4 benefits of Tadasana and how to do it?

Is walking, climbing stairs, or standing for long feel like a daunting task? An easy way to help strengthen your legs and core is to practice yoga regularly. An effective yoga posture that can help you regain your strength is Tadasana or the Mountain Pose. This pose can help in improving your posture, balance, and overall body awareness. It can also help you deal with back pain as it trains your body to stand tall and reduces the chance of slouching and back pain. Know how to do this yoga pose and why incorporating into your daily routine will change your fitness game.

What is Tadasana?

Tadasana is also called the Mountain pose or the Palm Tree pose. It is a complete body stretch with controlled breathing. This is a fundamental yoga posture which also provides a base for many other standing poses in yoga. The name comes from the Sanskrit words “Tada”, which means mountain and “Asana”, which means pose. The pose emulates standing tall like a tree or a mountain.  In this yoga pose, your spine or vertebral column is aligned perfectly in its natural curves. This can help to make your spine more stable, explains yoga expert Khushboo Shukla.

How to do Tadasana?

Tadasana or the Mountain pose follows a basic standing posture, which can be used for other yoga poses as well. Here is how to do it in the right way.

• Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart.
• Keep your weight equally distributed on both your legs.
• Inhale deeply and while exhaling engage your core.
• ⁠Roll back your shoulders to open your chest.
• ⁠Now inhale one more time to lift your heels from the mat and stand on your toes.. maintain your balance.
• ⁠Raise both your arms up towards the ceiling, parallel to each other and close to your ears.
• ⁠Keep your eyes focused on one single point. Hold up to 60 seconds.

Health benefits of Tadasana

The Tadasana or Mountain Pose can help our bodies in multiple ways. Here is why it is necessary for us to do this pose.

1. Improves body posture

This yoga pose is great for lengthening your spine. It helps improve body posture and regular practice of this asana can make your knees, thighs, and ankles stronger, states this study, published in the IJRAR Research Journal. The pose also helps get rounded shoulders and keep back pain at bay.

2. ⁠Strengthens legs

Not only your spine but doing this pose regularly can also help to stretch both legs. This, in turn, helps to activate knee joints. A study, published in JACC Journals, states that it increases venous return, which is the rate of blood flow back to the heart, and lower limb muscle tone. The pose also activates the lower legs for balance and support. Therefore, following this yoga pose can also lead to improved endurance. Additionally, it also improves strength and stability, reducing the risk of injuries.

3. ⁠Increases breath and body awareness

The pose can help you in many other ways. As the body weight shifts from feet to toes, you become more aware of your body and how it is moving in and out of balance, explains Shukla. With deep breathing, you feel more calm while holding the posture. Yoga poses such as this one, can help to improve diffusion capacity, which is the transfer of gas from air in the lung to the red blood cells in lung blood vessels and are beneficial to Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, states this study, published in International Journal of Yoga.

4. ⁠Improves blood circulation

The pose can aid better blood circulation in the body. It does so by stretching each and every body part, muscle and joint, explains the expert. The yoga pose helps to improve the flow of blood in the entire body. By standing tall and breathing deeply, more oxygen reaches your muscles and organs. Also, proper alignment in Tadasana reduces pressure on blood vessels, ensuring smooth circulation.

Benefits of Tadasana for kids

There are many tadasana benefits when it comes to kids as well. Besides the benefits mentioned above, it is also great for kids with ADHD. It helps them improve balance, and focus strengthen their legs, and create mind-body coordination.

What to remember while doing Tadasana?

While Tadasana comes with multiple benefits, it is very important to do it properly. Here’s what you should remember while doing the yoga pose:

• Keep your weight equally distributed on both your legs, so that you don’t fall.
• Do some stretches to warm up if you have stiffness in your leg.
• Activate your thighs, glutes, and arms to maintain stability and strength.
• Make sure to inhale and exhale slowly to enhance relaxation and oxygen flow.
• Avoid arching your back or slouching; maintain a straight posture.

While Tadasana or the Mountain pose comes with a lot of benefits for your health and well-being, some people need to be careful while attempting the yoga pose. Arthritis patients and pregnant women need to take precautions and guidance from a certified teacher.