Simple Monthly Home Practice - Tree Pose

In the winter the trees lose their leaves, storing up energy for new growth to come in the next season. In March we begin to see the trees
around us blooming with more leaves and flowers. It is time to begin shaking off winter's contemplation for new creative expression. It is a good time to make space in your home, your body, mind and emotions for growth and change.

Begin by standing with your feet hips width apart. Lift your toes and draw the energy up your legs so that even your skin feels charged. Press your thighs back and roll your sacrum under, hips slightly forward. Send energy down your legs, as if you are growing roots deeper and wider into the earth. Feel your connection and stability on the earth. Bend your right knee and take hold of your right foot with your right hand. Place the sole of your right foot against your left leg, either against the left calf muscle or the inner left thigh. Do not press the right foot against your left knee. Find your balance as you keep rooting your left foot into the ground, keep growing your roots deeper and deeper into the earth. Bring your awareness to your breath, and feel a lightness come to your body from the waist up. With each inhale, grow tall through the spine. Raise your arms to the sky like branches. Stay in the pose and meditate on how the different seasons affect the trees, on the constant flow of loss and renewal. Meditate on how the trees create oxygen which sustains our lives, the trees are our lungs outside our bodies. See yourself interconnected and in harmony with the larger patterns of nature. Now do tree on the opposite side.