ERICKA JONES

MANIFEST MOUNTAIN ENERGY

Tadasana for Balance in Trying Times

BY MICHELLE SKALLY DOILNEY (SHE/HER)

In difficult times and in our daily lives, we sometimes feel as if we’re bending into breaking, losing sight of the vast views of ourselves, our “nows,” and our futures. In quiet and chaos, we must find our center to balance the world within us and around us. Reduce stress and anxiety by taking on not just the physical, but also the emotional and mental characteristics of mountains: stamina, inspiration, and conquering challenges.

Mountains symbolize overcoming obstacles. We overcome them through gathering ourselves together, self and community, and accepting what is, instead of what we want or what we avoid. As in raw mountain beauty, remember and manifest the unique raw beauty we all carry in our bodies and energy.

In hatha yoga, we use our bodies, not as exercise machines, but as tools to tune our body health and our emotional and mental health. Tadasana (“tada” = mountain; “asana” = posture) pose grounds us while bringing our energy from below to above, and above below. Like mountains, each body is unique with the common characteristics of awe-inspiring beauty and strength, no matter what surroundings.

Mountains and bodies both have grounding energy and rising energy. In hatha yoga, the body’s ability or stance has less effect than the deeper benefits of a posture.

Tadasana can be adapted for any age, body, or mind condition. Body posture helps align the head, neck, and trunk gently over our legs and feet with soft effort.

This can be done standing, sitting, or lying down. Breath connects our body to our awareness, and deep, slow, abdominal breathing brings us to balance. Visualizing oneself as a mountain, and then in a community of mountains, brings us home on all levels. Tadasana is often referred to as the first or main posture of hatha yoga for good reason. The balance it brings moves us on to other postures and to life situations more steadily.

Tadasana can be done anywhere, anytime. Begin practicing at home, with a mirror if possible. Love your reflection and learn from it as you settle into the posture. Learn any posture from both seeing and adjusting yourself visually, as well as using your awareness to feel your posture. Take the tadasana stance in the grocery line, as you get in or out of a car, first thing in the morning or last thing before bed. Hold the posture for at least 10 seconds and up to 45-60 seconds to fully feel the effects. Pay attention to your body and adjust yourself with ease and honor.

Mountains are solid, yet their landscapes are ever-changing. They absorb and adjust to their surroundings, even during landslides, earthquakes, and lava released from below. Bighorn sheep and snow leopards seek shelter on ledges and cliffs. Aspen trees grow tall and root together beneath the earth. Bluebirds and golden eagles soar and perch. Water collects, purifies through rock, and flows to us as drinking water or water for our fields. Though they seem solo, mountains are the community, the physical mass, holding the earth’s crust together and balancing our planet.

Our bodies and selves hold the same solo and community nature of the mountains. Our bodies are unique landscapes, from our physical features to our stories, scars, joys, and pains, and how we hold them in or release them from our bodies and our energy. Learn, feel, and

broadcast your individual mountain energy. Find support from community mountain energy: friends, families, neighbors, groups. We hold our bodies and each other together. Be your own mountain and mountaineer. Connect with your mountain range community for support with tadasana pose and energy.

“Mountains symbolize overcoming obstacles. We overcome them through gathering ourselves together, self and community, and accepting what is, instead of what we want or what we avoid.” “Our bodies are unique landscapes, from our physical features to our stories, scars, joys, and pains, and how we hold them in or release them from our bodies and our energy.”

TADASANA POSITIONS:

For all tadasana positions, if you can, use your eyes to establish your balance. Once you balance in the posture, soften your gaze and focus your energy on your awareness rather than what your eyes see. If you have balance issues, keep your eyes active. If you are in seated, supported, or supine tadasana, you can experiment with closed eyes more easily. Use your breath to both root and grow your body and awareness while centering yourself at your core.

Standing Tadasana

Begin by standing on a solid surface with safe socks or bare feet. Feel your body stand as it is. Keep your feet hip-width apart. Raise only your toes toward the ceiling with your foot flat on the floor, and then lower your toes. Minding your balance, move your body weight from side to side, rolling your feet with the motion. Move your body on your feet from heel to toe, finding your balance spot somewhere in the midsole of the foot. Once you feel your balance, imagine raising your body up: ankles out of feet, knees out of lower leg, hips out of upper leg, ribs separating from each other as you raise your torso, neck out of torso. Head up from neck. Relax your body into a gentle stack, your head, neck, and trunk aligned over the balance point of your feet. Keep your tailbone in a neutral position, with your pelvis tilted neither forward or back.

Breathe gently and deeply in and out of your nostrils and deeply from your belly as you stand, feeling your energy rise from the floor through the top of your head, and then back down again from the top of your head through the floor. Hold yourself upright with no strain. This both grounds and raises your body and energy. Feel the energy of your strong core as you breathe.

Standing Tadasana, foot variation

Use this posture if you feel comfortable and balanced in regular standing tadasana and want to experiment with a different foot position. Follow all the instructions, but instead of your feet being hip-width apart, close the gap and hold feet together at the beginning.

Standing Tadasana, cross-arm

Follow the sequence for standing tadasana. Once you finish aligning your body over your feet, cross both arms in front of your chest. Soften your gaze or experiment with your eyes closed if you have the balance.

Supported Standing Tadasana, wall to back

Follow the sequence for standing tadasana, but stand with your body solid against a wall for support.

Supported Standing Tadasana, wall to side

Follow the sequence for standing tadasana, but stand with one side of your body solid against a wall for support.

Seated Tadasana

Find a comfortable chair that supports your back. Place your feet firmly on the ground or foot rests, or else visualize firm feet. Your arms should rest on the chair

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arms in a natural position or be at your side. Follow the instructions of standing tadasana, and stack your body as best as you can while seated. You may sit either on the edge of your chair with your back free, or use the chair back for support. Though seated, you are still in mountain energy.

Supine Tadasana

Find a comfortable position lying down. First experiment to see if you can keep your back comfortable without bolsters. If you need support, place a thin pillow under your head, or a roll under your neck (supporting the natural curve of the neck, not raising it). If needed, place a cushion or small bolster under your knees. However you find your body comfortable lying down, use what you can to maintain body awareness. This posture is different from a similar lying-down posture — shavasana. In shavasana, the body is not active and is at rest. In supine tadasana, the goal is to activate any part of your body possible. Move your energy and muscles from your feet up to the top of your head, without strain. Keep your legs at hip-width apart and point your toes toward the ceiling. Keep your arms active and straightened at your sides with palms facing your body. +

MICHELLE SKALLY DOILNEY has been a Yoga Alliance-certified teacher since 2003, practicing Himalayan yoga since 1997. She is a certified Feng Shui consultant, teacher, writer, photographer, and adventure traveler. Michelle currently has a home base in St. Paul, Minnesota, when she’s not on walkabout. She is passionate about helping others find their true selves with writing, yoga, and Feng Shui consultations and classes; creating community connection; and inclusiveness for all.

YOGA FOR BENDY PEOPLE

BY LIBBY HINSLEY, PT, DPT, C-IAYT (SHE/HER)

“Hyperextending pinky fingers is one of several indications of joint hypermobility assessed by the Beighton Scale, which is a quick assessment for hypermobility.” E ver wonder why some people in your yoga class move with ease into pretzel-like postures such as splits, deep backbends, and contortionist-style forward folds, while others struggle to reach their shins, much less their toes? Rather than a sign of being farther along the path to enlightenment, those gumby practitioners may simply demonstrate joint hypermobility.

Hypermobility describes the ability of a joint to move more than normal. Some people have one or two hypermobile joints; some people have many. Either way, hypermobility isn’t necessarily pathological (whew).

A variety of factors may lead someone to joint hypermobility, including the shape of their bones, the angles at which their bones connect, or a genetic difference in their collagenous connective tissue.

Some people have a difference in the structure or function of collagen fibers, or the cells that produce collagen. The most abundant structural protein in the body, collagen essentially holds your body together.

Collagen is the central ingredient in your tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, and fascia.

When a genetic difference causes joint hypermobility in these collagenous connective tissues, it’s more likely to be part of a “hypermobility syndrome” that typically includes wide-ranging symptoms impacting many systems of the body. The most common hypermobility syndromes include Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS).

So, while being bendy comes with perks when doing impressive pretzel-like yoga postures, joint hypermobility often can be just the tip of the iceberg for bendy people.

They often experience joint pain, muscle tension, fatigue, digestive problems, histamine intolerance, and anxiety. They’re more likely to live with neurodevelopmental differences including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, they’re likely to battle dysautonomia, which means their heart rate and blood pressure fall out of whack, which may create dizziness, fatigue, and other challenges.

Their connective tissue difference makes them prone to strains and sprains, joint subluxation and dislocation, and pain. So, when it comes to yoga practice, bendy people might be more at risk for injury. This comment leads many to ask me, “Is yoga bad for bendy people?” The answer is: “It all depends.” It depends on what you mean by yoga.

I treat many bendy yogis who develop chronic pain and injury through their yoga practice. The more yoga they practice, the worse they feel. Some of the most common complaints include sacroiliac joint pain, chronic hamstring strain, and shoulder pain. And it’s true: if practiced unwisely, yoga can certainly be a source of more harm than good for people with hypermobility syndromes.

However, if we approach yoga practice with certain principles in mind, then it can be a supportive part of a bendy person’s life. Yoga offers some amazing tools that directly support the needs of bendy people. From asana and pranayama to meditative practices and the application of yogic ethics, yoga can be a veritable treasure trove for bendy practitioners.

A fast-paced, highly-asymmetrical asana sequence (i.e., includes an endless string of one-sided postures before getting to the other side) with passive end-range stretching serves as a good recipe for a bendy practitioner to come out feeling worse, not better, after class.

But an asana practice emphasizing smaller movements (back away from the edge!), slower movements (hello, motor control!), muscular engagement to support joint stability, more symmetry in sequencing, and proprioceptive awareness can be like magic for the bendy body.

Beyond asana, yoga is the gift that keeps on giving. Pranayama practices promoting a sense of inner calm may help the bendy practitioner develop a stronger understanding of their inner experience, learn to tame their often hypervigilant nervous system, and develop skills for improved regulation. Meditative practices offer resources for training the attention to calm the mind, understand patterns of behavior, and develop clarity of purpose.

For a more in-depth exploration into the world of hypermobility syndromes and how yoga practices can support bendy people, check out my new book, Yoga for Bendy People, due for publication in summer 2022. +

“Being able to bring your thumb to your forearm is one of several indications of joint hypermobility assessed by the Beighton Scale, which is a quick assessment for hypermobility.”

LIBBY HINSLEY, PT, DPT, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Certified Yoga Therapist most influenced by the tradition of Krishnamacharya and Desikachar. She maintains a private physical therapy practice, where she integrates yoga and manual therapy techniques and specializes in the treatment of Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, yoga-related injury, and chronic pain. She also offers a monthly membership program for yoga teachers called “Anatomy Bites” — an embodied, relevant, and fun way for yoga teachers to learn anatomy.

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