One day,
As you were taking a walk across a meadow in the sunshine,
You came to the edge of a forest.
As you stood at the edge of the meadow,
Right where the trees began,
You could feel cool air coming from this shady forest.
It felt nice on your warm skin.
As you peeked into the forest,
You could see the many shades and shapes of the green leaves covering the branches of the trees and bushes.
You could hear the sound of a stream bubbling gently somewhere in the distance.
It looked and sounded like a huge,
Magical fort just waiting to be explored.
You stood for a minute,
Feeling the warmth of the sunshine mix on your skin with the cool air from the shade.
You took a deep breath in and let it out.
You imagined that your out-breath mixed in with the forest air,
And in that moment,
You decided to step into the woods.
As you stroll slowly among the trees,
You feel peaceful and welcomed.
Your eyes drift upward,
And you can see the sky and sun peeking through the leafy cover of the trees.
Your eyes drift downward,
And you can see the bits of sunlight and shadow dancing on the ground at your feet.
As you bring your eyes ahead again and begin to walk,
You see the biggest tree of all.
This tree towers up above all the others,
And its branches stretch longer and wider than you can even see.
Its trunk is so big that you can hide all the way behind it without even trying to be small.
This tree is so inviting that you walk right up to it and lean back against it.
Its bark feels rough,
But warmer than you thought it would be.
As you lean against your tree,
You feel happy and relaxed.
You take a deep breath in and imagine that the tree is breathing in with you.
You let your breath out and imagine that the tree is breathing out with you.
As you take a few more deep breaths together with the tree,
You notice that your body feels strong and alive,
And your mind feels still and safe.
As you take your next breath in,
You realize that you have melted right into the tree and become part of it.
Now when you breathe in,
The whole tree breathes in,
And when you breathe out,
The whole tree breathes out.
As your breath flows out,
It makes a breeze through the branches and rustles all the leaves in the forest.
You giggle inside because that was really fun.
You do it one more time.
Take a deep breath in,
And then as you breathe out,
You make a breeze that blows through the leaves and the trees all around you.
After a minute,
You decide to stretch,
And you can feel yourself grow into the roots of the tree and deep,
Deep down into the earth.
Your roots reach so far down that you feel an underground river flowing by cool and fast.
It feels like you're dipping your toes into a cool stream,
And you feel connected to the great big earth.
Next you stretch up and feel your arms grow into the tallest branches.
You feel the sky with your fingertips,
High above the buildings and your house nearby.
You wiggle your fingers and try to catch a few clouds.
It makes you feel connected to the whole universe,
The sun,
The moon,
The stars,
And space.
It feels nice and relaxing to know that you are part of everything.
You close your eyes and feel this feeling.
After another minute,
You open your eyes and see all of the trees around you.
You notice that some are tall and some are short.
Some are thin and bendy,
And some are round bushes that tickle your knees.
Some trees' branches meet yours,
And some of your branches rest on other trees.
It makes you feel connected to all the plants and all the trees in the forest.
All of a sudden you feel a tickle on your back,
And notice a squirrel scampering up your trunk.
You see that she has a nest on one of your branches,
And inside are three baby squirrels.
You feel proud to be the home of these little forest animals.
You close your eyes again and feel how lucky you are to be this tree,
Completely connected to the planet beneath you,
Completely connected to the stars and space and sky,
And completely connected to all of nature around you,
Never alone.
As you open your eyes again,
You notice that you have become yourself,
And you are leaning against the great tree once more,
Feeling its warm,
Rough bark and listening to the rustle of the breeze around you.
You push slowly off the tree and find your way back to the edge of the woods.
As you head back home,
You turn around and smile,
Thinking about the great time you had in this forest.
You know that all you have to do to feel this way again is find a tree to lean on.
Let yourself take a few deep breaths,
And notice your magical body and the magical world around you.
