Blossoming our Tree Pose

Welcome back. Nice to see you again. Thanks for coming and thank you Jackie for being here. And so today we're going to take a look at Tree Pose, sometimes known as Vrkshasana. Tree Pose is one of these postures that might seem easy at first until one tries it. So there are a lot of elements involved here. So just to make sure that we're on the same page in the beginning, Jackie will show what we mean by Tree Pose.

So she finds and chooses one leg to balance on. The other leg externally rotates. The hip externally rotates. She presses that foot up against the standing leg. Her heart blooms and she decides how to grow her branches. So you can see she's chosen these gentle, receptive branches.

There are as many ways to do Tree Pose as there are people playing with Tree Pose. This happens to be the shape Jackie chose. And we'll use this to start to dial in some of the details of how one might start to balance on one foot, how one might start to let the heart brighten, and how one might find, whoa, perfect. Because a tree doesn't stand rigid and solid. A tree flows and receives the sun and receives the water and blooms in context and with others.

OK. Thank you, darling. So we'll start with playing with the balance. Now we're going to use a brick to do this. You may or may not have a brick at home. So a big, giant book or something similar would work.

This is also something you can do if you happen to have stairs in your house. So the suggestion is set the brick up near the wall. And just so that Jackie and I are on the same page, I'm going to show you're going to set up so you can stand somewhat away from the wall, but also use a hand on the wall because balance may not be available yet. So Jackie's going to place one of her foot that's closest to the wall up on the brick. She's going to put one hand on the wall for support.

So you might do the same thing. And then we'll start by just stepping up and down off the brick a little bit. So you'll inhale. And as you exhale, you step up. And then you inhale, you step back down.

Inhale, exhale, step up. And then step back down. And just do that a handful more times. Just get used to the stepping action. As you get used to the stepping action, you're getting used to one foot bearing weight.

Okay, now this is something you do all the time every day. Now, next time you step up on the brick, stay there. So next time you step up on the brick, stay there. And now start to get a sense a little bit of rooting down into the foot. So you're rooting down into the foot on the brick.

And you're firming that standing leg without hardening her. So there's a difference. So if you're not sure what I mean, press too much in the foot. Grip too much in that standing thigh. And you might feel your knee lock out a bit.

That's not what we're going for. Soften the knee a little bit. You're rooting enough so that you feel affirming without a locking. Okay, now keep that foot on the brick as you step down. And then we're going to step up a second time.

Step up. Now this time, root through your leg. And see if you can start to connect the relationship between the foot and the heart. So as you root, let your heart bloom. And you'll see Jackie's still showing her hand on the wall.

And for some of you, keeping your hand on the wall is really the way to go. If it's appropriate here, you could start to play with letting your fingers get lighter. Or maybe even being removed from the wall. Just play with that. So some of you might keep the hand on the wall lightly touching.

Some of you might remove. Okay, keep that foot on the brick. Step down. And then one more time. Now step up.

So in this last one, get a sense of rooting. Get a sense of blooming. So pretty. And the last little detail here is can you find the alignment of your skull where the neck tension is no longer necessary. And so you're looking for that place where it's a little bit gooey or in the base of the skull and let your gaze be a little bit more optimistic.

So if you've been focusing only a foot in front of you, you'll have to brighten your vision slightly. Last few beats. Maybe the hand is on the wall for support. Maybe you're tempting your balance here a little bit. Gorgeous.

Okay, from here now, step down off the brick and stand behind the brick on both feet. And as you stand behind the brick, and maybe Jackie come off the mat so you're nicely on the wood floor. So make sure your feet are on an even surface and big deliberate inhale here. Exhale everything. Soften both knees a little bit.

And of the leg that was just on the brick, can you really let your awareness run down that leg and can you feel your foot of that side? And sometimes maybe sometimes you can even feel beyond the foot. Does that make sense? Can you feel that? And so the play here is can you feel the leg that you were just standing on?

Can you feel her grounded? And can you really know this feeling of grounded? Because that's one thing trees are really good at. They're grounded. Okay, nice.

So we'll play with that on the other side and it's unfortunate for you because Jackie's going to turn away from you. You'll get to see her beautiful back so you set up with the opposite leg. Is that your opposite foot? Yes. You put that opposite foot up on the brick and then just get used to stepping up and stepping down a few times.

So again, if you don't happen to have a brick on a wall at your house, you might have a staircase. You might have a brick. Nice. You know, I think we did this maybe like four or five times before we paused. So about the same amount of times, just getting used to this.

And for some of you, this might be as close as it comes today to balance. Beautiful. So as you come to this next one, step up and stay. And the play here on this first of the three rounds is can you get a sense of rooting through the foot of feeling the leg firm without locking? So a sense of pressing.

Okay. But maintaining a softness. Okay. Again, trees are not rigid. Okay.

Now keeping that foot on the brick, you'll step down. And then the second one, step up again. This time we're trying to connect the foot with the bloom of the heart. And so as you're connecting the foot with the bloom of the heart, so this quality of rooting and blossoming, so pretty. And maybe that hand is still on the wall for some of you.

Maybe as Jackie is showing, maybe you've let the hand come off again. Things, the points that we're practicing here, we're practicing balancing here. Pretty. Now in this last one, then again, you'll step down one more time and you'll step up, so pretty. And as you step up this last one, you've got a sense of the rooting.

You've got a sense of the blossoming. And now you're trying to tune this sense of ease in the base of the skull. So you're trying to tune a sense of gooeyness back here. And you'll know you're hitting it. You'll know that you're tuning to the alignment when the jaw slackens and the lips get fluffy.

And again, maybe as Jackie is showing, you might have your hand on the wall still for support or you might be playing with relaxing that. Okay, a few more moments. Beautiful. Okay, then when you're ready, you'll step down off that brick, okay, and just stand on both feet. And as you stand on both feet, the play there is we're tuning to a sense of grounding.

Okay, so it's a deliberate inhale and exhale, let it happen and the knees soften. Okay, so you're getting used to letting your feet feel the earth. You're getting used to feeling supportive. Excuse me, you're getting used to feeling supported. Okay.

And then just enough, just like we were doing, you press just enough to feel the heart blossom, so pretty. And just enough to feel the crown of the headlight. Nice. So pretty, so beautiful. So this first part was about having a sense of grounded and a sense of blossoming.

Does that make sense? And this next part is about getting a sense of length through the sideways. So Jackie's going to turn so that her right side is facing the wall. And then practice here on your way to this because now we're trying to practice grounding and extension. Okay, so inhale here and as she exhales, she grounds.

So let yourself ground, soften the knees. Remember that feeling we just found with the brick. Now, so gently, so we're going to do this a little differently. She's just going to bring her hand that's closest to the wall near the shoulder. And she's just going to let it slide up.

And the play here is maintaining the sense of grounding while she also starts to lengthen up through the arm a little bit. Okay, so that requires a dual effort. That requires a softening down through the sit bones, a softening down through the feet, a simultaneous reach up and she's just getting a sense of breathing into this right side a bit. She's getting a sense of breathing into the right side waist and through the lungs. She's kind in the eyes.

So pretty. And sometimes it helps. Try this at home too. If you add a little bit of the mouse mudra, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek, eek while you creep your hands up, sometimes you can get a lot further. Nice.

Does that make sense? Yeah. I mean, if anybody knows how to get big, it's the small ones. Okay. When you've had enough of that, then you can let your hand either.

Some of you might bring your hand forward and down. Some of you might bring it back and down. It just depends on what would feel the best. Pretty. Beautiful.

And then we'll try that on the other side. Turn opposite arm up to the wall. First step, find your tadasana, your mountain pose. So big deliberate inhale and exhale, let it happen and ground. Get good at grounding.

This is something we talk a lot about around here. The best way to feel grounded is to feel grounded. External conditions are not conspiring to help. So feel grounded and then as you're ready, you'll bring your hand up near your shoulder and you'll just so tenderly, you're just sliding that hand up the wall. And we're just using the wall as a relationship.

We're using the wall for support. So the wall is helping create the extension while you're remembering to ground and you're lengthening and you're getting good breathing into these side ribs, into this lung. Yes. Yes. It's easy in the jaw, soft in the eyes.

Again, when we take the time to break things down into simple little steps, then they're not so complicated when they get put together. We talk a lot about sequencing in yoga, but really when you look, your life is so beautifully sequenced. Like when have you ever found yourself in a situation that upon reflection, you weren't prepared for? Yes. Okay.

When you feel ready, you'll let your arm relax back and down. So beautiful. Thank you. Nice. So now, Jackie will turn with me.

Now, the next step is getting used to being on one foot with a little bit of hip rotation. And so we're going to start to play this with what we call little tree. So we'll start in tadasana. So feet about hip distance apart, spread the toes, big deliberate inhale and exhale everything and ground. Like let your roots happen.

Let yourself feel supported. And then you trust that support enough to root a little bit, press into the feet so the heart blossoms. You trust that support to allow yourself to start to shine. And then you tune the alignment of your head, like you find the balance of your head so that your neck tension isn't necessary. And let's check in sharing mudra.

So let your elbows bend, let your palms turn up. And here in sharing mudra, because this is really the quality of the tree, soften the hands, soften the hands, and really start to let your awareness tune into the palms. And it helps to let your attention go from one side to the other. So tune into the left palm and the center point of the palm will probably be the most potent. And now tune your awareness into your right palm.

And to start to tune in this way requires sensitivity. It's really tough to feel the invisible if you're braced against it. So let your hands feel more tender, more sensitive, and just start to play. Let your awareness move from palm to palm. Let it come back to the left.

Let it come over to the right. And sometimes if you're old enough to know what a slinky is, sometimes it feels like you have a slinky in your hand. It'll get heavy in one hand and then get heavy in the other. Now maintain this quality of your hands as you let your hands come back down along your side. And start to tune in, okay, to your left leg.

Start to tune into your left leg, big deliberate inhale. Exhale, let it happen and soften and ground. Like really feel your left leg ground. Press enough into the left leg so that she firms enough so the heart lifts. Tune the alignment of the skull.

Come up onto the ball of the foot of your right leg. Now pause here, okay, and really like pause. And for some of you, this might be enough balance, okay. For some of you though, you're going to externally rotate the hip of that right leg. And you're going to bring that leg into what we call little trees.

So the ball of that right foot stays on the floor as that right heel comes up against the shin, okay. You're pressing just a little bit through the left foot. You're pressing the right foot into the left ankle. Your heart is blossoming and the base of the skull is long. And you can see Jackie started to come into the sharing mudra.

For some of you, this might be just right. Some of you might experiment with letting your arms come over the top of your head, just like we did at the wall. Lengthen, and Jackie's hands have come together. That may be the case for you. Some of you might let them be apart.

And as you root the foot into the leg and you lengthen up through here, yeah. There's that combination of grounding and reaching for the sun, both. But really it's important to understand that the sun is reaching for you. Last few moments. Yes, pretty.

Okay, inhale here. And as you exhale, you'll let your arms come back down along your side. You'll free that right leg and usually you need to shake her out a little bit and then you really need to shake out the left leg because it's just been bearing your weight. And we'll find a little tree on the other side. So stand on both feet again, big deliberate inhale, and exhale, everything that will happen, and ground.

So you really can't practice grounding enough. Because if you practice grounding, then more chances are that you'll feel grounded. Root, blue, back of the neck is long. Feel the quality in your palms. Okay, now only as you're ready, you'll move your awareness now into the right leg.

And again, like feel the right leg more grounded, heavier, and more rooted so that as you're ready, as Jackie's showing, you'll come up onto the ball of your left foot. And for some of you, this is already enough balance. This is challenging enough. You might stay right here. But for some of you, you will externally rotate that hip, rotate that knee out to the side, and you'll find that left foot up against the right ankle.

So pretty. And so there's this play. There's just enough rooting down through that foot on the earth. There's just enough pressure through that other foot on the leg. Your heart is blossomed.

Your mind is aligned. And you might stay in the sharing mood. You're letting your arms be wide and open is generally more balanced and actually looks more like a tree. So you might stay here or you might prefer to let your arms reach up over the top of your head. Again, maybe the arms are apart.

Maybe they're together. But the play here is can you simultaneously feel this quality of grounding and blossoming? Okay, kind in the eyes. And it often helps to find a spot to focus on. We call this a drishti in yoga.

If you want more challenge, you'll let your eyes close. Just a tree, an ice jaggy. So jaggies let our eyes close and you can see what might have happened or you might be able to feel that in yourself. Okay, we rely on our sight for focus for sure. Beautiful.

When you've had enough, inhale there, exhale, release. Shake that left leg out a little bit and shake the right leg out a lot. And then easy uttanasana, standing forward, fold, slow. Okay, now little tree is a great place to start. And it's a great place to start to get used to the balance and to get used to the awkwardness of it.

And so for some of you, we've already reached where it's correct to end the lesson. But for some of you, it might be fun to experiment a little bit more. So just for fun, jaggies, you're ready, you'll roll on up. And we'll just show the possibility. Now, better than watching the television in this one or the computer better than that, we'll be finding a spot to focus on and doing your best to just hear the cues.

So as you're ready, stantanasana. Spread the toes wide, big delivered inhale, exhale, let it happen and ground. Now find a spot to focus on. Find something steady to hold your eyes. Heart is blossoming, mind is light.

Okay, as you are ready, we'll start on the left side first. Let the left leg feel more grounded, rooted. Let the right leg start to lighten up. Come up onto the ball of the foot. Now rotate your hip and find little tree first.

So bring that leg into little tree. Okay, start here. Now only if appropriate, some of you might slide that foot up to your shin or your calf region and start to press foot into leg, leg into foot. If it's appropriate, some of you might slide that foot a little higher up, maybe towards the inner thigh and it's often useful to give a helping hand. Press foot into leg, leg into foot.

The hip will roll open. The heart will blossom. Again, you can see Jackie's finding the sharing mudra. What some of you will find is arms up over the top of your head. Press foot into leg, let the heart blossom.

And for a couple more moments, can you really feel this quality of grounded? Offering, receiving. So pretty. Beautiful. Inhale there, exhale, let yourself come out of tree.

Shake out that right leg, shake out your left leg. And then we'll find this one more time on the other side. Does that feel okay? So spread the toes wide, tadasana, big delivered inhale. Exhale, let it happen and ground.

Bloom. Find the grounding in that right leg. So really just choose, like this is one of the part of being a yogi is being a professional of the interior landscape. Ground, blossom, and then only as you're ready, you'll let that left foot start to get light. Rotate.

Find that foot up against the ankle, little tree first. Okay. And make sure that it's correct. Find that spot to focus on. So pretty, Jackie.

And then only if it makes sense. You'll find that leg a little higher. Maybe it's up into the shin region. Yes, so beautiful. For a couple of you it might start to come up a bit into the thigh.

You might let your hand help you. Pressing these two areas together, letting that hip rotate open, letting the heart bloom. And again, as Jackie's showing, some of you might grow your branches up over the top of your head. And it's this delicate balance of staying rooted or allowing yourself to feel rooted, allowing yourself to shine. And can you let the quality in your hands be more receptive?

Yeah. Awesome. A couple more moments. Beautiful. Boop.

Perfect. And then inhale here and exhale, you slow, let that release, shake it out a little bit. And then usually what feels good is uttanasana. And then off, and I think a squat pose, malasana would feel good after that. Oh, there it is.

We look like oompa loompas. I think this is where we'll sign out. So thank you so much for being with us. Thank you, Jackie. See you again.

Bye-bye.