In Dancer Pose, we engage our core, our drishta (our gaze) and our dynamic tension to balance on one leg. Dancer takes practice and focus. As we practice, we become more comfortable extending into the full expression.
We prepare for Dancer Pose by grounding ourselves in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), standing straight and tall, the crown of our head reaching toward the sky, our feet and legs pushing down into the earth, our core engaged.
We select a focus point directly in front of us. Our gaze (drishta) may be focused on a point on the wall, out the window, or on any point in the distance.
Inhale and exhale.
On the next inhale, maintaining our balance with our focus, we lift our right knee and gently wrap our hands around our knee. Be mindful to stand up straight, engage our core and our focus. Do not allow our body to collapse forward.
We may stay in this position, inhaling and exhaling, or we may raise our knee up toward our chest, high enough so that we can gently grasp our right ankle with our right hand.
Once again, we may hold this pose, inhaling and exhaling, balancing and keeping our gaze focused.
In the full extension of the pose, we gracefully extend our right leg back with a gentle grasp of our ankle. We extend our left arm forward creating dynamic tension from our fingertips reaching forward and our ankle pushing backward into our hand.
As we reach, we allow our body to become parallel with the ground.
Hold for 2 to 3 breaths.
Mindfully, maintaining our focus, return our knee back in front of our body as we lower our left hand to our side. Gently and with purpose, lower our right foot to the ground.
Repeat on the left wide, raising our left knee and grasping with our left hand.