Tree Pose

The other night, my yoga instructor asked everyone to get into tree pose--balanced on one foot, with the sole of the other foot propped up on your grounded leg, in a sort of triangle, like so:

Source

We were practicing balance, spending several minutes on each leg. "Notice when you shift," she said. "And you will shift. Being grounded takes practice."

She told us to pick a spot in the room to help us focus. A white room with mirrors doesn't give you a lot of options, so I chose a word on the shirt of a girl in front of me. The girl was a rock star, firmly planted on her right leg. I cringed with unwelcome jealousy, as the weakness in my right quad from my back injury had me swaying back and forth.

"Switch slowly to your left," the instructor said. "It will feel different on each leg, and that's normal. The goal here is not perfection, but to learn to trust yourselves for longer periods of time."

I shifted my weight onto my left leg, and focused on the same spot on the girl's shirt. This time, the girl faltered every so often, her right foot falling to the ground over and over. Every time she moved, I moved. Finally, I moved my gaze from the girl's shirt to my face in the mirror. I gave myself my best "I'm being serious because I'm in yoga class face" and, miraculously, remained steady for the rest of the pose.

The tree pose is a balance pose incorporating three lines of energy, emitting from the centre outwards. One line proceeds down the straight leg, one line extends up the spine and out the fingertips, and the third moves outward through the bent knee. --Yoga.org.nz

Sometimes I forget that roots are not external. They are not a place. They are not other people. They are not even necessarily memories or beliefs or traditions.

They are the anchors deep inside of you that help you stand tall and afford you balance, that help you weather the external storms. The voice that endures any and all criticism or opinion, the parts that remain when your leaves are blown away. You may need water and sunlight to grow branches, but with practice you can also strengthen the part of you that sustains, no matter what.