Welcome to this Kids in Nature Like a Tree meditation.
My name is Jessica Amos.
I am founder of Stay with Yourself,
The practice of being who you are,
Where you are.
And today's nature meditation will encourage you to go outside and find a tree,
A really lovely tree that you can sit next to and become friends with.
So take some time to go outside now.
And if you need some time to pause this recording in order to find a tree that you can sit next to,
Even if it's a little tree,
Find a tree that you can lean against.
Or you can set your bottom on the ground and lean against the tree.
You can cross your legs or just put your feet out in front of you.
Set your hands in your lap or at your sides and just lean against this tree and bring awareness into your breath.
And if you're in an outside place where there aren't any trees,
That's okay.
You can still sit outside on the ground and close your eyes and you can imagine that you are sitting under a beautiful tree,
Whatever kind of tree you can imagine.
So take time to get comfortable.
Pause this meditation if you need to,
To get comfortable and come back when you're ready.
Now that you're here,
Bring awareness into your breath.
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Down into your tummy and exhale out through your mouth.
Feel your tummy softening and releasing tension.
Take deeply into your nose,
Into your belly and exhale.
Relax your body.
One more deep breath in through the nose.
Slowly exhale and relax your body as you lean against this beautiful,
Friendly tree.
And close your eyes and just feel yourself here leaning against this tree.
You can imagine that your bottom and the back of your spine and your hips is reaching down into the earth and growing just like the roots of this tree you're sitting next to.
You have roots too and they're growing down into the earth and they're getting tangled up with the roots of this big tree.
And then you can imagine that your body here above the earth is growing very tall and reaching up just like this tree,
Growing,
Growing,
Growing.
And you can feel yourself sort of melting into this tree like you are becoming this tree.
Its roots,
Its trunk,
Its branches,
Its leaves.
Ah,
Here you are.
Beautiful tree.
You're deeply planted in the earth with your roots reaching down.
Ah,
And then you're also reaching up into the sky.
Ah,
It feels so good.
You're so solid.
You're so strong.
Now that you are here,
Be very,
Very still just like this tree.
You can listen to the sounds you hear around you.
And as you listen and you feel yourself here as this tree,
Begin to imagine what it would be like if your whole life was just spent as a tree.
If you were always just planted in this one spot,
Growing bigger and taller with each year,
Reaching far into the sky,
Being able to look out at things down below you or above you.
Imagine what it would be like to have birds nesting in your branches and building homes there every spring and summer and fall.
Imagine what it would be like in the wintertime when it gets cold and you lose all your leaves and you just get to take a nice winter's nap.
Continue listening to the sounds around you,
Knowing that this is what a tree listens to all day.
And see how much you can hear,
How still you can be,
Imagining if you were this tree,
If this was your life.
So calm,
So peaceful.
And know that you can be just like this tree anytime you need to just slow down and be still.
You can close your eyes wherever you are and get very,
Very still and imagine your roots are reaching down into the earth and your trunk and your branches are reaching up into the sky.
And you can be very still and quiet just like this tree anytime you want to be.
You can be a tree too,
Living this quiet,
Peaceful life surrounded by nature and beauty,
Strong and inviting at the same time.
I encourage you to keep sitting here after this meditation is over and maybe asking this tree some questions or imagining more of what it would be like to live life as a tree.
Thank you for sharing your meditation practice with me today.
Until next time,
May you stay with yourself today and always.
