but this time I'll interlace the fingertips, 00:10:19.959 --> 00:10:22.889 draw them down past the tailbone towards the heels, 00:10:22.889 --> 00:10:25.989 navel to spine, as I open up the shoulders, 00:10:25.989 --> 00:10:28.228 open up the chest. 00:10:28.228 --> 00:10:31.331 If I can bring the palms together here, I will. 00:10:31.331 --> 00:10:35.735 Otherwise I'll just keep the wrists nice and square. 00:10:35.735 --> 00:10:39.659 Shoulder blades drawing together and down, creating space. 00:10:39.659 --> 00:10:42.679 Counteracting all those hours at the computer 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:44.931 or anything that we do with the shoulders rounded, 00:10:44.931 --> 00:10:47.210 which is almost everything. Heyo! 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:49.979 And fingertips drawing down, 00:10:50.732 --> 00:10:53.520 allowing the shoulders 00:10:53.520 --> 00:10:56.483 to rotate away from the ears, heart lifted. 00:10:56.483 --> 00:11:01.594 Yummy. Open chest. Open heart. 00:11:02.829 --> 00:11:04.364 Mountain Pose. 00:11:04.364 --> 00:11:06.366 We can also do this with the feet flush together, 00:11:06.366 --> 00:11:09.449 but I say as a beginning point it's nice to go hip-width apart 00:11:09.449 --> 00:11:11.905 the bones stacked, heels underneath the hips 00:11:11.905 --> 00:11:14.240 just for balance and stability. 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:17.977 Tadasana. 00:11:18.778 --> 00:11:23.449 Okie-doke, so that was Mountain Pose, or Tadasana. 00:11:23.449 --> 00:11:25.485 Or Tada!...sana. 00:11:26.757 --> 00:11:29.175 The great thing about Tadasana is you can do it 00:11:30.072 --> 00:11:34.027 anywhere, everywhere. Anywhere and everywhere. 00:11:35.504 --> 00:11:37.230 Not everywhere. (chuckles) 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:39.332 I'm thinking about liability here. 00:11:39.332 --> 00:11:41.067 Not everywhere, but you get what I'm saying. 00:11:41.067 --> 00:11:43.503 It's great pose to check in with your posture, with your 00:11:43.503 --> 00:11:46.506 alignment, great container for breath as I've said before. 00:11:46.506 --> 00:11:48.084 You can do it in the grocery store or 00:11:48.084 --> 00:11:52.358 you can do it at the bar, you can do it on the mat. 00:11:52.358 --> 00:11:54.347 Anywhere and everywhere. 00:11:54.347 --> 00:11:57.660 Leave comments! Read the blog 00:11:57.660 --> 00:12:02.855 if you want to talk about my bling big toe, let's chat. 00:12:02.855 --> 00:12:05.491 I'll tell you the story. 00:12:05.491 --> 00:12:07.460 Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already, 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:11.337 and see you next time. Thank you so much. 00:12:11.337 --> 00:12:12.781 Namaste. 00:12:12.781 --> 00:12:17.087 (upbeat music)