The Conductor as Yogi:  Root to Rise

“Root to rise” is a fundamental cue in a yoga class.  Also phrased as “ground down to lift up,” it reminds us that before we can fully extend or expand, we have to be firmly rooted.  We have to be grounded before we can grow, or we will find ourselves wobbling or limiting our potential and experience in the pose.

We build the pose from our feet, connecting to the earth, finding our center of gravity, while releasing any holding or locking in our knees.  Moving upward, we lift to extend and we expand using our breath. Once in the pose, we call attention to dual actions, to the “both/and” of strength and lightness, of down and up, of stillness and energy.   Only then can we begin to fully experience our body, mind, and spirit in concert (a metaphor conductors know well).

“Root to rise” has practical application to best singing practice.  We spend a lot of time teaching good posture, but we tend to focus on the mid rib area or lifting from the crown of the head. While this certainly improves on our slumped, too-much-time-on-tech posture, it can also lead to feeling unsettled, a little spacey, or even anxious, like branches randomly floating in the air with no trunk or roots into the earth.  When we build singing posture from the ground up, we establish a firm foundation.  We help singers become aware of each aspect of their alignment, to notice where they hold tension or experience imbalance so they can make subtle adjustments and over time, build their personal toolbox of strategies.

But what I find most interesting about “root to rise” with singers is the surprising impact on their fullness of sound (taller, richer) and on their overall emotional state (calmer, more focused).  Once we share a common practice of rooting to rise, we can come back to this throughout rehearsal, inviting singers to press down with their hands as they lift into an ascending passage, to “sing from their feet” as they expand their sound, or to find security in the earth as they breathe, which has application well beyond the choral rehearsal (or the yoga mat).

There is a lot of life wisdom in “root to rise.” If we think of our work, our pursuit of accomplishment, or our life as growth or hopeful “rising,” we need to attend to the foundation on which it is built.  Where do we find our grounding?  On what are we building a program or our life’s mission? Are we those rootless branches, floating haphazardly in the air or do we take the time to root ourselves in something bigger? As often as I can, I try to take a minute before rehearsal to step back from my to-do list and remember why I am here in the first place.  What is my role, really, as I come to the podium, to the music, to these singers? When we take this time, we are more likely to bring the best version of ourselves to every encounter, trusting we will have what we need to live that both/and experience of “root to rise.”

 Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) and a certified Brain Longevity® Specialist, a research-based certification on yoga and integrative medicine for brain health and healthy aging. Reach her at: or ramonawis.com.

 Check out:

Kevin Paris and Casey Kalmenson, “Root to Rise,” from the album, “Say Love”

https://open.spotify.com/album/1R1qxefEdIwrY9StXMmnfp?highlight=spotify:track:5SfLw3g5cTYPD8CH55agOx

https://youtube.com/watch?v=W_UZPxOtsgw&feature=shares