The joy for me in tadasana is that it helps me to develop the strength and courage to stop, stand still and accept things as they are in the moment regardless of where my mind wants to go.

To stand tall in Tadasana is a means to seek self acceptance whilst navigating through the sheaths of the body.  As I find in this asana, my body, as I would imagine, everybody’s, relationship to their sense of being, is both simple and complex; It is restful but active, strong but vulnerable, brave yet fearful.

As a marginalised woman who has found themselves both physically and mentally unable to stand at points in my life, finding the courage to stand tall evokes very strong feelings within. It particularly resonates with me as I am somebody who has sought solace through a life lived in perpetual motion; often the easier option is to flee rather than master the bravery of living in the reality of an increasingly restless and unstable world.

The world is in a state of turmoil and unease and as humans we often have a tendency to regress whilst in crisis; just as a child.  We each respond to this in different ways.  To stand still, evaluate the situation and find the strength to just exist can be an act of courage.  Like a statue it can be exposing; we are seen/ unseen, which creates vulnerability.  To stand proud, whilst grounding has the potential to unlock our stability, inner strength and self worth.  As someone who has sometimes been viewed as “less than”, finding the inner strength to feel “more than” is a challenge within itself.  Aristotle talks about Prima Materia; Prime Matter and the four elements; air, fire, water and earth.

“That there abides in nature a certain pure matter, which, being discovered and brought by art to perfection, converts to itself proportionally all imperfect bodies that it touches.”

(Mary Anne Atwood, words attributed to Arnaldus de Villa Nova)

As the mind travels the asana challenges us to focus our attention as we reach through our toes deep into the earth, engage our muscles just enough, whilst we hold our heads high and we lift our crown upwards towards the heavens whilst we guide ourselves towards the soul.

We activate our root chakra through grounding.  From another perspective, we learn to accept stuff as it is.

Like Mount Kailash, we are both grounded strong into the earth whilst reaching for the sky, allowing ourselves to just be as the world rushes by.