Tree pose
standing balancing yoga asana
Tree pose or Vrikshasana (Sanskrit: वृक्षासन, romanized: vṛkṣāsana) is a balancing asana. It is one of the very few standing poses in medieval hatha yoga, and remains popular in modern yoga as exercise. The pose has been called iconic of modern yoga; it is often featured in yoga magazines, and practised in public displays such as for the International Day of Yoga.
Etymology and origins
The name comes from the Sanskrit words vṛkṣa (वृक्ष) meaning 'tree', and āsana (आसन) meaning 'posture'.
A 7th-century stone carving in Mahabalipuram contains a figure standing on one leg; the yoga teacher Tias Little suggests that a pose similar to vrikshasana was in use at that time. Sadhus sometimes disciplined themselves by choosing to meditate in the pose.
The pose is described in the 17th century Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 2.36. More recently it has been called iconic of modern yoga; it is often featured in yoga magazines, and practised in public displays such as for the International Day of Yoga.
Description
The pose is entered from Tadasana. The most common form has one knee bent and the foot of that leg placed on the inner thigh of the standing leg; alternatively, the bent leg may be placed in half lotus position.
The public source identifies “Tree pose” as standing balancing yoga asana. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tree, pose and standing.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q639721. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tree pose” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.