Why Tree Pose is the Most Popular Pose

Kids love it.  It’s the first pose most people strike when they hear the word “yoga”.  It even enjoys its own special day of the week complete with hashtag (#TreePoseTuesday.)  Tree Pose strengthens your legs, flexes your angles, and lengthens your spine.  Most importantly, Tree Pose maintains and improves your balance. And the best thing about Tree Pose is almost anyone can do it.

B. K. S. Iyengar’s legendary “Light on Yoga” progression features Tree Pose as #2 in a series of 200 progressively difficult poses.  It’s second only to Mountain Pose, or active standing.  So if you can stand up, can probably do Tree Pose. This is why it’s difficult for little kids. They haven’t been standing that long.

As we age, standing and balancing can become increasingly difficult. But by standing on one foot for just one minute (30 seconds per day per foot), most adults will maintain a sense of balance throughout their life. It sounds like a preposterous claim, but try it for 30 seconds – if you’re younger than 7 and older than 70, it may not be so easy to balance on one foot for a whole 30 seconds. And because people are different, it may not be easy for you whatever your age is.

But like any goal worth pursuing, it might take a little effort to attain. Here is a simple progression for mastering The Most Popular Pose.

1. Keep your feet on the ground. If balancing is a challenge for you, begin with your one foot firmly planted on the ground. Imagine you are a tree, with roots that reach down from the bottom of your foot into the earth. Tune into the sensation of your foot making contact with the ground. Lift the heel of your other foot so you are balancing on tiptoe.  Lift your arms up and spread them like the branches of a tree. Feel your sense of balance. 

Find a point straight ahead of you on which to focus your gaze. Perhaps use a clock with a second hand so you can time yourself. Lift your right toes off the floor so you are standing on one foot. Congratulations, you’re in Tree Pose! After 30 seconds, set your foot down and follow the same progression on you’re the other side.

2. Move your foot to your calf. Once you feel confident standing on one foot, you can progress up the Tree Pose ladder. The next rung is putting the bottom of your foot on the inside of your leg at the calf. It is very important not to place your foot on your knee, as you risk the possibility of joint dislocation. Also important is to keep your toes pointing down or even slightly toward the back, not forward. This action will gently open your hips.

3. Move your foot to your thigh. If the first two levels were easy for you, reach down and grab your foot. Place your right heel at the root of your left thigh. See if you can hold your leg in place using your muscles and not your hands. It helps to wear shorts or non-slippery pants.  

Once you’ve freed your hands, place your palms together in front of your chest. Gently press them together to further engage your lateral balance. Or you can opt to keep your palms together and raise them overhead with your arms straight in a slightly more challenging version of Tree Pose.

4.  Set yourself free. Now play with it! Go in and out of a full Tree Pose without using your hands at all. Can you get your foot to your calf or your inner thigh without grabbing your foot? Can you move from another balancing pose, such as Half Moon or Eagle Pose to Tree Pose and back? These are all fun ways to improve your balance and your mastery of The Most Popular Pose. To stay balanced remember to spend equal amount of time on each side.

Tree Pose is a natural and foundational way to balance. I love to find my Tree Pose in unique settings like on rocks or logs. Just like anything, practice will result in improvement. Most importantly, whatever you do with your body should be fun. And as most kids will tell you, Tree Pose definitely makes the cut!