Breathing With Trees

This is a mindful meditation visualizing a tree and leaves exchanging breaths. It can be done outdoors in Natrure or inside. This was written for Earth Day in a way to connect your exhale to the tree leaf, receiving the tree's release of oxygen with your inhale. Enjoy.

Transcript

Welcome.

We are going to breathe with trees.

This is our meditation.

But before we start,

I wanted to share a quote or a saying actually from Jill Tarter.

She's an astronomer and she did an interview and some of her words were very exciting to hear.

One thing she said was,

We need to have a cosmic point of view and she gives everyone she meets this homework assignment.

And I challenge you to see if you can do it too or you can send it off to whoever to do it.

To change your profile status to say that we are earthlings and to start acting like it.

She says,

We have to think in a larger context of both space and time and this is a fundamental piece to the longevity of our planet.

So in our finite world,

A cosmic perspective is not a luxury but a necessity and to begin to think about ourselves in a larger framework.

We are earthlings.

So with that,

Thank you for joining in this meditation.

Find yourself in any comfortable seated position.

You could actually lie down if you'd like or even stand up.

What does your body need most?

Just notice and get into that comfortable position as you're ready.

In this meditation,

You will be guided to metaphorically visualize and sense the experience of sharing your breath with a strong majestic tree of your choosing.

At the very end of the meditation,

I will end it with a bell and then I will just simply close.

And as you're in that comfortable position,

Begin to notice your feet.

Imagining they're pressed into the earth.

If you're lying down,

Imagine that you can feel all the little sensations at the bottom of your foot.

Noticing if it's warm or hot,

Tingling.

Just noticing your feet.

And then begin to notice your breath.

Gently drawing in three relaxing inhales.

And then slowly releasing on the exhales.

Inhale into your core,

Feeling the stomach rise and then exhale through your mouth for the next couple breaths.

Maybe even imagining that you're exhaling any stress you're feeling away.

Imagining your breath moving through all of your body.

If you can,

Imagining that it's hitting every single cell from the top of your head to your toes.

If you haven't shut your eyes,

That's okay.

When you're ready,

You can close them.

If that's not comfortable,

You can choose to close them as you're ready or gently soften your gaze towards the floor.

And I invite you to feel your torso from your neck down to your legs.

Feel as you inhale that all expands out,

Gets bigger.

And as you breathe in,

You notice your chest rise.

The body's open and relaxed.

And as you breathe out,

Notice how your body becomes long,

Relaxed.

Inhale,

Connecting to the earth.

Exhale elongating to the sky,

Rooted and reaching.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Notice the sounds around you.

Can you notice or imagine the sounds of nature,

Peaceful,

Inviting?

Nature can be in your yard,

In your park,

Or some faraway place.

Imagine in your mind's eye a healthy forest with many green trees surrounding you in safety.

And as you stand before the forest,

Just imagining that you gently ask permission,

May I enter?

And as you slowly enter into the forest,

Imagine that you can see a tree.

If you're outside and you can't see it in your eyes,

In your mind's eye,

Maybe look at the tree.

Begin to see this tree more clearly,

Imagining it more in real life.

Visualize a magnificent tree before you.

You can imagine the tree in more detail.

Is it large or small?

Is it by a lake,

A stream,

A river,

Or deep in the middle of the forest?

Is it a giant old growth tree or a deciduous tree losing its leaves in the fall?

Or is it coniferous,

Always staying green in the middle of the winter?

Perhaps it is a tree you have noticed before.

A cedar,

A maple,

A birch,

Or a douglas fir.

Maybe you don't know its name,

But you know its presence.

Noticing the tree,

Noticing its trunk,

Its large trunk rooted into the earth.

Noticing the branches reaching out and up into the sky,

Ancient and wise.

You happen to be next to a tree as you listen to this.

Perhaps you can touch it.

And if you cannot actually touch the tree,

Maybe you can imagine touching,

Touching the trunk,

The trunk,

The bark.

Noticing a large glorious tree colored in greens and browns.

They're not one color,

But many shades.

And as you're ready,

Begin imagining walking closer towards your tree,

Even closer from when you imagine touching it.

Seeing it in even more detail,

The texture of the bark,

Noticing the leaves,

The needles,

And the rich shades of green.

As you approach your leaf,

Whatever kind of leaf it is,

Find yourself so close to the leaf,

You're imagining,

Or for real,

That the leaf grazes your lip,

Just barely touching it.

Begin to exchange your breath with this tree right next to that leaf,

Inhaling the oxygen the tree releases,

And exhaling the carbon dioxide the tree needs for photosynthesis,

Making its food.

Inhale from the tree the oxygen it releases,

And exhale to the tree the carbon dioxide you release.

The tree receives your breath and gifts you a breath in return,

Exchanging breaths so fluidly that it becomes one.

Feel your connectedness to the tree and the world around you.

Inhale from the tree,

Exhale to the tree.

On your last few breaths with your tree,

As you're ready,

Hear it whisper a message to you,

Could be a word or phrase,

And just hold that message in your heart.

You may even want to hold that message in by placing one hand on your heart,

One palm,

And then taking the other palm over that hand,

Right over the center of the heart,

Of the chest.

In this moment,

Feel your true self,

Your essence,

And your presence.

Feel the tree's essence and presence.

As you're ready,

Thank the tree for all its gifts and the forest for your visit.

And you can do this even if you really are in a forest,

Even in your yard,

Just thanking nature for their gifts and for your visit.

And as you like,

You can slowly withdraw your consciousness back from the tree,

Back from the forest,

Into your body,

Once again noticing your feet,

Noticing the whole body,

Noticing the sounds around you,

And become aware of your breathing again.

Inhaling,

Know that you're inhaling.

Exhaling,

Know that you're exhaling.

Can you recall your personal message from your tree?

And maybe if you didn't get one from the tree,

Something arises now.

Whatever it is,

Inhale the message and exhale the message.

Sense a compassionate cosmic connection to all,

To all earthlings.

And send them all this wish,

All these wishes.

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be at ease,

May you be in peace.

And sending it to the tree,

All the trees,

The animals,

The forest,

Your neighborhood,

Your town,

Your state,

Your country,

And your world,

Our world.

Once again imagining all of us together,

Connected.

Inhale and exhale,

Sending this wish to everyone.

May you all be happy,

Healthy,

At ease,

And with peace.

Slowly hear the bell.

Easy.

As you're ready,

Begin to slowly move,

Allowing your eyes to gently blink open,

Slowly,

Slowly.

And then fully open into the space where you started,

Taking in a nice deep inhale,

A long slow exhale.

Center yourself,

Compassion and gratitude for your practice.

And I invite you to go and exchange a breath,

Many breaths,

Right next to a leaf on a tree.

At first,

It may seem silly,

But then after you begin to do a few breaths,

You really start to feel the power of that tree and how we both,

The tree and humans,

The trees and humans,

The trees and earthlings are very connected.

I thank you for your practice,

Much compassion and gratitude.

And don't forget that earthling challenge.

May you all be happy,

Healthy,

At ease and with peace.

Thank you for joining me.

Debbie,

Ciao.

Reviews

Perfectly imperfect! Thank you this was lovely..

That was so beautiful, thank you