Mountain Pose - A Daily Practice

In this video, we will do Tadasana together plus some variations to explore. I am not demonstrating in this video — only my voice — because I want you to have your own inner experience.

Yoga is always an inner experience because that is where the transformation happens.

“I tire of your arrogance old man. Bow to me!”,
Shan Yu growled to the Emperor
“No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it”, responded the wise emperor.

This is one of my favourite scenes from the movie Mulan. Shan Yu, the bad guy, is huge, scary, and fearless. He is furious that the emperor will not just give up. But the emperor just stands in wisdom, strength, and truth.

This is why I choose Tadasana for my first posture to focus on.

Tadasana literally means “mountain pose”.

This is where we feel the mountain of a human that we truly are.

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How do you normally stand? With one hip out, slouched over, leaning to one side, shoulders forward?

Our posture reflects a lot about what is going on inside of us. This is how we can heal so many aspects of who we are — mind, body, and spirit — by simply putting our body in a particular position and exploring what happens inside.

Imagine standing like you are a mountain. Your feet are firmly planted on the earth, knees soft but firm, hips evenly balanced over your legs, spine easily rising out of your hips, shoulders relaxed, and head effortlessly balancing at the top.

You are a mountain.

You are breathing deeply.

You own the place that you are standing.

You are here, alive on this Earth, right now.

You are the mountain.

The Yoga of Life

Let’s take this posture out into the world.

Physically, let’s align our body in strength and structure. Let’s allow it to be balanced, conscious, and aware. Let’s breathe openly and fully within this posture.

Mentally, let’s let our minds be clear and strong. We do not bow to the wind no matter how it howls. We must allow our minds to stay focused on where our soul is going, on joy, on expansion, on what is truly ours to think about.

Emotionally, let’s feel our centre. Let’s know that we matter — that our truth matters. We belong here and therefore how we experience the world is important — and it’s important to share.

Spiritually, let’s feel that beautiful blending of our physical, grounded selves and our divine, infinite selves everywhere we go and in everything we do. As we walk through our days feeling the earth under our feet and infinity at our crown — knowing that we are truly the meeting of heaven and earth right here in this body.

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Let’s Practice Together

Join me for Kundalini Yoga over Zoom and let's practice together. 

“Be humble for you are made of the earth.
Be noble for you are made of the stars.”
Serbian proverb