Learning this pose will teach you the foundations and principles for all other standing poses. It may look like you are just standing there idly, but there is actually (meant to be) a lot going on!
Prioritise your foundation and alignment so you can avoid injuries and build a sustainable and beneficial Yoga practice.

Start by placing your feet hip width distance apart.

Rock up onto your toes and back onto your heels a couple of times, eventually settling both feet down, spread your toes wide and try to feel all four corners of your feet pushing equally into the ground.
Activate your inner thighs by placing a block (or rolled up towel) between your thighs and imagine you are trying to squeeze the block gently between your legs, rolling your thighs inward as if you were trying to push the block out behind you!
Focus on your hips, is your lower back arching? Roll your hips to tuck your butt in to engage your lower core and bring your spine back to a neutral position. There are a couple of natural curves in your spine!

Stand up tall as if there were a hook attached to your sternum (breastbone) lifting your chest up to the ceiling.
Engage your arms and hands palms facing forward and pointing your fingers strongly toward the ground.
Let go of any tension through your neck and shoulders. Let your shoulders sink down and away from your ears.
Is your neck reaching forward? Retract your head by tucking your chin slightly and slide your head towards the back of your spine as if you were pushing your head back onto a headrest.
Breathe!

DON'T FORGET

Your goal is to find a balance between effort and ease. To activate your muscles, to feel strong and grounded but without creating tension in other areas.
Use this pose to practice connecting to your body, try to feel every bone, every joint and every muscle from your toes all the way up to the top of your head.
Practice getting used to how this pose feels. You can use these foundations, especially the feet, leg, hip and core activation in most other standing poses, practice it now, so that you can easily apply these principles later for other more complicated poses.
Avoid injuries by focusing on your foundation and alignment first to build a solid, strong, and sustainable Yoga practice – without all those pesky injuries along the way!

HAVE QUESTIONS? I WANT TO HEAR THEM!

I love talking/teaching/demonstrating all things Yoga and alignment - in fact I'm a bit obsessed! Feel free to always ask questions at the end of class (usually you are not the only one thinking the same thing!), leave a comment, or contact me anytime here.