Mastering Tree Pose: Strengthen Key Muscle Groups Effectively

Tree pose, also known as Vrksasana is a body posture reminiscent of a healthy, tall, and resilient tree. Rooted down by the feet, and supported by the pelvis and core muscles, this yoga technique combines balance, coordination, flexibility, pelvic stability, core strength, and upper body mobility. But you’re also reaping the rewards of increased focus, and concentration while opening the hips, lengthening the spine, and strengthening the legs and feet.

For such a simple pose, Vrksasana sure carries along lots of advantages, and there are lots of reasons to do it daily. In this guide, we want to walk you through a proper tree pose while discussing the advantages, drawbacks, commonly performed mistakes and more.

Muscles Worked

While the tree pose is NOT a “muscle-building exercise”, it is a body and mind-building pose that will help keep your muscles loose, flexible, and functional as they move the joints. Learn about the muscles targeted with this technique.

Legs

Powerful and resilient, the legs represent the trunk while the feet are the roots that ground you in the tree pose. The weight bearing leg takes on more of the load than normal, while the glutes, hips and pelvis help to stabilize the trunk and act as support for the remaining steps.

Core

Strong core muscles support an upright posture and open diaphragm, which translates to healthier breathing, and hence better focus, and energy.

Shoulders

Lifted shoulders also help open the chest and back area to release tension, and promote posing stamina.

How To Do The Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

If you have the flexibility, and experience, the tree pose may be easy for you. But for everyone else, it will take some practice. While this technique appears to be simple and easy, well, try it and see if that’s true. You may be very surprised at how difficult it can be.

That’s why we created this step by step guide with video demonstrations, tips, and how to fix common mistakes. The key is to be patient, don’t rush, and make sure your body is aligned, tall, and balanced, while engaging the necessary muscles.

Steps

1. Stand tall with your feet together.
2. Slowly lift one knee up to roughly belly button height, then grab the front of the knee with both hands to keep the leg up.
3. From here, root down through all four corners of your standing foot, and align your pelvis and core to find your balance. Keep your pelvis straight and in line with your body, and low back lengthened.
4. Then grab the ankle of your lifted leg with the same-side hand, and rotate your thigh outward to open the hips.
5. Now flex your foot by lifting the toes up, then bring the sole of your foot as high as you can on the standing-leg inner thigh with your toes facing down.
6. Press your foot into the squishy part of your thigh and pull your thigh into the foot to keep it in place and avoid it sliding down the leg.
7. Here you can bring your hands together by your heart, or extend your arms overhead. Hold for 30-60 seconds.
8. Take your foot off the inner thigh, bring the knee to waist height, then place it back on the floor.
9. You can then switch legs, pulling the opposite foot to your inner thigh, and repeat the movement.

Check the short tree pose video demonstration below.

If you have 12 minutes for a more in-depth tutorial that shows all the technique tips and tricks, we highly recommend watching the following video. 

Tips

• Before you start the pose, spread your toes and bring awareness to your feet. After all, the feet are the roots and you want to feel a strong base before beginning.
• Before you lift the leg and foot into position on your inner thigh, ease yourself into it by first lifting one heel off the ground with the toes still on the ground.
• Remember to keep the pelvis tucked in and aligned with your torso. Do not let your buck curl up and arch the lower back.
• Gently push yourself into the correct position if the pelvis shifts back or to the side when the foot is pressed into the inner thigh.
• Use a wall or place your foot on the lower leg, rather than the top of the inner thigh for support, if you have trouble balancing.
• It’s important to root your feet and stand tall in maintaining good balance.
• Keep in mind, everyone may not have the same exact form during the tree pose.
• If you want more of a challenge, try closing your eyes or looking up at the ceiling to train your balance.

Benefits of Tree Pose Vrksasana

There may not appear to be so many benefits of the tree pose, but we can assure you that there are many worthwhile. Here are the unique benefits of this exercise.

A functional test of balance, coordination and concentration

Challenging indeed, but consequently beneficial, tree pose tests and grows your balance, positional awareness, and concentration. Seldom do basic exercises have you stand on one leg to complete an exercise. Tree pose involved various elements, making you more functional and coordinated.

It’s so beneficial for the aging population who incur injuries from balance issues, in addition to the sports crowd.

One sided

The tree pose is asymmetrical in nature, with the left and right sides performing a different function. This develops proprioception (physical awareness of the body and coordination), unilateral function (training one side at a time), and trains us to perform as humans.

Posture pose

The tree pose can challenge you to maintain good posture, by standing upright, and consciously focusing on being a tall tree! Today we slouch more than ever, looking down at our devices, and this technique gently helps to reinforce and focus on good body position.

Stretches the full body

We don’t do stretches like this often enough. Lifting the foot and placing it against the inner thigh opens the hips and stretches the groin area, while you’ll also feel it in the quads, and hamstrings via knee and hip flexion. Move up the torso, raise the arms overhead, and the upper chest and latissimus dorsi fibers lengthen, as well as the shoulders and arms.

Keeps you flexible

It takes practice to stretch the groin area if you lack the flexibility to pull your heel into the upper inner thigh region. As school kids, the butterfly stretch hit this area but most of us never did it again. Tree pose is a great way to bring it back into your routine!

Activates the core muscles

Balancing on one leg will naturally recruit your core muscles to do more to stabilize your body. It’s a nice routine for anyone, and especially elderly individuals who need a light, functional activity to help maintain their coordination and stability.

A pelvis exercise

Your pelvis is bones that connect the trunk and legs near the hips. When you stand on one leg, the pelvis is called upon for extra duty where it supports the weight of the upper body, and maintains stability there to keep you in proper posture. From there, you can comfortably perform the moving parts of the pose such as raising the arms overhead.

Builds patience

We live in a very instant world where we can get an immediate dopamine rush without having to wait like we did in the old days. This has caused us to become less patient, more anxious, irritated and yeah you get the point. The tree pose, and yoga, in general, is a form of meditative exercise that can help calm our nerves, reduce anxiety, and teach us that patience creates worthwhile rewards.

Drawbacks of Tree Pose

Take a look at this pose in motion, and it’s easy to see the potential drawbacks. But don’t mistake drawbacks with negatives as practice will change them into positives.

You’ll need some darn good balance!

There’s no way around it, you must have exceptional balance to the do the tree pose. However, we’d assume most people practicing this pose are capable of standing on one leg. But if you’re doing it for the first time and hardly test your balance, it will be difficult.

The good news is that a wall or chair can be used as a progression to a non-supported variation of tree pose. 

But you should also take your time with the tree pose, and practice easing yourself onto one leg, and establishing your balance.

Can be frustrating to learn

For beginners especially, it can sometimes be frustrating when you can’t quite nail a pose. Balance, groin flexibility, and are the big annoyances during tree pose. 

Common Mistakes While Performing The Tree Pose

While there’s no cookie cutter technique, there are general form cues and recommendations to ensure you stay injury free, maximize the muscles involved, and enjoy the process. Here are some things to avoid.

Pushing the foot into the knee

You can actually place your foot on the lower leg below the knee, if above the knee is too difficult yet. However, we do not recommend placing your foot directly on your knee, which will put unnecessary pressure on this joint. The knee is to meant to bend to the side, but rather back.

Not using the weight bearing/standing leg

If you’re doing nothing with the standing leg, you’re doing the tree pose wrong. You need the counter pressure from the standing weight bearing leg not only to keep the foot from sliding down, but to keep your body straight, which will allow you to have a tall posture and maintain your balance.

Clenching your toes

It’s normal to want to dig your toes into the mat to maintain your balance. But it’s more accurate to relax the toes, so that you can tense the quads and pull them up, to lift the hips in the proper position. Then you’ll have a more efficient tree pose.

Rotating the knees and hips to the side

When the foot is pressed into the upper thigh, there may be a tendency for some people to swing the bent leg and rotate the body. Focus on keeping your body facing one direction and don’t deviate or turn your body. The only thing that should be moving is your arms, whatever you decide to do with them during the pose.

Wandering eyes

Your eyes are also important for maintaining your balance during the tree pose. If you’re looking around, you’ll probably have a difficult time standing on one leg, much less doing anything else. Try to fix your gaze on a spot on the wall and keep it there.

Variations of Tree Pose Vrksasana

A base to other variations, tree pose is a fundamental pose that opens up the door to these similar, but individually unique exercises.

Tree pose with a block

Some people need to ease themselves into a pose, and using a block is a great idea. You can use it to inch your way higher up the leg, while having something to hold your foot up and in position. It will also allow you to focus on engaging the leg muscles and working that flexibility before you go full on tree pose. When you can move beyond this beginner technique, place your foot on the lower leg below the knee.

Steps

1. Stand tall with your feet roughly hip width apart.
2. Place a block long ways between your feet.
3. Find your balance on one leg by rooting down into the four points of your foot.
4. Bend the other foot and lift your knee up, then place the ball and toes of that foot on the top of the block. Keep your heel close to the ankle bone of the weight bearing leg.
5. Now focus on keeping your body squared up, with the hips straight, and body nice and tall.
6. Lift the foot off the block for a few seconds and try to find how you’ll gain balance on the standing leg. Do it a few more times.
7. Now, switch your legs and repeat.

Windy tree

As the name implies, a windy tree blows the branches from side to side. This can actually challenge your core muscles, stretch your midsection, improve total body stability, balance, focus, and your mind.

Steps

1. Find your tree pose stance, then raise your arms in the air in the form of a V.
2. Wave your arms from side to side while rotating your body from left to right.

Foot on thigh

If you thought tree pose was challenging, bring your feet a little higher on your hips, and try to do the same thing. You’ll also stretch out your abductor muscles on the outer thigh if performed correctly.

Steps

1. From a standing position, bend your left leg, pull the left foot up, and hold it across the top of your right thigh in the hip crease. Flare your toes and flex your foot. You can hold your foot in place, or let go and try to keep it there.
2. Stay in this position and try to feel out the movement, and get accustomed to holding your feet there, or bring your arms to a prayer position or raise them overhead.

Arms reaching to sky

There’s nothing like leaning forward and reaching your arms toward the sky to throw off your balance, or rather, force you to maintain it. Try the tree pose with this additional step.

Steps

1. Get into tree pose stance with one foot pressed into the opposite thigh.
2. Hinge forward at the hips, rotate your torso toward the bent leg, and lean forward.
3. Extend the top arm toward the sky, and use the bottom arm to stabilize yourself.

Toe stand pose

You need to be a vrksasana master to get deep down in this sitting pose, and support your entire weight on your toes, while crossing one foot over the opposite thigh. It requires an extreme degree of focus or you can easily be thrown off course.

Steps

1. Start from a full tree pose with one foot pressed into the opposite inner thigh.
2. Next grab your foot and pull it into your hip crease. Flare your toes and flex your foot.
3. Now hinge at the hips, bend your upper body down, extend your arms toward the floor, and slowly drop down on your hands.
4. Then walk your hands forward, rise up onto the toes of the standing leg, then bend the standing leg and slowly drop your butt down to within a few inches from the floor.
5. Keep your hands on the floor for support, and instead of sitting all your weight on your calf muscle, focus on pushing into the ground with your toes and lifting yourself up.

Wrapping Up

Balance, coordination, positional awareness, and every functional foundation are vital abilities that we need, yet often fail to maintain. Planting yourself in the tree pose on a weekly basis will help counteract aging’s effects on our balance, while keeping our groins and hips healthier, reinforcing good posture, and easing our minds from the stressful modern culture. Then when you’re ready  for something more advanced, you can step into more complex variations that will challenge your body, mind, and spirit on higher levels.

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