Begin by settling the body into a comfortable position.
Soften your eyes.
Picture yourself as a tree.
You send your roots down,
Your trunk up.
Your branches reach out in every direction.
Your leaves unfold to collect power.
Bark develops to protect it.
Sap circulates its nutrition.
Flowers open when it's healthy and fruit appears when you have health to share.
Take your attention to the point where your body meets the ground.
Notice your strong foundation and the energy you're emitting.
Imagine this electrical current continuing on into the earth via deep reaching roots.
Each of these roots carries a message,
Planting a strong sense of restraint,
Yama,
Deep into this foundation.
I do no harm to myself or to others.
I am truthful in my words and deeds.
I honor resources and boundaries.
I consciously direct my energy and I release attachment to pleasure and pain.
From the roots of this tree grows the trunk.
Peel into your firmly planted base.
Sense the support that keeps you upright.
This trunk is made strong by niyama,
A practice of maintaining a clean body and mind,
Of neither craving nor coveting,
Of powering the work of this body by the heat of its will,
Of regarding written wisdom and self with the same care and fascination and of surrender to the divine unfolding.
From the trunk grows the branches.
This is asana,
A powerful vessel that changes shape to contain ease and effort.
Feel this dynamic balance that allows these limbs to reach out in all directions.
From the branches grow leaves.
This is pranayama.
As a tree absorbs energy through its leaves,
Pranayama shapes the breath to circulate prana,
The life force humming within your powerful vessel.
As you gently fill your lungs with air,
Feel the whole body expand.
Between the exhale and the inhale,
Sense the current of energy moving brightly along your spine.
In time,
A tree grows bark.
This is pratyahara,
Sensory withdrawal.
The bark is the envelope that contains pure focus,
A protector that shields the mind from collecting the sensory data that drives your material experience.
When we disengage the mind from reporting,
We notice the presence of deliberate focus.
Without judgment,
Attachment or urgency,
Simply observe the activity of your skin,
Your eyes,
Your ears,
Your nose and your tongue.
Gently observe.
In time,
A tree produces sap.
This is dharana,
Single pointed focus.
Imagine a slow trickle of sap there.
The sap is thin but contains a small percentage of sugar,
Eventually flowing into a rich syrup,
The product of great concentration.
When a tree is thriving,
It produces flowers.
This is dhyana,
Contemplation.
Imagine this tree is bursting with the excitement of its first bloom.
It is aware of nothing else.
No ground,
No sky,
No sap or bark.
Only the delicate unfurling of flowers.
At its peak,
A tree produces fruit.
This is samadhi,
Liberation.
When totally absorbed by the process of observing,
The observer merges with the observed,
Utterly unified.
This absorption is free of distraction,
Unlimited by physical experience.
Imagine that this tree blooms so effortlessly that its fruit will contain the essence and potential of every bloom that came before it.
