Hello March

In a beginner Iyengar yoga class I’m teaching, I wanted to focus on evenness and balance so I introduced the concept of Samasthiti as Tadasana, which sparked a lively discussion. When I first began yoga in the Iyengar tradition, Mountain Pose was called Tadasana. Somewhere along the way, the Iyengar family began using the term Samasthiti (Equal Standing) for this pose. I’d like to share some of the insights that arose around this term.

As a pose, Samasthiti commands your attention to posture. In Sanskrit, Sama means same, even, equal, balanced, and Sthiti means standing. You stand with the inner edges of your feet together, chest lifted, kneecaps drawn up, and arms extended down by your sides. You aim to balance both the right and left sides of your body—not only distributing your weight evenly on your feet but also lifting up from them. The evenness applies not just to the weight distribution, but also to the vertical alignment: there is a balance between the front and back of the body in order to stand tall—not merely firm. This quality of evenness along the sides of the spine continues in numerous other yoga poses and guides you into balanced positions.

As a mindset, Samasthiti offers a way of being in your body and with the world. The evenness of the body evokes an evenness of mind, which is yoga. According to (3.2) of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, when your mind is scattered, distraction and restlessness arise. Once this restlessness arises, it cannot be eliminated, only transformed. Transformation happens by channeling distraction into a steady, even stream of consciousness through thoughtful attention. This restful stillness eventually leads to silence, and silence is a state of receptivity from which you might make your next move.

There is some debate as to whether Tadasana and Samasthiti are the same pose. All I can say is that the cues to do the pose in Iyengar yoga have remained consistent. However, the image of Samasthiti—as a representation of physical and mental evenness—adds a different depth and quality to the pose. What are you practicing and what does it evoke for you?