LIFE IN BALANCE

ROOT TO RISE

Root To Rise. If you have taken yoga classes, you might be familiar with the phrase. Root to rise. Simply put, the instructor means root through your feet to rise to stand tall.

I can certainly fake a rise without a root in a yoga class. To the untrained eye, they would think I was standing just as well as anybody. But without the rooting down through my foot muscles it just doesn’t feel as good. It’s not as strong. When I can feel my feet or my hands press into the ground and my heart lift away from it I have more lift. More power. I can embody the feeling of a little sapling growing out of dirt, that little extra bit of OOMPH it takes to pop out of the soil.

I sit here, writing this at 1 AM, after moving my business two times in less than 13 months. I feel unrooted. Yoga props schlepped into a corner of my parents’ living room for safe keeping. I googled root to rise to find some yoga origins and instead found another Upstate NY Business Owner’s apology to their customers for what they cannot control. Like I had to apologize for something that was not my fault, to so many customers today. I will call those customers again tomorrow as I realized at midnight, I rescheduled them at a new location during a street festival where there will be no parking. I just realized I left a corner of equipment at the studio and need to try to return before dusk when the landlord might change the locks.

My initial thought as I sat here was that I did not do my root work. I did not study what foundation I wanted to

BY KAITLYN VITTOZZI

lay. I just got swept up with the wind of where to go next. Flighty. Too fast. All rise, no root. I have three texts and five emails scheduled to go out at 8 AM to contacts to see where I should move next.

But no. That is my default story. Like it is so many women’s default story. I did not do enough, think enough, be enough, plan enough. Narrative. Sound familiar?

In reality, I tried hard, I trusted, and it didn’t work out.

Whether it is work, school or relationship I know you have probably been there. To blame myself would be to deny any effort I’ve put in over the last twelve months.

It is the end of August. Just about to turn into Vata or windy season. A season of change and movement that you can feel when you step outside in the morning. I will need my roots more than ever. I can easily get blown away without them on the float to wherever the next step is. To get confident in my own way of finding grounding and pausing before jumping to the next thing. Pause is never particularly satisfying but needed between the ground and the sail upward. A heavy anchor helps. Like my meditation practice that, in most but not all cases, stops me from spinning my wheels at night.

A pause allows for creativity, for a new fire to build where it was once snuffed out. To stoke the flames of a heart that forgot to be so damn impressed and in love with myself to speak and acknowledge and practice gratitude for all that I have done right this year. To step forward with a new wisdom that I never had before because I took a pause. To bring more clarity and compassion to myself and others. Rising to the top of my mountain and looking out and what I’ve created, big and small. The hills I’ve leaped over with grace. If you need to stop denying and start celebrating yourself, please join the day retreat I’m co-hosting at Mendon Ponds Park on September 25th. We will work through all of our energy centers. Beginning with a grounding meditative practice through nature. We’ll find our way to rise through empowerment coaching, body-positivity workshops with a professional photographer, reiki, yoga, breathwork and an outdoor celebration of ourselves. And of course nourishment. Rooting and rising are both equally tough on an empty stomach.

Fore more info or to reserve your spot call Kaitlyn at (585) 200-7209 or email Kaitlyn@tozziyoga.com. Reservations available at https://www. eventbrite.com/e/a-journey-to-celebrateyourself-womens-empowerment-retreattickets-382587548657

Whether you join us or not, I hope you take time to acknowledge all you have done in 2022 and take pause before rising forward.

Best,

Kaitlyn

“Root to rise. Simply put, the instructor means root through your feet to rise to stand tall.”