Tree Pose or Vrksansana should be familiar to anyone that has begun their yoga journey. In standing yoga routines, Tree Pose is both the simplest pose and the most widely practiced. It requires no complicated muscle stacking or positioning and no superhuman flexibility. Those who hope to learn yoga from the beginning need balance. The beginning of balance is the Tree Pose.

That’s enough martial arts master talk! What you really need to know is that from this pose, you can build stability as well as create a whole standing sequence. Despite its simplicity, Tree Pose offers many health benefits on its own, benefits which can be keenly felt by anyone, but which matter even more as you age. Read on to learn these benefits and how to do this simple pose to reap its complex benefits.

 

Benefits of Tree Pose

Balance can seem like a luxury of the young when you’re getting older and find yourself losing it. But any of us can take advantage of the core stability offered by a balanced standing yoga routine. Tree Pose offers the best lead-in to these advantages. It is the gateway to building a healthy core.

As you probably know, no muscle group in your body activates, strengthens, or stretches in isolation. They’re linked through muscles, supporting each other (or failing to). This means that you’ll feel the strengthening of your core and spine as a function of your hips. Tree Pose opens your hips, stretches your groin, and releases your inner thighs. This functionally releases your core to a state of better balance.

Getting stronger legs may not be your major goal with Vrksansana but it comes with the territory of opening and balancing your core. Those of us who work all day in an office may experience groin tightness as well, as muscles harden up in those areas and become less receptive to movement. Tree Pose can help you open up and get your thighs back.

In addition to strengthening the body, the Tree Pose has also been said to help with headaches, insomnia, sciatica, flat feet, and blood pressure issues.

 

How to Do the Pose

To reap these benefits, you need to know the proper way to do the Tree Pose. It begins in Mountain Pose, hands to heart, feet firmly on the floor with your weight distributed evenly.

Shift weight away from the first foot you’d like to lift. Lift it, keeping the other leg straight. At this point, yoga novices may find themselves wobbling, giggling, or tipping over. That’s okay! The point of Tree Pose is to achieve a standing balance. It’s only natural that you may not have it when you begin learning. Just try not to lock your knee when you’re swaying and looking for balance. That could make you fall over.

Bend the raised knee and place your foot on the inside of your standing thigh. Press into it with your foot so that your hips don’t drop one direction or the other (you want them to stay straight ahead). A little tip: let your eyes rest on something stationary so that you can borrow its balance. If you let your gaze wander, beginners will find themselves toppling or letting their hips jut to either side.

In this position, take 5 to 10 healthy breaths. Let your foot return to the floor (try not to wobble) and prepare yourself to repeat with the opposite leg.

 

The Takeaway

Tree Pose or Vrksansana is known to most yoga novices as the pose that tests the baseline of their balance. Yoga classes fill up with giggling as people try to stabilize themselves on one foot (it’s not as easy as it looks!). Those who hope to become more proficient in yoga, however, need this baseline.

Tree Pose strengthens your legs, stretches your thighs and groin, and balances your core. It gives you the ability to create standing yoga sequences as well as find your sense of balance after a day of sedentary work. For the gateway to stability, look no further than the deceptively simple and versatile Tree Pose.