Thank you for joining me today in this talk,
Poem,
And guided practice with the wisdom of Cypress Tree.
In Persia,
There is the story of a 4,
000-year-old cypress tree known as the Indian Tree,
A cypress tree known as an oracle that carries the voice of both the sun and the moon,
The day and the night,
Male and female.
It is said that Alexander the Great visited this tree to gather prophecy about his kingdom.
Cypress Tree asks us to look at both sides of light,
The sun and the moon,
Bringing the wisdom of the day and the night to illuminate our world,
To look at those aspects that lie outside of us and those that are inside that they may be integrated.
I share this poem with you now that I wrote from the Cypress Tree,
And then we will move into a guided practice.
The Cypress Tree I walked up to a cypress tree.
Two sides were standing right there before me.
The left side,
He faced the sun,
Where in the east he looked,
Needles and leaves,
All vibrant green.
This side,
The sun of cypress reflected light back to me.
The right side,
Well,
She faced the moon.
A darker hue of green,
I imagined her leaves' shadows as night set in,
And her bark pale as moonlight.
I wanted to touch it like silky smooth skin.
I stood still under cypress' gaze looking up when I heard Cypress Tree remark,
Why not take a seat,
My friend,
Beneath my leafy boughs?
I replied,
I would sit,
Dear cypress,
Beneath your leaves,
But cannot decide which side to sit upon,
The left or the right?
Cypress said,
No need to choose.
In the middle is the best seat,
The light and the dark is here where you meet.
But sometimes I'd rather spend more time in the light enjoying the day than being uncertain in the darkness of night.
The sun's face shines so bright.
Yes,
Cypress said,
Most people do.
But if you take the sun's light here from the left side of me and gather it in,
Then when the day sets and night rolls in,
The moon will light all the rest of you that has remained hidden where you can find even more jewels.
But won't that hurt?
I asked.
Not at all,
My friend,
For the moon,
Our guide in the dark,
Glows incandescent in the night sky,
Her light helping us see the things we don't always want to see.
But many of these things help us grow strong,
Like us very old trees.
Why don't you ask the moon now,
Cypress suggested to me?
You mean she speaks too?
I asked our lovely tree.
Oh yes indeed she does,
For we are two voices living inside one tree.
Now I turn to the right side,
The one who spoke at night with the moon.
Hello,
I said.
A riddle she gave me,
This is what she said.
Moonlit nights and star-birthed dreams,
Explore inside what fears your heart brings.
Take those fears from your heart and hold them in the daylight.
The sun will lift them,
Illuminating your mind.
But are you sure,
I asked,
Not really believing her.
Yes,
Quite.
For we are the cypress,
The oracle of kings.
We have stood here majestically thousands of years.
You see how we grow like an arrow pointed in the air up toward the sky?
I shook my head yes showing that on this I did agree.
The cypress pointing heavenward as he,
As she stood high above me.
We contain both aspects within us,
The light and the dark.
We are bathed by both sides,
The sun and the moon.
To reach the heavenly realms,
You need both to succeed.
If you miss this,
Your journey is incomplete.
But I worry,
I said.
Yes,
We know that we can see.
Please plant your worries here at the foot of our tree.
We shall hold them for you,
Releasing them down through our roots.
I stood and thought about all of my worries.
I let them slip out through my feet and let them be gathered up by this majestic cypress tree.
What do I do now?
I asked once I was done.
That's when both sides spoke so that I could hear.
Sit down with us enjoying the day,
The sunny side of cypress said to me.
And when night comes,
I will show you the way,
The moon side replied.
So right in the center,
Between day and between night,
Is where I took a seat.
Thank you kind cypress for your words.
I shall enjoy seeing all of you,
The light and the dark.
And so shall we enjoy the company too.
What shines in us also shines through you.
Thus ends our story with our friend,
Cypress tree.
But remember her story,
His wisdom to help guide you throughout your day.
Like that which scares you,
What is dark and unseen and planted beneath the image of our cypress tree.
So he can show you how to grow day by day.
And she can walk with you each and every night.
Take this time now to begin to close your eyes and begin connecting with your breath.
Letting it move throughout your body,
Your nervous system slowing down,
Connecting gently with the earth beneath you.
Allowing the breath to move up through your body,
Expanding your lungs.
And filling you with the safety of the earth,
Holding you in this space as we move into the guided practice.
Imagine yourself seated beneath the cypress tree.
He,
She stands tall rooted behind you,
Holding you in this moment now.
You feel her roots,
His light surrounding you and protecting you.
You can feel the wisdom of the day and the illumination of the night surrounding you as you connect with your body.
And now as the cypress tree is asked,
Gather up all your worries,
Things that you are unsure of,
Those things which you fear,
Collect them up and imagine them being scooped up like a river of light within you and with each breath on the exhale they move out your legs,
Through your feet and into the earth collected by our friend the cypress tree.
Allow the light from the moon,
Shimmering in the dark to gather all these fears up and move them through her roots,
Lifting them up through the trunk and handing them up into the canopy of the cypress tree so that in the day they are released up into the sunlight and transformed back into a way that you can work with them in a loving place.
Allow this time now in this moment of silence to continue allowing your body to release any fears or doubts that you have collected and releasing them to the cypress tree to transform into beautiful light.
Take this time now.
Let go.
Taking a deep breath in and exhaling,
Feeling the lightness of your body as the cypress tree lifts these burdens off your heart,
Off your shoulders,
Transforming them into light.
Take another deep breath in and exhale.
And when you are ready in your imagination,
Stand up,
Turn around and thank the cypress tree for being with you,
Knowing that any time you need,
You can always close your eyes and connect with the cypress tree,
Know that you are carried throughout your day in this beautiful light and held lovingly by the roots of the cypress tree.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We're grateful to have you here.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
