Tree Of Life

Using imagery, we imagine ourselves as a wise tree. Interwoven and interconnected to the world around us. Creating a felt sense of being grounded and supported by the earth while also connecting upwards towards the great Sun in the sky. May we always remember that we are but one strand in the great web of life.

Transcript

Hello, And welcome. My name is Katie Kamalameh, And today I'd like to lead you through a practice called the Tree of Life. Finding a comfortable seat, Adopting a posture that will allow you to be alert and awake, Yet soft and easeful. Inviting a few deep breaths into the body as a way of coming into this present moment, Into this space, Into the body. Sinking into your seat, Sensing some stability, Let the eyes and the face be soft, Loosen the jaw, And roll the neck if that feels good, Letting it find a simple upright position. The shoulders relax, The arms and the hands rest easy, Let the belly be soft, And the breath natural, And let the heart be soft as well, Fully present with an open and kind awareness. With this embodied presence, We'll play with this amazing part of our consciousness, Our ability to imagine, Sense, And feel. So imagine or sense your legs are the roots of a tree, Heavy, Solid wood, Your thighs, The parts of the roots above the surface of the earth, The lower parts of your legs reaching into the earth, Stretching beyond your toes, The roots reach deep into the ground. Sensing the moist darkness, The smell of dirt, Texture of soil and rocks, And roots grow from your seat, Extending down from the tailbone and the back of the thighs, Branching outward along the surface of the earth and also downwards, Deep into the support of our mother. Feeling into the steadiness, The strength of our roots as they are hugged so tightly by the earth. Begin to imagine the network of mycelium interwoven around you, Communicating with you, Receiving and sending signals, Connecting us to one another through a vast network of our thighs, Sensing that the lower part of our body, Our roots are steady, Unshakable, And allowing the awareness to move upwards towards the torso, The trunk of our tree. And from the solid unshakable root system, Our trunk reaches up strong yet flexible, For when the storms come. Awareness traveling up to the crown of the head, Noticing any sensations that are present here on the top back of the head. Imagine or sense that this area begins to open and branches sprout from the crown, Growing, Spreading, Reaching up and out in all directions. Feel the warmth of the sun reaching to meet the sun rays. You open your leaves to the warm rays, And when the sunlight strikes your leaves, The light energy turns to sugar in every leaf. Light into sugar. You feel connected to the world around you. You breathe in CO2 through all the pores of your leaves, You take it in. And you breathe out oxygen for all of the creatures of the forest and the earth. Completely interwoven, A part of the whole web of life. Sometimes human beings come to sit underneath of you. You can feel what it's like to shelter these little beings. You sense how small they are and how impermanent. Only here for such a short blip in time. As a tree of wisdom, You can whisper to the ones who are seeking freedom when they ask, Where do we go from here? What wisdom will you share with me, Great tree? And what do you tell the humans? They are ready to listen. We are not separate from nature. We are made from the same molecules, Born from the same stars, Completely interdependent on one another. I breathe in what the trees breathe out. The trees breathe in what I breathe out. Completely interwoven in the breathing of the universe. As Chief Seattle said, Humans did not create the web of life. We are but one string among it. What we do to the earth, We also do to ourselves. What we do to ourselves, We also do to the earth. Taking a few moments here to rest in this sense of interconnectedness. From here, Taking a moment to bow to all the trees around us, To all the other beings that sustain us. Thank you. We will bring this practice to a close. May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy. And may all beings be free. Thank you. Namaste.