SIDE BENDS: ONE ARM UP OVER THE HEAD, OTHER ARM ALONG THE SIDE OF TORSO

Swaying Palm Tree Pose

Tiryak Tala-Vrikshasana

(TIR-yuhk TAHL-uh-vrik-SHAHS-uh-nuh)
Pose Type: standing, side bend
Drishti Point: Hastagrai or Hastagre (hands)

How to Perform the Pose:

1. Begin by standing in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Engage your mula bandha, uddhiyana bandha,

and ujjayi breathing.

2. Inhale; step your feet slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart with toes facing forward and feet

parallel to each other. Expand your chest and hold your arms straight out to the sides, parallel to

the floor.

3. Exhale as you side bend to the left, dropping your left hand either to the side of the left thigh or the
   left shin. (Avoid putting pressure on the knee joint.) Bring your right arm over head and bend it at
   the elbow.


4. Inhale as you rotate your chest up to the sky; do not collapse it forward. Feel the deep stretch on

the right side of your torso as you look toward your right hand (Pose #1).

5. On your next exhale, try to reach your right arm over your head with fingertips pointing toward the

floor (Pose #2).

6. Hold the pose for at least 30, and up to 90, seconds in order to receive the full benefits of the

stretch. Exhale as you release the pose. Inhale as you press strongly into both feet to come up.

7. Exhale, come back to Mountain Pose (Tadasana), and repeat on the left side.

Modification: elbow of the top arm bent

1. mild version


2. intense version

tiryak = horizontally, sideways, obliquely, across

tala-vrikshasana = palm tree