Tree Hugging

Tree pose or vrksasana is probably the most iconic yoga posture in popular culture. (See my personal logo not to mention a lot of yogurt commercials!). It’s actually not a bad representation of yoga as it sums up one of the most important benefits of the practice—balance. As you all know, yoga’s emphasis on core strength, body awareness, and proprioception can help us to maintain and even improve our ability to balance physically. As I often mention, a key to finding balance is to think of it not as stasis but rather as the constant shifting of energy made up of micro-movements in muscles and bones. It’s a verb, not a noun. And this concept can help us to see how balance is at the center of a yoga practice beyond just standing on one foot. Yoga involves heightened awareness of the movement between effort and relaxation, between inhale and exhale, between taking in energy and sending out energy. Dwelling in the midst of that flow of contrary motion is what yoga is all about. And finding that balance on the mat can help us to find it in the rest of our lives as well.