Root to Rise
I hear the phrase 'root to rise' often in my yoga training, and I now use it in cueing alignment in my own classes... I will admit freely that I didn't really understand what it meant in the beginning; but I likened it to personal training cues that I used often to 'engage your core'... not quite the same I would later learn, but it was a good start!
See engage your core brought strength to the center of your body, and while that certainly made rising easier, and also helped in not putting undo strain on your back, it didn't fully ground you in movement... root to rise calls for that engagement all the way down to whatever part of your body is on the bottom, your foundation! If you're standing it's your feet, handstand it's your hands, headstand your head, and so on, and so on, you get the picture!
What it calls for is strength in the foundation to build the rest of your pose up on... makes sense? The philosophy of living yoga off the mat, meaning all of the things you apply to your practice, patience, gratitude, openness, honesty, and truth are all meant to be applied to your life off the mat... yoga at it's absolute core is a lifestyle, not a bendy pose!
The concept of building a solid foundation is imperative to all things wellness; I believe and teach that from the simplest basic functions of our daily life we create the foundation of our life style! The root; as it is in the phrase 'root to rise', is found in the little things we do every day!
If we want to rise, grow, reach goals, become our best self, we have to root first! Clients come to me in varying degrees of 'root'; some have neither a fitness nor a nutritional path, some have great nutritional habits but lack fitness, and others have fitness but lack nutrition. Regardless of where you are on the path, and success comes in no particular order here; finding a place for nutrition and exercise, are going to bring you to 'root'!
I say no particular order because it doesn't really matter where you start; picking up a fitness routine is going to lead you to dietary changes if you want to get passed that initial plateau - you absolutely cannot out train a bad diet! Any trainer that you start working with is going to tell you that improving your nutritional habits is going to support your best results in your workouts - if they don't; find another trainer!
If you start in the kitchen with dietary changes you are absolutely going to feel better, probably lose weight, and notice all kinds of benefits... but you aren't going to build muscle, improve mobility or increase flexibility... you need exercise for those things! See how it works? The two paths lead to one; and when you find balance in the two your foundation is strong!
Strength in these two takes time, lots of time, your body is constantly evolving, there is no sitting still in this balance; there is a day in day out evolution - the willingness to accept, and grow, and evolve, is your strength; and from there you can rise! Rising takes you to a whole new level, opens you to wellness that expands beyond your physical self!
Admittedly society weighs heavily on the physical, how we look, what we can do, all make for great instagram accounts, and totally likeable facebook posts; but none of that speaks to who you really are! Who you really are is inside, the most beautiful faces and bodies can be filled with hatred and ugly thoughts, the most amazing adventures posted and loved can be filled with fear and self doubt... you don't see that though right? So if you don't see it should you worry about it? Hell yes you should!
When you get the root, the basic foundations of your physical wellbeing; it prepares you to tackle everything else! What we learn about ourselves in the kitchen, in the workouts, in our ability to change, and evolve; are the key components to how we master fears, and self doubts, how we learn to love ourselves, and let go of what no longer serves us! When the roots are deep, and the foundation is strong; we can skip the cupcakes, we can beat the excuses, and we can continue to rise!
Root to Rise is so powerful! On the mat it keeps you balanced and strong, off the mat it does the same and more! Being 'At Home' in your body requires a solid foundation!
See engage your core brought strength to the center of your body, and while that certainly made rising easier, and also helped in not putting undo strain on your back, it didn't fully ground you in movement... root to rise calls for that engagement all the way down to whatever part of your body is on the bottom, your foundation! If you're standing it's your feet, handstand it's your hands, headstand your head, and so on, and so on, you get the picture!
What it calls for is strength in the foundation to build the rest of your pose up on... makes sense? The philosophy of living yoga off the mat, meaning all of the things you apply to your practice, patience, gratitude, openness, honesty, and truth are all meant to be applied to your life off the mat... yoga at it's absolute core is a lifestyle, not a bendy pose!
The concept of building a solid foundation is imperative to all things wellness; I believe and teach that from the simplest basic functions of our daily life we create the foundation of our life style! The root; as it is in the phrase 'root to rise', is found in the little things we do every day!
If we want to rise, grow, reach goals, become our best self, we have to root first! Clients come to me in varying degrees of 'root'; some have neither a fitness nor a nutritional path, some have great nutritional habits but lack fitness, and others have fitness but lack nutrition. Regardless of where you are on the path, and success comes in no particular order here; finding a place for nutrition and exercise, are going to bring you to 'root'!
I say no particular order because it doesn't really matter where you start; picking up a fitness routine is going to lead you to dietary changes if you want to get passed that initial plateau - you absolutely cannot out train a bad diet! Any trainer that you start working with is going to tell you that improving your nutritional habits is going to support your best results in your workouts - if they don't; find another trainer!
If you start in the kitchen with dietary changes you are absolutely going to feel better, probably lose weight, and notice all kinds of benefits... but you aren't going to build muscle, improve mobility or increase flexibility... you need exercise for those things! See how it works? The two paths lead to one; and when you find balance in the two your foundation is strong!
Strength in these two takes time, lots of time, your body is constantly evolving, there is no sitting still in this balance; there is a day in day out evolution - the willingness to accept, and grow, and evolve, is your strength; and from there you can rise! Rising takes you to a whole new level, opens you to wellness that expands beyond your physical self!
Admittedly society weighs heavily on the physical, how we look, what we can do, all make for great instagram accounts, and totally likeable facebook posts; but none of that speaks to who you really are! Who you really are is inside, the most beautiful faces and bodies can be filled with hatred and ugly thoughts, the most amazing adventures posted and loved can be filled with fear and self doubt... you don't see that though right? So if you don't see it should you worry about it? Hell yes you should!
Root to Rise is so powerful! On the mat it keeps you balanced and strong, off the mat it does the same and more! Being 'At Home' in your body requires a solid foundation!
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