Lezione 1
Connecting With Trees Intuitively - An Introduction
In this first session, we will learn the foundation of the course. I will share how trees are spiritual teachers even though they have no words with which to speak. I will also share with you the importance of connecting with nature.
Before the end, I will ask us to complete an assignment that leads into the intention of the second lesson.
Lezione 2
Meeting Your Tree - Opening To Your Natural Wisdom
Through guided meditation and breathwork, we will get the opportunity to meet the tree that you will be working with for the continuation of the course. Once we meet this beautiful spiritual teacher, we will explore activities that will help foster and grow your connection with this tree.
We will learn that because trees do not use the language of words, instead communicating through our senses: sight, touch, sound, taste, smell, and touch.
Lezione 3
Exploring Your Roots – Learning From Your Past
Now that we have begun a connection with our tree teacher, it is time to do more exploring. We will dive into the roots of our trees and discover what important information is hidden there. Richard Rohr writes, “If I can somehow let my roots and tendrils reconnect me with the givens of life – not the ideas about life, but the givens, the natural world, what is – I experience extraordinary grounding, reconnection, healing and even revelation.”
We will also explore how to take care of our roots checking in to see if we are grounded and nourished.
Lezione 4
Your Tree Trunk – Hearing Your Own Heart Speak
After exploring our roots, we're now ready to focus on the trunk of our tree. What does the trunk of our trees look like? What do they feel like to our touch? What are the characteristics of our trees and how can knowing the wisdom of our tree's character help us discover our own strengths and weaknesses.
We will explore these questions and learn more about ourselves in this present moment.
Lezione 5
Extending Your Branches – Growing Your Intuition
We have looked at your roots and your trunk. Now, we will look closely into the branches of your tree. Using imagery work, we will explore what the branches of your tree look like in this present moment. What season are you in? What direction are your branches growing – up or out or down?
Gathering this information, we can discern what can assist you in becoming a lighter and more vibrant tree in this moment.
Lezione 6
Leaves – Unfolding The Connection With Yourself
Our leaves collect light and exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with our environment. By looking at the leaves of our trees, we will collect information about the little things that we, ourselves, are collecting in our own lives and how these things are serving us.
Our leaves also tell us about our physical health, our hydration, and the nutrients that we are absorbing or don’t have enough of. In this session, we ask ourselves, "What are our leaves letting us know what to pay attention to in our lives?"
Lezione 7
Companions On The Journey – Staying Centered
Dan, a Lakota Elder, shares in Kent Nerburn’s book, “The different trees grow together like friends. You go down in the river bottoms, you see the cottonwoods and the birches. They’re together like friends. You go to a hill and find an oak and you think he’s all by himself. But if you look close, he’s standing with his arms over a bunch of little fellows so they can be protected while they grow.”
So where are our trees standing? Through intentional questions, reflection, and guided imagery, we will take a look at where your tree is planted, who is surrounding it, and what other trees are standing next to it. Knowing that there are no right or wrong answers, we will just observe to gain a better understanding of ourselves.
What do our trees want us to know about our surrounding community. How do they nourish or deplete us? In what ways do we want to shift?
Lezione 8
Giving Back To Community – Using Our Intuition To Help Others
Now, we can begin to look at our relationship with the larger world community. Chief Seattle of the Duwamish people said, “All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls earth, befalls the people of earth. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”
What do our trees want to teach us about how to be present in the larger community and what can our trees learn from the surrounding community of trees? What resources can be exchanged to create a healthier community for ourselves and for those around us?
Lezione 9
Poetree – Exploring The Creativity Of Your Soul
“Trees are poems the Earth writes upon the sky,” Kahlil Gibran. If your tree could speak what poem would it write? What words, images or feelings would your tree voice? In this session, we will explore the voice of your tree through poetry and create our own pieces of writing.
Creativity is another tool that helps in growing our intuition. As we tap into this unseen world, we discover rich resources that lie within ourselves.
Lezione 10
The Journey Inward – A Beginning Not An End
Tying all the parts together, we will look at the deeper connection of ourselves to our trees. Taking what we have explored in this course, we will look at ways to create these connections in small ways every day.
“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth,” Herman Hesse. The ability to see trees as our teachers and spiritual leaders allows us to gain a deeper respect for the earth and how to better care for her. Through our deeper intuitive self, we begin to hear, feel and sense the communication of all of life with us.