Featured Pose - Mountain

---

Mountain pose is one of the most fundamental poses in Swimming Specific Yoga. Almost every other pose has at least one element of mountain within it's foundation.

The benefits of mountain pose include:

• Improves posture
• Strengthens the core 
• Develops body awareness
• Sets the foundation for the majority of other poses

The cues for this pose include:

• Rock back and forth and side to side on your feet identifying the four corners - big toe mound, little toe mound and the inner and outer side of the heel
• Come to stillness with the feet hip distance apart and pointing forward
• Spread to toes wide and feel the outside of the foot heavy and the inside of the foot light
• Have the hips in a neutral position
• Engage the pelvic floor to activate the deep core muscles
• Gently engage the core feeling the belly button and ribs move towards the spine and the spine move towards the belly button and ribs
• Allow the shoulders to fall back and down
• Feel the neck lengthen and the chin to tuck slightly bring the earlobes over the shoulders
• Have the arms at the sides of the body with the palms facing straight forward

...
You can find more detailed descriptions on how to do different poses, their benefits, common errors, modifications and cautions in our pose database, which is free to access until September 7th!