Tree Pose: ​Root to Rise

In Baptiste power yoga, tree pose is a pause: a moment at the eye of the storm where we take stock of how we feel and re-center ourselves after the vigorous flow and heat we’ve generated.

It’s also the last of the balancing poses - a calm space where we are rooted to the ground while soaring toward the sky. A tree itself symbolizes what my teachers say throughout the practice: “root to rise.” This is indeed the center of the practice.

But we are not just growing upwards, we are doing it while rooting down on just one leg. Jewish tradition has a saying about knowledge, that all that is important can be learned while standing on one leg. All you need to know is this: do right by others.

Tree pose speaks to me because it reminds me to emit my own frequency rather than taking on the frequencies of others. Tree pose is an opportunity to stand tall in your strength regardless of and in the face of whatever comes your way. Trees sway in the wind but they - for the most part - stay firmly planted in the ground. With strong roots and flexible limbs, we take on what comes our way. When the wind or storm passes, the tree remains rooted, right where it was. Not that we aren’t changed by people and experiences, but we choose to practice being and returning to who we are, and doing right by others.