Uprooted

I recall the moment I realized that getting and staying grounded is not my strength. I was in a two-hour Anusara yoga practice in full backbend, and my teacher said, "Look back at your feet!"

Feet? At that moment, my feet had gone missing. They could have been on Mars for all I knew.

Collapsing out of the pose in a fit of laughter, I confessed to my teacher that I had no clue just then as to where my feet were exactly. What came next to remedy the situation?

Back into backbend. This time with encouragement to plug one foot firmly onto the earth and then extend the other one upwards toward the sky.

Eka pada urdhva dhanurasana. I love this pose.

The dynamic of one foot descending down like a taproot and the other ascending into endless space is a beautiful metaphor for a balanced life: Grounded, yet open.

Some of us naturally tend to be more "in the clouds;" some more "down to earth." That place in the middle sure is sweet!