Yoga-Snack - MOUNTAIN POSE

"A GOOD FOUNDATION IS THE KEY TO EVERY SOLID BUILDING"

Our feet do so much for us every single day. They carry us around and we barely acknowledge them. So let's start by becoming a little bit more aware about them, let's get to know our feet just a little bit better and learn how we can use them more mindfully and treat them more respectfully.

Because what ever happens at the foundation will be impacting the whole structure, so start at your feet to eventually attain better, healthier and prouder posture. This will - by the way - boost your self-confidence and you will be radiating better vibes and thus make more healthy connections. Duh!

SO LET'S BEGIN:

♢ find a solid/ steady underground to stand on ♢ place your feet about hip width apart so that your whole foot creates a strong and stable foundation ♢ close your eyes and see if you can feel your feet supporting your bodyweight ♢ now shift your weight onto the heels

--> BUT KEEP THE WHOLE FOOT TOUCHING CONNECTED TO THE GROUND ♢ breathe a few breaths here with the eyes closed... then... ♢ move the weight onto the balls of the feet and the toes

--> BUT DON'T LIFT THE HEELS OFF THE GROUND, STAY ROOTED ♢ breathe here a few breaths and notice which muscles are now engaged and how your body reacts in order to keep balance ♢ now slowly shift your weight back to center (so equal weight distribution on both feet) and start shifting your bodyweight to the right edge of your feet and to the left edge of your feet. --> repeat this exercise again. Still with your eyes closed <--

PROGRESSION: ♢ eventually you may be able to draw a figure "8" just simply moving in a circle distributing the weight of your body in a fluid continuous movement.

➡ BUT ALWAYS KEEP THE WHOLE SOLES OF YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND (for this exercise)

TADASANA or MOUNTAIN POSE

In mountain pose we are aming to find the most balanced and steady posture. Feel rootet and connected with the earth, feel strong and undistroyable, feel the connection to the sky above you. This pose might seem easy and even boring to you. But let me tell you something, if you get borred in MOUNTAIN POSE you are not going deep enough. How to get 'deeper' into mountain pose you wonder? Well THANK YOU for asking. You probably think that, because you are not stretching you can not go 'deeper', am I right? I am so happy that we can have this conversation right here. So let me tell you what I wanted to tell you for so long: To go deeper into a pose, does by no means mean that you should go forcefully deeper into a stretch, bend, flexation or any physical plane. To go deeper in a pose means that you start going inwards, deeper in layers. It means that you start to notice the more subtle happenings that are going on. It means that you start to feel actions from within and their effect on your whole body and being. It means that you have to be quite in order to hear and learn. If you engage every muscle in your body with full presence from the roots to the crown and out your fingertips and you stand there for 5 or more minutes, connected to your body, your cells through your breath, I guarantee you that you will start to feel a slight sweat. Yes simply from standing my friend!

♢ keep your eyes closed ♢ stay steady and strong with your feet firmly connected to the ground ♢ distribute the weight evenly onto both feet (not the heel, not the toes, equal weight on all 3 (or 4) corners of the foot) ♢ use opposite forces to get the full experience: ROOT DOWN into the earth through your feet and draw energy from those roots, from the earth up and through your body to RISE UP towards the sky.

Feel the groundedness and also the upward travelling energy that you now have created. ♢ detailed description of mountain pose here: http://www.yogajournal.com/video/video/mountain-pose/

STEP UP YOUR GAME - ADVANCED:

♢ Repeat with standing on only one foot.

♢ Repeat on uneven ground. For example roll a yogamat or blanket and perform on it.

♢ learn with Leslie Kaminoff's Yoga Anatomy

I really hope you find this useful. Feel free to let me know about your experience.

xo Fabi