Mountain Pose: Not Just Standing There

This post is for one of my yoga instructors, Shari, who is undergoing surgery tomorrow. Shari is amazing. She's been teaching yoga for months now with two broken, dislocated toes.

Shari's transition from Up Dog to Down Dog is incredible. She rotates her feet in perfect form, up onto the toes like a ballerina, without putting her knees down to bear some of the weight.

I can't do that. I'm afraid to even try. Shari kept on doing this, even with broken toes!

In one of her last yoga classes before surgery this week, Shari directed us to stand in Mountain. "It's not just standing there," she said.

No, it's not. But to the untrained eye, it probably looks like it.

"The more you practice Mountain," she continued, "the easier it is to come into the pose."

I know what she means. Practice counts. Little tiny improvements add up.

In Mountain, we need to make sure we are standing over both legs evenly. We do not want one hip jutting out. It is not Mountain if your back is curved and your stomach sticks out. It is not Mountain if your shoulders are tight, or curled, giving you a rounded back.

Mountain is straight, tall, and balanced. It is a simple position that should be comfortable, "as if you could stand all day like that"---more of Shari's words.

But it is not effortless, thoughtless, or necessarily easy. Mountain is a conscious effort to stand erect, in balance, without a tilted pelvis or rounded shoulders.

Mountain and haiku are sisters.

Haiku is poetry in perfect balance, open, sparse, and plain. It is not fancy. There are no curlicues or pirouettes. Because of this, haiku might look effortless, thoughtless, or easy.

It's none of those things, but like yoga and the Mountain pose, it is easier to write good haiku when you practice frequently. It is easier to return to the haiku state of mind when you have been there before, and when you visit often.

Thank you, Shari, for teaching me the value of Mountain. Best of luck to you during surgery. And thank you Kim, for taking Shari's classes while she is recovering, so that we don't forget Mountain, or any of the other poses the two of you teach us so well.

My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand.

Ameriku Ltd produces nature-oriented art prints, posters, greeting cards and other items, based on my original haiku and photography.

Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. When you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure the work meets my high standards of quality.