admin The ultimate yoga juice… Tree pose! This pose is great for balance, concentration, and flexibility.
It is fun to experiment with all the different Tree poses, but some basic safety tips are often overlooked to prevent misalignment in Tree poses.
Foot on Knee Joint
It is not safe, and you cannot get your full strength from the pose. Due to its anatomical structure, your knee isn’t the most stable of joints. You can create a bowstring by pressing your foot into the inner edge of the knee while in Tree Pose. This will weaken the internal ligaments.
How To Fix It: Do not place your foot below or above the knee. In every class, I say, “No Knee Tree.”
Unstable Legs and Wobbling
It can be due to the type of day you had, an injury you suffered in the past, or your level of concentration at the time. An unstable leg can cause this. This will make you wobble and is easy to fix.
Tree pose is a great meditation, even if you can’t fix your gaze.
How To Fix It: Increase stability in your leg when standing by zipping up your leg and bringing the kneecap towards your hip. Wrap your thigh muscles from your outer hip to your inner knee.
Wrap your lower leg from your inner heel to your outer knee.
Hip misalignment
In any Tree Pose variation, your body will naturally respond by letting the hip joint of the bent knee rise higher. However, this causes misalignment to your sacrum and lower back. This then spreads up your entire body. This also means that you aren’t as focused as you could be.
How To Fix It: Lower your “tree legs” a bit and place your hands at your hips so that they remain in line. If the higher leg is still in place, drop it and ignite the other.
Arched Back
This is not a reverse bend. However, sometimes, when we are so focused on maintaining our balance or strengthening our standing leg that, we forget about our core strength and back arch. This adjustment will help you stay in the pose for longer.
How To Fix It: Pull in your belly and try to hook your navel to your rib cage. Now, press your hips in and lift your chest.
Ankle Overstretched
This is the half-bound Tree, also known as the Bikram Tree. Standing Half Lotus Tree Pose
This pose places the ankle on the upper leg near the inguinal groove and groin. It is a great hip opener that opens up a variety of options for arm binds and toe stands. However, because the ankle is not flexed, it puts excessive strain on the external ankle ligaments and makes us more susceptible to sprained and strained ankles.
Fix: Flex your foot until the joint is straight. This will make the exercise more difficult and may even make arm binds, toe stands, or transitions more difficult. However, it will help to maintain a healthy ankle.
