Sometimes learning the Sanskrit names to yoga asanas is a challenge but in addition, differentiating the postures can be a challenge as well. Two postures I was puzzled about for the longest time are Samasthiti and Tadasana – I always felt as though they were the same but called differently, or that I was missing something. I finally felt I needed to understand their differences.
In Sanskrit, Samasthiti comes from the root word sama which means “same” or “equal” and sthiti which means “to establish” or “to stand”. So in essence, it means to stand in balanced stillness. Tadasana or Mountain Pose is the posture that invokes Samasthiti. The Sanskrit roots are tada which means mountain and asana which means posture.
Tadasana is the basis for all the standing asanas and a very important asana for all yoga practices – it’s is an excellent asana for developing stillness, stability, and strength. If you would like to see a video to the Tadasana posture, I found the following video very useful to practice this posture.
While in Tadasana, Samasthiti is established to ground and balance yourself both physically as well as mentally. The focal point or drishti in Tadasana is the end of your nose and it’s a posture that helps with balancing the root chakra located at the base of the spine, also known as the muladhara chakra.
So next time you hear the two words – Samasthiti and Tadasana – in your yoga class, just know that you are being asked to bring your attention to your posture and establish a balanced stance.
I hope you found this post useful and if you have any questions or comments, please post them below.
Happy practicing!