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Yoga Help: How to Do a Tree Pose

Try this one simple yoga move for a super-graceful you.

tree-pose
Marc Royce


I used to think that grace was something you either had or didn’t have—until I discovered yoga. Yoga’s many challenging balancing postures helped me develop all the tiny muscles needed to move fluidly, and they can do the same for you. Tree Pose is the easiest of them to master, but don’t let that fool you: Just doing this move once a day will improve your balance and make you feel more lovely. Remember to move slowly, which is the key to balance and grace.

How to:
Begin standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Shift weight to right foot, and raise left foot to let it rest either against the inside of your right ankle (beginner), just above the inside of your right knee (intermediate), or at the top inside of your right thigh (advanced; shown at right).

For more stability, squeeze the bottom of your left foot and the inside of your right leg together, lift belly in and up, and draw tailbone down. Fix eyes on a single, non-moving spot, and slowly begin to lift your arms above your head. Hold for 5–15 breaths, then release and repeat on the other side.
Sara Ivanhoe
Last Updated: October 27, 2009

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