by Inez Baranay
2. Tadasana: One
Stand. This is the first pose, the first asana. Stand straight, stand on your two feet. Feet together, heels and big toes touching.
We begin with Tadasana, standing straight on two feet, and we end our practice with Savasana, lying straight on your back. It sounds easy: stand up, lie down. Tadasana and Savasana reveal themselves as poses capable of endless refinement, poses regarded as among the most difficult to achieve.
Stand. Begin to bring your attention to the pose. Stand on two feet. Feet together, toes, ankles and heels touching.
Close your eyes for a moment. Is the weight of your body on the front of the feet, on the back, on one side of the foot? Do you lean more weight on one leg than the other?
Now adjust, balancing the weight evenly over the centre of each foot. Open the eyes. Look ahead. With the feet firmly planted, keep ascending, lengthening, growing taller.
Tighten the kneecaps and lift the knees. Keep the shinbones in line with the thighbones, and the front of the thighs pressed back.
Is the spine erect? Is the chest lifted?
Tuck the tailbone down and under. Lengthen from pubis to navel, compress the hips, narrow the waist, broaden the diaphragm. The spine ascends from its base to the crown of the head, sacrum and crown in line, neck in line with the spine. The arms are drawn downwards, fingertips drawn to the earth as the crown ascends. Keep the throat, mouth, jaw soft. And what has happened to the weight over your feet?
