Āsana Focus: Vṛkṣāsana (Tree pose)

My Personal Practice:

To me, there is something wonderful and almost magical about tree pose. Physically, I find that focusing on the connection in both feet helps the balance, not just in the standing foot, but more subtly in the raised foot also. The pressing in of the raised foot and the pressing back of the inner thigh really opens and relaxes my whole pelvis and lower back. I find this pose amazing for alleviating lower back pain and tension. Mentally, I find it very soothing and calming, despite the way it focuses the mind in being a balance. I personally like to have my arms overhead in a V rather than palms together. Historically this V positing of the arms has been one of exhalation or worship recorded in a plethora of different faiths and cultures, and it somehow gives me a sense of joy and unity. You are at once deeply grounded through the standing leg, and yet elated as you ‘lift off’ and extend upwards and outwards.

Essential alignment points:

1. Come to stand in Tāḍāsana, focus on the breath to centre you in preparation; the inhalation brings lightness and height as the spine lengthens from the tailbone to the crown, the exhalation brings grounding and rooting through the feet as your foundation. 
2. Feet are together. Big toes and heels are touching, arches are lifted and there is a sense of rooting through the base of the big toe, little toe and the heel, activating pada bandha. Visualise the roots of your tree running deep into the earth.
3. Shift your weight into the right leg. The right knee aligns over the right ankle. It is not locked, there is a slight micro-bend in the knee providing mobility to aid the balance. Trees are not rigid, they can sway in the wind.
4. As you shift your weight into the standing leg, the centre of the pelvis will naturally come to hover over the ankle and knee resulting in a stacking effect. The breath remains long and deep, drawing energy and rooting from the right foot up through the spine and to the crown providing lift.
5. On an inhalation, bend the left knee and lift the foot off the floor. Guide it with the hands to rest on the inner right thigh. Root through the sole of the left foot into the thigh, as you push pack with the thigh. This creates stability in the posture.
6. Modification: depending on flexibility and openness in the hips, the foot can be positioned lower down on the inner thigh, on the shin, or resting toes to floor, heel to ankle. However, it should not come to rest at the knee joint as this puts excess pressure on the area and could result in injury. Similarly, if you need support in the balance, practice with the back against a wall for added security.
7. Now, take the hands to the rim of the pelvis, check it is level with the floor. Avoid flaring the right hip out or dumping bodyweight into it. Keep lengthening the spine with the breath, engaging the core so that the belly does not hang outwards. The front ribs have a dialogue and connection to the back ribs. Visualise the trunk of your tree strong and long, reaching upward.
8. Encourage the bent left knee to externally rotate outwards without compromising the position of the pelvis facing directly forward. Soften the shoulders down away from the ears.
9. Now, depending on stability, bring the palms together to rest at the heart centre in Namaste/Añjali Mudrā, and if you like, then raise them above the crown of the head like branches extending towards the sky.
10. Focus on the breath to hold this posture as long as is comfortable to you, then graciously exit by returning hands to hips, and foot to mat. Repeat with the left leg.

Death In Every Moment

Meditation practice teaches us presence. It's about holding still, holding space. Accepting what is happening around you, to you, in you, and acknowledging it.

But how often does this really ever extend to an awareness and exploration of our own mortality?

The Tibetan Buddhist tradition actively encourages 'Meditation on Death', to go to the edge most of us spend our entire lives avoiding. Death is so central a theme to Tibetan Buddhist practice, that Sogyal Rinpoche dedicated an entire work to it in, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying".

Anti ageing creams, Botox, stem cells: elixirs that hold the promise of a forever-life flood the tabloids. The glorification of youth and perpetual life is now immortalised and burned into the retinas of an instagram generation by every snap-chat-tumblr-posting-twitter-feeding-selfie obsessed individual. 

 But it is an unavoidable fact. Without death, change, and new life cannot begin. The death of the tree in the forest, relinquishing its life to decomposition, allows a new generation to be nourished. Death gives way to new life. Stepping back and viewing life on the macro scale of a planetary lifespan- not a human one - can be a humbling and deeply calming practice. 

 Through an appreciation of death comes an appreciation of life. It also brings an appreciation of the place of the individual within the interconnected structures of the natural world - life cycles of blossom and decay which we are all subject to. From a deep awareness of these cycles, arises a compassion and desire for union with others within those structures. 

 So meditate on death. Imaging the how and when, imagining the moment of your final release without melodrama or romanticism, and invite that awareness back into your meditation practice and daily life. It is capable of opening a deep, expansive joy and freedom. Life's value is, after all, only apparent by its proximity to death.

To New Beginnings..

(Obligatory, cliché germination image)

So, I've set up a blog as a place to chronicle my experiences and thoughts while training in London to become a British Wheel certified Yoga teacher. In the coming weeks and months I'm aiming to create a space not only where my friends and family can be part of the journey, but where I can create a forum for my own practice and development.

I'm hoping this will provide insight and enjoyment along the way.

Here's to new beginnings! :)