Adho Mukha Vrkasana literally means downward
facing tree pose. My first reaction when I heard this name
was, what does that mean? How can a tree be downward
facing, when does a tree face down? Then I realized that all trees can be said to grow upside down. A tree is a mirrored reflection of itself. As a tree''s roots grow deeper, its branches grow higher. Some trees'' roots grow as deep as the tree is high. A tree''s branches and the roots look the same, like the old saying goes, "as above so below." When we think of a tree in this way, we can see how a tree can teach us to transcend duality, bottom and top, up and down, love and hate and so on, are all two sides of the same coin. It''s all one. Perhaps this is one reason why trees have so often been revered and even worshipped throughout the ages.
Preliminary ExerciseHand stand helps to build strength in the wrists, arms and
shoulders, and expands the chest fully, it sends extra blood to the organs, calms the mind and brings tremendous energy. Before coming into hand stand practice try this exercise. Stand facing a wall, take the hands flat on the wall directly in line with the shoulders. Walk feet back away from the wall until the back is flat, legs lined up under hips and the body makes an L shape, a ninety degree angle. Stay here and lengthen the tailbone, push the wall away with your hands, feel the shoulders move down the back and away from the ears and press your feet firmly into the floor. Close your eyes and let your body''s own memory register this feeling within, remember how this position feels. Open your eyes, push away from the wall and come up to stand.
Turn to face away from the wall. Come onto the hands and knees bringing your heels up the wall, balls and toes of the feet on the floor. Make sure the hands are under the shoulders (you can use a belt around your upper arms if you want to) spread your fingers apart and press the palms firmly into the floor. Straighten the legs again coming into a modified Downward Facing Dog pose. Take your left foot off the floor and place it flat on the wall right behind your left hip, press against that foot and lift your right foot up and place it flat on the wall right behind your right hip. Press firmly into the hands pushing the floor away and straighten the legs bringing the torso and legs into a ninety degree angle. Stay and breathe, make sure the hips are directly over the legs and shoulders are lifting away from the ears. If you feel steady here, you can take one leg off the wall and straighten it up over the head then place it back and switch legs. When done release and rest in Child''s Pose.
Beginning Practice
Come onto your hands and knees facing a wall. Bring your fingertips about one foot away from the wall and press the palms into the floor. Spread your fingers wide apart and rotate your upper arms out, bring this crease in the inner elbows to face forward to keep the chest open. Curl your toes under and straighten your legs coming into a short, modified Downward Facing Dog pose. Start to walk your feet in towards your face and lift the shoulders away from the ears, letting them move down the back. Bend your right knee and lift your right heel off the floor. Keeping the left leg straight, bring your left big toe on the floor. to get acquainted with the lifting up of the leg, just raise and lower the leg a few times. Then add small hops off the floor and back like donkey kicks. When you are ready inhale , raise the left leg and hop with the right leg at the same time, straightening the right leg as soon as it leaves the floor, bringing both legs to rest up the wall. Lift head and gaze beyond your hands.
Continuing Practice
After you have mastered jumping up one leg at a time, try jumping with both legs together. Prepare the same way coming into a short Down Dog, bend both knees, lifting both heake small hops keeping both feet together. Try to jump bringing the heels to the sit bones, knees facing up, then try to straighten legs overhead and hold. An even further place to take this is to try and jump with both legs together keeping the legs straight and then eventually, not jumping at all, simply lifting both legs up off the floor together and taking them overhead. When you feel ready, take the practice away from the wall to the middle of the room. Work on starting with small donkey kicks trying to suspend the lifted movement for a moment before coming down. As you build strength in the arms and shoulders you will be able to lengthen the suspension and eventually take the legs to hand stand.