If you’ve practiced yoga before, it’s likely you’ve encountered a beautiful and ancient posture called Tree Pose, or Vrksasana, in Sanskrit.

Its beautiful shape is inspired by the elements of a tree— the toes spread wide resembling roots connecting down into the earth. The standing leg strong, sturdy, stable like the trunk of the tree. The torso long and tall, arms like branches growing towards the sun with fingers spread wide open like leaves extending into a heavenly sky above.

Naturally, this pose awakens a deep sense of connection to the earth and leaves us feeling grounded, centred, connected, focused and present like a tree.

But there’s more to Vrksasana than just a pretty, feel-good pose— this configuration is encoded with symbolism, ancient wisdom and deep spiritual meaning.

Here you’ll discover the deeper meaning behind tree pose, the beautiful yogic connection to trees and the secret powers of this posture so you can take your yoga practice to new heights.

Vrksa (vrik-SHAW) = tree
Asana (AHH-suh-nuh) = posture

THE YOGIC ROOTS & CONNECTION WITH TREES

In spiritual traditions around the world, trees play an interesting role in the world of spirituality. Trees have been revered as sacred by many cultures, both ancient and modern. Appearing throughout most ancient Indian literature, trees are sacred— symbols of life and expressions of the Divine.

PLACE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

In many wisdom traditions, enlightenment occurs under the shelter of a tree— from the famous example of Buddha and the Bodhi to countless saints and sages that have entered a profound state of bliss under a holy tree.

TREES AS A DIVINE MOTHER

In Yogic traditions, Mother Earth has been deified as Bhumi Devi, or the Goddess of the Earth.

Trees are personified as Divine Mother, with a selfless maternal nature of giving to humanity— the shade and shelter She provides, the oxygen from Her leaves, the wood gives fuel for burning and building, Her fruits provides nourishment to all of Her creatures, Her roots give stability to the earth, uphold the ecosystem and filter the soil. Every part of her is an Ayurvedic or natural medicine— her leaves, fruit, bark, roots, flowers and seeds.

As we cut a tree down to make use of her wood, the mother tree selflessly offers herself without complaint. Her love is so great, that if you cut a branch, she will respond by growing more fruit.

TREES AS GODS & GODDESSES

Vedic cultures revere trees as sacred— it is said that all trees are embodiments of innumerable Gods and Goddesses.

Worship of trees is a common way to honor the God or Goddess that dwells within that tree. During certain Vedic rituals, the roots, fruits, or flowers of the trees are offered back to the respective God or Goddess associated with that tree as a humble offering of love.

For example, Lord Shiva is known to reside within the sacred Bilva Tree, commonly known as the Bael or Bel Fruit Tree. These leaves are auspiciously offered during ceremonies pertaining to Shiva energy. The well-known trees through Ayurveda, such as the neem tree and Tulsi tree (Holy Basil,) are worshipped as a form of Lakshmi Devi— the Goddess of abundance.

VEDIC TALES OF THE TREES

Vrksasana is one of the most ancient and important yoga poses known to humanity and is found in most systems of traditional yoga.

Throughout classical yogic texts, there are countless examples of yogis, saints, sages, gods and goddesses relying upon trees or practicing Vrksasana to acquire knowledge perform heroic acts, gain strength and invincibility or even receive boons from God.

  • The great Ramayana text expresses the Goddess Sitas’ affinity with the forest. Sita sees only the beauty and giving nature of forest… the forest is all-giving, nourishing and all-embracing.
  • In the classical story of the Mahabharata, Pandu practiced tree pose to win the grace of Lord Indra so that his wife could give birth to the greatest warrior of the named Arjuna.
  • The tree mother came to earth during the great churning of the oceans along with Mother Cow and Lakshmi Devi in the form of the “wish fulfilling tree” known as the Kalpavrksa.
  • There’s a story of a great sage Bhagiratha who practiced tree pose for 300 years on one toe to so that the God of Creation, Brahma, God of Preservation, Vishnu, and God of Dissolution, Shiva, would bring the River Goddess, Ganga Devi from the heavens to the earth so her sacred waters could liberate him and his ancestors. (Before this holy river was on earth!)
Ancient monument “Descent of the Ganges” at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, India

7 SUPER POWERS OF VRKSASANA

Vrksasana is a very significant and common pose in most classical yogic literature. Below are some ancient secrets as to why yogis have loved this pose since time immemorial!

  1. Mantra Amplifier— reciting a mantra on one leg in tree pose is known to be significantly more powerful and gives more merit (punya) than regular mantra practice.

    In temples in India, wise ones know this secret and will often recite mantras and prayers in front of a deity in tree pose to acquire boons from God.
  2. Wish-fulfiller— a great yogic secret is that the Sanskrit word for tree, also means “wish”, Vrksasana is a great pose for generating austerity (tapas) to manifest our noble desires.

    Trees are considered spiritual by nature, and wish-fulfilling because every part of Her is an offering for humanity.
  3. Enhances one’s meditation— the strength developed in the big toe by practicing this pose results in a firmly balanced mind which give the ability to sit longer in meditation.
  4. A teacher in love— Vrksasana is a great teacher, like a mothers’ selfless love giving for her children, this pose inspires us to love and serve like the blessed mother tree.
  5. Cultivate forbearance, patience, tolerance, forgiveness— just like a selfless, generous, grounded mother tree.
  6. Stimulates the Root Chakra (Mooladhara Chakra)— strengthening our connection to the earth, stability, security, faith and trust in life.
  7. Develops intense concentration and willpower— To this day, great yogis, Sadhus of India are found to practice Vrksasana from 4 hours to 12 years for special spiritual practices— they’ll even tie themselves up to trees to be able to hold this position as long as possible to receive the great gifts of this pose.