In We the Trees,
The body is a metaphor for the tree,
And the tree is a metaphor for the body.
Our trunk is our torso,
The arms are the branches,
The palms,
The fingers,
The hair,
The nose,
The eyes,
The mouth,
The fruits and the leaves of the tree.
And our root system starts at the tailbone,
The pelvis,
The upper legs,
The lower legs,
The feet,
The toes.
So coming into your tree,
Or your body,
And having a sense of your body being fully supported by whatever you're lying on.
And whatever you're lying on is supported by the floor of this tent,
Which is supported by the structure of the tent.
The foundations of this tent are secured in the clay of the land.
Below the clay of the land,
There are layers of salt,
Rock,
Shell,
Crystal.
And as you take your next breath in,
Having a sense of the support that is offered to you in this moment by all of those unseen elements.
And as you breathe out,
See if there's something that can soften the root of the tongue,
Perhaps.
The space between the eyes,
Shoulders,
Glutes.
Be at ease.
And if we have a sense of the tailbone,
The upper legs,
The lower legs,
The feet as our roots.
On your next breath out,
See if you can sigh or breathe through the mouth.
And imagine that you're sending your root system down into the earth.
Continue like this,
And the tips of your roots will pass the clay of the land,
The layers of salt,
Rock,
Crystal.
They will burry around the animal homes and dens until they find the underwater streams and wells.
And the water in the wells is warmed by the core of the earth.
And as the tips of your roots find this underwater well,
Have a sense of your roots receiving the nourishment from all of the elementals that lie below your body.
And as you breathe in,
Have a sense of receiving this nourishment up through the tips of the roots,
Feet,
Lower legs,
Upper legs,
Pelvis,
All the way to your torso.
And as you breathe out,
Breathing out from the pelvis,
Down through the legs,
The feet,
Tips of the roots,
All the way back to the underwater wells and the earth.
Taking a few circular rounds of breath like this,
Before letting that dissipate.
In our Western society,
We have been led to believe that the cranial approach to existence is more sophisticated than more primal,
Natural ways of being.
And yet,
We are nature.
Not separate from,
Not something other.
The calcium,
Hydrogen,
Carbon,
Nitrogen,
Etc.
Makes up our bones,
Our teeth,
Our blood.
The same minerals that form the air and the water,
The salt,
The rocks,
The crystals.
And having a sense that all that lies below you,
And all that came before you,
What offers supports to your roots.
And see what comes to mind.
So for some friends,
It might be ancestral support.
For other friends,
It might be chosen family.
Perhaps your roots are nourished by your community,
The elders or the wee babes in the community.
And perhaps it's bodies of work,
Poetry,
Dance,
Art,
Literature that nourishes you.
Maybe it's ideology,
Your beliefs,
Your values,
Or anything else.
Creating space to see what comes.
The invitation to bring the left hand to the left of your breastbone.
This time,
Breathing in to your heart from the world,
And breathing out from your heart to the world.
One more round of breath like this.
And as you are ready to,
Starting to bring the attention to tips of your roots,
To your toes,
To your feet,
To the tips of your branches,
To your fingers,
And your palms.
Perhaps you deepen the breath.
And very slowly,
And only as you are ready to,
Staying with that sense of groundedness,
Staying with that sense of embodied security.
As you start to bring yourself back into the space that you are in.
And know that if you need to take a little bit more rest,
The earth and your root system is always here for you.
It's always below you,
Or is ready to support you if you're ready to receive it.
This meditation is drawing towards a close now.
Wishing you a beautiful and grounded day ahead.
We are the trees.
