For example:

• In Mountain Pose, the feet don’t just rest they spiral. Inner arches rise, outer edges ground, toes spread and grip. This micro-movement awakens the whole kinetic chain up through the pelvis and spine.

• In Plank Pose, the hands become an extension of the core. Weight distributes evenly from palm to fingertips as they grip in to your mat. Your shoulders hover above a vibrant support system instead of slumping into collapse.

• In Seated Meditation, breath is both anchor and wave. It steadies the mind, yet constantly moves reminding you that true stillness is never rigid.

• In Warrior III, the midline is everything. Draw energy from heel to crown, uniting the push of the standing foot, the length of the spine, and the reach of the lifted leg in one unbroken arc.

Your foundation is the constant beneath every variation. Ignore it, and you teeter between effort and accident. Honor it, and every posture finds clarity and grace.

POSTURES TO CONSIDER THIS MONTH:

Week 1: Feet – The Base of Stability

Cue: “Grip your toes in to your mat until you feel the inner arch of your foot lift and activate”

Yoga Poses to Explore:

• Tadasana (Mountain Pose) – Lift the arches by gripping your toes in to your mat as if you are trying to scrunch a towel with your toes.
• Urdhva Hastasana with lifted heels (Arms Overhead lifted heels) – Try rolling forward on to the pads of your feet, lifting heels and standing on to your tip toes maintaining balance, focus, breath and midline all in one
• Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) – Feel even grounding between front and back foot and inner arch activation (feel the outside edge of the feet)
• Chair Pose (Utkatasana) – Press evenly through heels and outside edge of your feet and lift toes as an alternative as you sit back and lift the heart.
• Tree Pose (Vrksasana) – Use the standing foot’s micro-adjustments to maintain balance.

Week 2: Hands – The Tools of Connection

Cue: “Press down through knuckles and finger pads and notice the difference as you grip in to your mat”

Yoga Poses to Explore:

• Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) – Spread fingers wide; press through knuckles, grip in to fingers and spiral your hands outward as you lift through forearms.
• Plank Pose – Notice the sensation of being on one hand rather than two. Notice the weight shift between the inside edge and outside edge of your hand as you grip in to your mat and imagine wrapping the mat away from center to fire the shoulders and core.
• Crow Pose (Bakasana) – Use the dexterity and sensitivity of gripping your hands and fingers to “feel” in to the delicate balance required in crow pose (as you use your toes and heel of your feet to balance upright)  

Week 3: Breath – The Foundation That Moves You

Cue: “Close your eyes for a moment and notice the rise and fall of your breath.”

Yoga Poses to Explore:

• Tadasana (Mountain Pose) – Before starting any standing sequence or Sun Salutation, take a deep conscious breath in and let it out to ground and center you. 
• Cat-Cow (Marjaryasana–Bitilasana) – Do this with closed eyes and let breath lead each movement. Allow the spine to follow the rhythm of the breath.
• Seated Pranayama – Explore equal breath (Sama Vritti) to then take this in to your practice to find calm stability within motion.
• Twists – Inhale to lengthen, exhale to rotate, breath becomes your internal foundation for safe exploration of depth.

Week 4: Midline – The Axis of Integration

Cue: “Feel like you are zipping up, drawing this sensation in to the midline of your body and center line of your mat.”

Yoga Poses to Explore:

• Boat Pose (Navasana) – Strengthen the deep core by pulling gently in and up through mulla bandha (pelvic floor) and uddiyana bandha (navel upper diaphragm) imagining your midline as a pillar of lift.
• Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)  – Having more contact with your mat allows you to really feel like you are zipping up and pulling to the center of your body, drawing this sensation in to the midline of your body and center line of your mat. 
• Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III) – even though you are reaching forward with the crown and finger tips, and reaching back with an active raised leg, explore a sensation of sucking every thing in to the midline as if you are “vaccum packing” something.
• Plank – Pull legs toward each other engaging inner thighs as you zip up through the midline from feet to crown.  

FOR TEACHERS: VERBAL CUES

In Tadasana (Feet) – “Press down through all toes and then pull them toward your heel as you feel the arches of your feet lift and activate. Notice how that activation of your foot muscles travels up through your shins, legs, through your pelvis, spine and up to the crown of your head.”

In Plank Pose (Hands) – “Spread your fingers and claw the mat gently; root, grip and press through your base knuckles and heel of your hand.”

In Seated Breathing (Breath) – “Notice how every exhale creates a gentle descent, every inhale an effortless rise. Let breath be the architecture.”

In Boat Pose (Midline) – “Draw everything toward the centerline, navel, ribs, and inner thighs, and expand from that strength outward through the limbs.”

FOR CHROMATIC STUDENTS

As a practitioner of Chromatic Yoga, you’ll likely hear these concepts threaded through your teachers’ verbal cues. FOUNDATIONS work is the bridge between awareness and refinement, it enhances balance, strength, and artistry. You can practice these awareness drills in any class, or even in daily movements like walking, typing, or breathing at your desk.

FOR CHROMATIC TEACHERS

This month, let’s collaborate globally on how we build from the ground up.
Which cues help students find their foundation most effectively? Which peak postures illuminate the through line?
After you teach, drop your discoveries in our Global WhatsApp Group: What worked? What inspired refinement? What surprised you? Together, we strengthen Chromatic foundations worldwide.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON FOUNDATIONS

By Simon Darroch

Often we start every year talking about resolutions. Let’s start this one by remembering what holds us up. FOUNDATION isn’t glamour, it’s the basics, it’s grit. It’s the way your big toe presses as you rise into balance, the way your breath steadies when your mind rushes, the way your midline gathers you back when life pulls you apart.

Think about this as we step in to January: Ground before you grow. Every reach, leap, and lift is only as sustainable as your root. Move from grounding, not away from it. Hands are extensions of heart. Whether holding weight or grace, connection begins through contact. Move with intention. Breath is blueprint. It draws structure where the body might collapse, and softness where effort builds. Midline is truth. When you align with it, both physically and energetically, everything else organizes naturally around it

FOUNDATION is not a place you find once, it’s a conversation you keep having. It changes as you evolve. Let this January be a study in listening to your own support system: the places that touch the earth, the breath that moves through you, the line that keeps you whole.

And now to our practice, not to perfect our foundation, but to remember it.

Fondest foundations, 
— Simon Darroch