You sit on your mat with your eyes closed, trying to focus on your breath. You can’t stop thinking about that cranky client, how much your car insurance went up, or how you’re going to take your dog to the vet at the same time you’re supposed to pick up your kid from softball practice on Friday.

When it’s time for Vrksasana (Tree Pose), you almost break your leg as you fall out of the posture and stumble over your blocks and blankets. You brush it off (everyone falls out of Tree every now and again, right?), but when it happens again with both feet on the ground in Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle), you wonder what alien snatched your body and traded it for this one.

Never fear, my friend. We’ve all been there. Sometimes life just feels a bit more teeter-tottery than at other times.

Whether you’re an experienced yoga practitioner or one in the making, steady on your feet or often a bit wobbly, the more distracted your mind is, the less likely you are to pay attention to your base and the less stable it will be.

The more you focus on and root through your foundation—in postures and in life—the more solid and secure you’ll feel in your body and mind.

The Science Behind the Metaphor

In my Stand Strong Membership, we’ve been focusing on how the Great Yoga Wall can help you root through your feet in standing poses, and what benefits that provides for your posture, your body, and your mind.

Obviously, your feet are not literally sprouting scraggly, sprawling roots looking for wet soil, probiotics, and minerals.

Though these common yoga phrases—like “plant roots,” “root down through the feet,” “get rooted through the feet,” and “root to rise”—might seem only metaphorical, science demonstrates these actions have real benefits.

• Newton’s 3rd law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you press down, something else rises. In yoga, rooting down through whatever is touching the floor—such as your feet in standing poses or your legs, feet, and sit bones in seated postures—aids in lifting the spine. When you lengthen up through the spine, you relieve compression that can cause pain and other problems.

• When you spread the toes and root down through the feet, you activate and strengthen your toe flexor muscles. According to a literature review published in the September 2020 issue of the journal Gait (which found only studies in people over 60), toe flexor strength contributes to improved balance. [1]

• Placing your attention on rooting down through your feet is a form of mindfulness. Though researchers still don’t fully understand how mindfulness works, several clinical studies show that it offers a variety of benefits. One literature review in the December 2017 issue of Psychiatric Clinics of North America, concluded that mindfulness-based interventions were effective in decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms. [2]

The mind can only think about one thing at a time. When you focus on the action of rooting down through the feet for several breaths, you can’t think about how you still need to file your taxes, that niggling health problem, or the wars happening in the world.

Rooting down through the feet brings your mind into the present moment, and even if only for those few breaths in the pose, you can find relief from the distractions of the mind that can throw you off balance.

Easy Ways to “Plant Roots” On and Off Your Mat

Your practice and life offer so many opportunities to reap the benefits of rooting down through your foundation, and it doesn’t have to be super complicated or take a long time.

1. In your posture practice, there are a variety of ways you can plant roots.

• When you’re in a standing pose, lift and spread your toes, and press down through the four corners of your feet.

• In other poses, become aware of whatever is touching the earth, and press down through those contact points.

• For a restorative practice, allow the whole body to yield to gravity and drop more and more into the earth.

2. In breathwork and meditation, or even while you’re sitting at your desk or in a difficult conversation, feel your sit bones in your seat and your feet on the floor.

3. While you’re out and about moving through the world, take a few moments to notice how gravity is holding you and everything else on the earth.

4. Find a tree and stand with your back against it. Lean into it and let the tree become your spine. Imagine its roots holding you up and giving you strength and stability.

5. Plant an actual seed and watch it grow. Every time you look at it or water it, root down through your own feet. It’s so literal, and it’s an excellent reminder that a force greater than yourself and other humans is at play in our world.

BONUS: Use your Great Yoga Wall to help you learn the action of “planting roots” through your feet. Whether the wall belt is around the top front thigh or the back one, whether your back is against the wall or just your back foot is, the Great Yoga Wall has so many ways to help you strengthen and deepen your practice so you can feel secure and stable.

Stand Strong with the Great Yoga Wall—my 5-week transformative online experience to help you ditch uncertainty and learn the safety principles you need to feel safe doing standing poses with the Great Yoga Wall—is returning in May! Click here to sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned for more information coming to you the week of April 28th to learn all about how you can use your Great Yoga Wall to help you find strength, balance, and stability.

Although wind scatters seeds, only when the seeds stay put can they start to root, grow, and produce flowers and fruit.

When you take the time to root through your own foundation, physically and mentally, you’ll create a stronger base from which to grow through your own life as well.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32679464/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5679245/

This information is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. I am not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation.