Tree Pose (vrksasana) gives you an opportunity to play with grounding your energy before reaching for the heavens and observing what causes you to become unbalanced and perhaps lose your footing.
Begin standing evenly on both feet. Your chest is lifted while your shoulders relax away from your ears. Find a place to rest your gaze 4 or 5 feet in front of you and keep it there as you shift your weight onto your left leg. Don’t let that left hip poke out, resembling a teenager with attitude. Instead, root or press the foot into the floor to make the trunk of your tree strong and stable. Imagine roots growing out of the left foot and sinking deep into the earth where they grab hold. Now unweight the right foot, turn the knee out to the side and rest the heel on the left ankle. When you feel stable here you can bring the sole of the right foot to the side of the left calf, below the knee. Stay here, or for more challenge, bend your left knee slightly so you can take hold of the right ankle and bring the sole of the foot to the inside of the left thigh (above the knee, never across the knee.)
Now press the foot into the thigh and the thigh into the foot and feel how that stabilizes you. Soften your gaze and relax your jaw. Inhale as you raise your arms overhead and bring the palms of the hands together. Exhale and feel the many little adjustments your body makes to keep you upright. Your tree is alive and constantly shifting. Reach your branches towards the heavens each time you inhale and feel the grounding through the standing foot on the exhale. Should your tree sway or fall, simply laugh and notice what uprooted you. Then try again on the other side.
It is the practice of staying firmly rooted in the present moment, exactly as it is, that allows us to extend ourselves and reach for our dreams with freedom and grace.
