Five Grounding Yoga Poses for Wobbly Times

Mountain pose

The times lately have undoubtedly been wobbly and unsteady for so many of us. Wobbly times call for grounding yoga postures, and Skyterra has your back (and your front)! 

Below are five yoga postures that will help you increase your sense of stability and groundedness.

1. Mountain Pose

Tadasana, also known as mountain pose, is a standing posture with intention and focus. Within our yoga practice it offers a place to begin, to rest and to pause. Many people are surprised to find the potential power that lies in this discrete and steady pose.

Tadasana offers us a place to pause and to begin again, not only on our mats, but also in our lives. This posture can offer a shift in perspective as we often find ourselves standing or waiting, which can be a perfect opportunity to finetune our posture and our body-mind connection.  

To find mountain pose:

  • Make your way onto your feet
  • Bring your big toes together and allow your heels to separate
  • Rock your body weight forward and back and then side to side to find the place where your weight is evenly distributed
  • Gently engage your thighs and draw your kneecaps up
  • Allow your pelvis to be neutral and draw your lower ribs in, broaden through the collarbones as you stretch up tall through the crown of your head
  • Arms relax down by your sides, palms gently open forwards, or palms at the heart’s center
  • Come into this discrete yoga pose to remember your own innate strength and power. 

2. Child's Pose

Balasana, most commonly known as child’s pose, offers a familiar shape to return to that is deeply restorative. To many, child’s pose can feel cocoon or womb-like, which is often just what we need… a little pause to feel the support of the Earth beneath us.

Often in yoga classes, child’s pose is referred to as a resting posture and is a place to return to at any point during class for rest and relaxation, as needed. The same rings true in our lives, at any point if you are needing a break for some efficient restoration, make your way into child’s pose and curiously notice what happens in your body.

To come into child's pose:

  • Simply start on your hands and knees and gently separate your knees a little bit more as you move your hips back towards your heels, and your arms stretch long in front of you or rest down by your sides
  • Take your time to shift and wiggle to find the perfect shape
  • Please feel free to prop your hips or torso up with a pillow or folded up blanket, if you would like.

3. Goddess Pose

This power pose invites tremendous stability, strength and focus into the body as it fires up the muscles through the quads, the core and the hips! Goddess pose is a go-to for any moment that you wish to call your power back to your body, whether you are feeling lethargic, blue or defeated. Goddess pose can offer a fast track back to your own innate strength, resilience and fierce focus.

To come into goddess pose:

  • Start standing and then step wide into a straddle and open up your arms parallel to the floor
  • Line up your ankles underneath your wrists to get a good stance
  • From here bring your heels in and your toes out with your legs straight and your hands to your waist
  • Ground down through the feet equally and evenly as you begin to gently bend your knees, following your hips down and tops of the thighs roll out
  • Hands can stay on your hips, palms together at the heart-center, or bend elbows and palms open up to the sky!

4. Tree Pose

Whenever you could use a little more steadiness and groundedness in your life, look no further than the trees! Tree pose is a quick and efficient way to simultaneously connect with the ground beneath your feet as well as the vast sky above you.

To practice tree pose:

  • Start in mountain pose to ground through both feet equally and evenly
  • Shift all of your body weight into your left foot to come up onto your right toes
  • You are welcome to stay here
  • If you feel steady, you can lean your heel against your ankle, lift it up to meet your calf muscle, or bring your foot to your inner thigh
  • Rest your hands on your hips, bring them together at heart’s center, or stretch up toward the sky like branches
  • Enjoy Tree as you Root to Rise!

5. Happy Baby Pose

Every day this week, we're featuring one yoga posture that will help you increase your sense of stability and groundedness. Today's pose is the last pose of the series, Happy Baby Pose.

This pose is as fun as it sounds and opens the hips through isometrics. Happy baby pose offers a sense of levity, playfulness, groundedness and a gentle stretch through the hips and lower body. Make your way into happy baby pose anytime you need a quick reset break!

To get into happy baby pose:

  • Rest on your back and extend your legs up towards the sky
  • Begin to bend your knees and reach for the soles of your feet from the outside as you gently flex your toes toward your knees
  • Grab your feet, ankles or calves (whatever you can reach easily) and if you are having any trouble you are welcome to grab a yoga strap to loop around your feet to make the posture more accessible and comfortable
  • Press your feet up toward the sky as you simultaneously pull your feet, ankles or strap down towards the floor
  • Rest in stillness or add a gentle rock from side to side.