A basic standing posture, “Trikonasana” or “Triangle pose, is deceptively simple with layers of meaning in refining your awareness and alignment. A standing posture, a hip-opener posture but most importantly a true essence of Hindu divinity.
This pose is a symbol of trinity, which can exist in many different forms such as mind, body and spirit, or three gunas rajas, tamas, and sattva or a life cycle of birth, life, and death.
In Hindu mythology, the triangle is a symbol for the divine principles of the universe, which represent the three forces , Brahma (the creative force), Vishnu ( the sustaining force), and Mahesh(Shiva) (the destroying force).
Shiva aligns with Rajas, Brahma aligns with Tamas and Vishnu with Sattva. The trikonasana posture signifies the body, mind and the spirit of a yogi and emphasizes the three most important parts of interplay : dependency, interaction and interdependence. The qualities of the trikonasana are strength, the ability to resist pressure and the ability to support the weight.
The sage Patanjali, is famous for saying that asana should be a combination of ease and steadiness - “sthiram sukham asanam”. Steadiness arises from the foot's placement in an alignment, while distributing the equal weight on both the feet. Then comes the sense of ease, if we breathe in deeply and move slow in the asana, we can find ease in the posture.
The universe works on the cycle of these three principles and yogic mindset is the ability to accept the cycle and fully understand the mechanics of the universe.
