Alison Smith is my favorite yoga teacher. She is on a quest to understand and experience the wonders of yoga and the body. And she shares her journey, insights, and deep practice with her students in classes and weekly “yoga-love-notes” she posts as “The Spark” because they are short, sweet, and just enough heat to ignite inspiration for your practice. Her latest is on grounding. Enjoy! 

“If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees..” – Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God At the start of the New Year, there is a feeling of freshness, a burst of hope, and it’s like everyone has their eyes on the horizon line. However, what about the ground beneath your feet? What are you standing on? Are you rooted firmly to rise freely? Do you have clarity in the steps you will take to move in the direction of your dreams?  For the next 10 weeks in classes, we’re going to study the 5 MahaBhutas or 5 Great Elements. These elements exist inside of us and all around us. When we draw their qualities into our practice and our bodies, alignment becomes more intuitive and action becomes more organic. For example, your feet. If you go through the checklist of alignment principles, you’ll miss the pose. Instead, imagine your feet have the quality of earth  – solid, committed, supportive, steady. Here are some places to play: In Tree Pose, feel your feet spread on the earth like roots digging in deep. In Side Angle Pose, imagine your back foot stuck in mud and there is a sense of suction through your inner arch and inner thigh.In Vinyasa, stay aware of your feet during the flow. When you reach up and then forward fold, remain grounded in your feet (rather than become distracted by the arms).  From Chaturanga – UpDog – Down Dog, can your feet pedal you into and out of the poses?  The great sages of the yoga tradition, drew inspiration from watching the natural world. The plant kingdom can give us much wisdom about the nature of growth. It’s tempting to think of growth as an upward trajectory because that is what we see above ground. However, to support the upward momentum, roots expand downward, gaining the support and nourishment needed to fruit and flower. As you seek to grow, expand and rise up this year, put equal attention into your roots. This could be intentions, the tiny steps you take to accomplish something, or the day-to-day actions that you’re committed to for long-term development.  May your practice give you solid ground for growth.  Namaste,  Alison You may receive these weekly inspiration yoga bites by subscribing to THE SPARK. It is free.