“Root down to rise up.”
If you practice yoga, you may have heard this common phrase a few times, as most yogis and many spiritual teachers find this to be a mantra, or instruction, for how to live one’s life.
But, what does it really mean? And, why should you care?
I personally love this expression, and felt a deep resonance to it when I first heard it. And, to be quite frank, I don’t practice yoga very often. In fact, I still struggle to incorporate yoga, meditation, and other forms of quieting activities, into my daily practices on a consistent basis.
That being said, I felt extremely connected to this phrase when I first stubble upon it. I feel it extends far beyond the realm of yoga, as I feel as if somehow it captures the essence of my own spiritual path, healing journey, and alignment into my authentic self.
I actually find it to be a pretty useful metaphor when looking at life, as a whole. I think when you understand the meaning behind it, you can clearly see how integrating that energy into your life can be a real level up.
The phrase “root down to rise up” signifies a need to slow down in order to speed up. To do so, we need to start from a solid foundation.
I feel it means creating space to ground ourselves into the knowing and truth of who we are in order to rise into our next level.
We can not fully rise in the direction our purpose is calling us into when we are winding and grinding on the hamster wheel of life, or when we are overwhelmed and burnout with being busy in the hustle and grind.
Because we lose sight of what’s important when we do.
We lose ourselves in the process. We lose our purpose and sense of fulfillment. And, we create unnecessary stress and resistance, as a result.
We need be able to stand firm in our own footing before making quantum leaps, or even small breakthroughs. We need time to center and ground ourselves in a way to hear the calling of our own hearts.
When we are in a constant state of chaos, we shut down the conduits and channels to receive this clarity, meaning, and sense of direction.
Our mental and emotional stability end up suffering.
So, we need to recognize that the only way we can show up in the fullness of who we are is to start by coming from a place that feels grounded, connected, congruent, and solid.
We need a way to tap back into what’s real, into Mother Earth herself.
For most people are moving through life numb and coexisting on some level of burnout. Their nervous system is often times shut down and their adrenals are usually maxed out.
We live in a culture that operates from a never-ending cycle of survival, where we are constantly reacting from a frenzied state of fight, flight, and/or freeze. Our cortisol levels are through the roof, our organs are overstressed, and our mental capacities are almost zero.
And, it’s time we flipped the script.
We need to rethink how and where we give our time, energy, and focus.
We need to create more white space, along with pockets of space and grace to catch our freakin’ breath. We need to slow down, if not stop altogether, just to get our footing back under us.
This is what is means to “root down to rise up.”
We need to “root down” back into our bodies, into life itself.
We need to find our center point and bring ourselves back in a state of harmony. We need to re-regulate our nervous system, and discharge the toxic overload we keeping pumping into our bodies.
In addition, we need to quiet down all the noise.
We need to breathe in from the core of our beings, not that shallow, head breath most people, stressed and anxious, that keeps us in the fight, flight, freeze state. We must find our way back to a sense of balance again.
“Root down to rise up.”
Only when we take the care to truly “root down” do we then create capacity to “rise up.” The two go hand-in-hand, and the we have never needed to do this more. For, we need to elevate the level of leadership and shift the consciousness on the planet.
That requires that each one of us rises.
To rise into the most authentic version of who we are. To rise in our own integrity. To rise into Truth. To rise into our authentic self and voice.
Imagine building a house. A house is built from the foundation up. We must have a stable and solid foundation in order for the walls to stand and the rooms to be built. It’s only once the foundation is in place that we have a true space where we can start to build a home.
“Root down to rise up.”
Your body is the home for your soul.
It also needs and requires a solid and stable foundation. The pillars for how you do your Soul’s work is dependent upon it.
Just think, if the foundation of the house of YOU is not stable, not solid, not being nurtured, the pillars of your purpose will start to crumble around you. We cannot pour for an empty cup, or build on a shaky foundation.
And, a majority of the population has a rather shaky and unstable foundation. We need to fix that. We need to strengthen our core. We need to anchor is the pillars that allow us room to get grounded and connected.
It’s only when we slow down to assess, and to survey where the shifts and cracks are, that we can effectively reset and stabilize the foundation.
Whether it be in building a house, or in restoring YOU.
Sometimes, that might require that we halt, or stop, altogether for a period of time to re-pour new concrete. To establish a stronger and more solid foundation for the new house we are trying to build.
So, like a house, we need time to slow down, assess, survey, and re-stabilize our own foundation. We need to ground ourselves in our purpose and our why. From there, we can begin to build again.
It’s time to ask yourself, “Where do I need root down to rise up?”