Trees everywhere, and I practice and study TreeYoga on a steel post most of the time. I live on a small rugged ranch in the Texas Hill country, 10 miles from town, with oaks and elms all around me. But our land is still primitive, with uneven ground, rocks, cacti, spiders and fire ants - so even though I am surrounded by Trees, there are some obstacles to a mindful TreeYoga practice here.

So, this pole is my main practice area. It’s a covered patio - half concrete, half Trex, with a big steel roof overhead to collect the rainwater. My slings hang from the roof beams, which gives me a long rope to play, explore, study, and create. All day long, I can step outside my front door and hang out for a few minutes, or work out for an hour. It’s not the same magic as practicing in the Trees, but it’s practical for working out different sequences, and is a fantastic adjunct to my mat-based yoga practice.

For me, TreeYoga started as play, and that’s still a big part of it. To take your slings and spend as little as 15 or 20 minutes in a Tree can give you the biggest, most relaxing backbend of your week, the best breath and the happiest moment, as well as engaging and challenging every muscle in your body. The weight bearing intensity of both yin and yang postures is multiplied, so every moment in the slings you get stronger and more flexible. Not to mention, you connect with ground, trees, sky, the ambient soundtrack of the natural world, and the symbiotic exchange of breath between human and tree.

But I wanted a complete workout also. As a private yoga instructor, I wanted to add TreeYoga as a fun, safe, powerful part of my training technique. I wanted restorative postures, strengthening postures, opening postures, balancing and determination and flow, and the ability to isolate and focus on legs, hips, spine, abs, heart, breath, bliss, etc.

Like any yoga practice, not all the postures are going to be safe or possible for all practitioners, but most have variations and adjustments, and most have complementary and opposing postures also. I wanted to consider not just increased flexibility and passive opening, but building strength, stability, and dynamic stability. And over time, the postures began to group together in natural ways that made a full series possible and a teaching tool I find indispensable for my students.

If you are a yoga instructor or studio owner and want to know how you can add this playful and powerful technique to your teaching repertoire, I’m available for fun, affordable workshops. Just click here.