Yoga Journal’s archives series is a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) first appeared in the March-April 1977 issue of Yoga Journal.

A triangle is one of the oldest and most common symbols and is found in almost all cultures without exception. For this reason, it is especially apropos that one of the beginning poses in Ashtanga’s standing series of yoga asanas is called Utthita Trikonasana, the Triangle Pose.

This position is fundamental for several reasons. First, the triangle is the strongest structural base of support. This pose, which replicates the triangle, helps to build both mental and physical stamina in the student. It strengthens the muscles of the front of the thigh, as well as those of the lower legs. It opens the chest and gives mild traction to the neck. It can begin to teach even the novice that important mental aspect of yoga—learning to hold an unusual position of the body without letting the mind waver. There can be no peace in the mind, yoga teaches, unless there is first peace in the body.

Secondly, the pose is important because it can teach a sense of connection with the earth. Most of us are concerned with an intellectual understanding of our practice. Through this pose, one can descend into the legs and feet, firmly planting them on the ground, reestablishing a knowledge and awareness of the earthly energies. This is important in the process of yoga, which brings a balance between the energies of the mind and the body. With strength from the ground, the student is equipped to deal with even more subtle energies which will emerge as the practice continues.

Thirdly, Trikonasana exemplifies the symbology of the triangle, which has spiritual and connections. It recreates with the body the trinity of Christianity as well as the trimurti of Hinduism, which is Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer, and Shiva the Destroyer. These three aspects of the universe come together in the individual to manifest in such a way that he/she becomes the background where change can be created and thus growth, both personal and universal, can occur. Without the destruction of the clinging past and freedom from the fear of the future, the fullness of the present moment cannot be experienced in asana. When this occurs, one is said to be in meditation. This asana reminds one of the three-cornered nature of reality which is constantly in flux and yet which is the timeless stillness of being.

In addition, the student is evenly balanced between the heavens and the earth as the arms and eyes and heart turn upward and yet the lower body seeks the earth and the stability that it represents. The spine is brought horizontally, reminding the student of the lower forms of life which move in this way; this can bring the student to a state of humility as he/she experiences the oneness of all life.

Movement into the pose is accompanied with a gentle exhalation. This is the breath of surrender, as one surrenders into stability from the excitement of movement. Thus, the mind is drawn into the stillness of motionless holding and is free to experience the polarities of the pose, the upward and downward stretch of the opposite arms, the turning of the knees in the opposite directions, and the movement of energy horizontally as well as vertically. In the midst of this dynamic dualism, the mind and breath and Self can find both a movement into the world as an expression of one’s strength in the world, as well as one’s simultaneous withdrawal from attachment to that world as one move inward with the breath and experiences fully the asana.

Such a simple pose as Trikonasana is seen to be not so simple after all, and the lessons yoga can teach about one’s part in the universe can be relearned each time the practice begins with this basic pose in the standing series of Ashtanga.