The Alignment of Tadasana Is All You Need to Know!

Trish Corley Author

Master yoga alignment (of all poses) by learning the alignment of Tadasana.

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Have you tried memorizing the alignment of all of the different yoga postures? Maybe you’re thinking, “Sure, that would be great to learn how to help a student in every single pose. But that would take forever!”

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There is a simple and quick way to learn the alignment of every yoga posture. It starts by understanding the body, not each of the postures. The common denominator in every yoga posture (and every type of human movement practice or activity) is the human body. Physical therapists lead the field in expertise of human movement. They don’t, however, memorize the movement patterns that occur amongst a variety of sports, jobs, and activities. Instead, they learn how the body moves. Once that is understood, the principles of human movement can apply to any activity. This is why a great physical therapist (physiotherapist) can help a variety of athletes. This is also why I encourage yoga teachers to learn more about general human movement before trying to understand all the postures. Once you know how the body moves, you can apply it to every single yoga posture; even the postures you don’t yet know about. 

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The first step in understanding human movement is learning anatomical position. 

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According to Cameron & Monroe, anatomical position is defined as “the point of reference for all movements. In the anatomical position the body is upright with the arms by the sides, shoulder in neutral rotation, palms facing forward, elbows and fingers extended and the thumbs in an adducted position with the thumb pads facing forward. The lower limbs are straight, the feet slightly apart with the second toe facing forward." (1)

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Take a look at the graphic of the person in anatomical position. What yoga posture does this look like?

It looks like Tadasana! Anatomical position is essentially Tadasana!  You might also refer to Tadasana as Mountain Pose or Samasthiti. In sanskrit, "tada" refers to mountain and "asana" refers to pose. Samasthiti refers to "standing equal."

In my practice and teaching, I tend to teach the alignment of Tadasana with the palms facing forward as seen in anatomical position. It should be noted, however, that many people practice Tadasana with the palms facing the sides of the body. This is neither right or wrong, just different!

How does learning the alignment of Tadasana give a yoga teacher the ability to understand the alignment of every pose?

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Just as physical therapists and other movement experts use anatomical position as the starting point to understand human movement, yoga teachers can use Tadasana as the starting point to understand any yoga posture.

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The alignment of Tadasana exists in every pose. Don’t worry if this seems a little conceptual right now. I remember hearing one of my early yoga teachers say this and I thought they were just passing down another poorly understood idea about yoga alignment. In addition to learning human movement in physical therapy school, I also learned the practice of critical thinking. As a result, I question my teachers.

The more I questioned this notion of the alignment of Tadasana existing in every yoga pose, the more it made sense to me. It also helped me develop a simple format for teaching yoga teachers the alignment of any yoga pose.

That simple formula is to learn the alignment of Tadasana which is essentially the anatomical position. Anatomical position is the starting point to understanding human movement. It is also the starting point for optimal posture. It is true that posture varies amongst all humans. There are (and I believe always will be) a variety of thoughts and beliefs about posture. There is not one single ideal posture that humans need to aim for. 

There is, however, an optimal and balanced alignment for each body. Balanced Posture Alignment (BPA) is a foundational framework based on my 20+ years as a physical therapist, 5 years as a functional anatomy professor, and 12+ years as a yoga teacher! BPA simplifies the process of aligning and balancing human bodies to optimize health and function. When the human body reaches balanced posture alignment, the systems work more efficiently. That means, people can obtain better functional results with less effort. In other words, the body works with ease.

The key principles of Balanced Posture Alignment (BPA) are rooted in Tadasana. 
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If you can learn how to cue someone to obtain Balanced Posture Alignment in Tadasana, you can cue them in any pose. The alignment cues of Balanced  Posture Alignment serves as a road map with a lot of options. With any good road map, you need to know the main route. BPA will guide you down the main road of the town. It's essentially all you need. However, you probably want to explore a little more and BPA encourages that. You can go from Tadasana to Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I), and even to Urdhva Dhanurasana (Full Wheel) or Eka Pada Koundinyasana (Twisted One Legged Arm Balance). When you start to feel unstable and unsure, you can head back to the main road! 

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BPA creates stability which allows for optimal functional mobility.

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The same cues that work to create balanced posture alignment in Tadasanal work in any pose. On occasion, you will need to adjust your cues to match the directions. For example, “reach your tailbone down towards the mat” works in Tadasana. And if you teach down dog or an inversion, you would need to change it to “reach your tailbone up towards the ceiling.”
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While it took me many years to become an expert in human movement, I have witnessed hundreds of yoga teachers learn Balanced Posture Alignment in just one weekend and then celebrate their ability to teach any yoga posture with confidence and ease!

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Though I still travel to teach in person workshops and the anatomy portion of 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher trainings, I identified a need to deliver this method at a slower, more digestible pace.

The Balanced Postue Alignment of Tadasana is the backbone (no yoga anatomy pun intended) of The Yoga Anatomy School. With just 30 hours of study over the course of 3.5 months, you too can become an expert at teaching the alignment of Tadasana or any yoga pose.

Are you ready to master the alignment of Tadasana (and therefore all the yoga poses)? 

This is the easiest way to learn yoga anatomy and become the knowledgeable and confident yoga teacher you are meant to be!

 Get started by enrolling in The Yoga Anatomy Foundations Course!

(1) Cameron MH, Monroe LG. 2008. Physical Rehabilitation: Evidence-Based Examination, Evaluation, and Intervention. Elsevier.

Categories: : Effective Teaching Techniques, Posture Alignment, Yoga Anatomy