Hello and welcome to this tree meditation.
For this meditation you can be in any position that feels comfortable for you.
You're seated,
Lying down,
Standing even.
You're just taking a moment to find your position and settling in.
Starting with noticing the points of contact with cushion or bed or floor.
Noticing all the holding that's here for you as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
You may notice how on each out breath there's a very subtle gentle invitation to drop down to relax a little bit more into gravity.
So we're just taking a moment to be aware of that as you breathe in,
Allowing the breath to energize.
And then on the out breath that dropping in.
Really noticing with each out breath how you can relax into gravity.
You can let yourself be held.
So knowing that whether you're seated or standing,
Whether you're lying down,
Whatever surface humans have made that may be supporting you,
That underneath it all always is the earth.
Holding and supporting.
Hugging us to her with gravity.
Just letting yourself feel that right now.
The tug of gravity.
The holding of the earth.
And as you're ready,
I'm going to invite you to bring into your mind's eye the image of a tree.
Some tree that maybe you've encountered in your life,
Maybe you've seen a picture,
But a tree that resonates for you in some way.
A grand tall tree,
A strong tree.
Allowing that image to become clear in your mind,
Noticing the top of the tree.
How high it is in the sky,
What the sky looks like behind the tree.
The shape and the texture of it.
Is this a coniferous tree?
Or is this a deciduous tree?
Does it have needles or does it have leaves?
What's the color?
What's the shape as you follow with your eye down from the top all the way down to find the trunk?
What's the size and the shape of the trunk?
Could you wrap your arms around it?
How many would it take to link arms to wrap around this tree?
What's the bark like?
What's the coloring?
The texture?
If you were to reach out and touch the bark of this tree,
What would your hand feel?
Smooth or rough?
Jagged?
And if you could,
If you can,
If you can reach up and touch the needles or the leaves,
What do they feel like?
Is there a smell to the tree?
Breathe it in.
Receive it.
And as you let yourself still,
Is there a sound?
Maybe there's wind playing through the canopy.
A rustling,
A whisper,
A hum.
Seeing what you hear.
And as you hold the image of this tree in your mind's eye,
Consider the parts of the tree that you can't see.
Just as important as the part that's above ground,
As the part of the tree that sinks deep into the earth.
Just like a whole other tree branching down,
Imagining what the roots may look like,
How deep they go,
How wide,
How thick,
Spreading in every direction.
Does your tree's roots reach out and touch and intertwine with the roots of other trees?
Is your tree part of a tree community,
A forest?
Noticing how the tree receives so much through its roots,
How it receives water,
How it receives nutrients.
How its very life depends on its relationship with the earth,
And all the unseen microbes,
Microorganisms,
Fungus that inhabit the soil.
How the tree is utterly dependent on the earth and on the sky.
How it depends on the sun for photosynthesis.
How it depends on the falling of the rain for moisture.
How even it depends on the wind,
Sometimes fierce,
To grow strong.
The trunk only grows strong through the force of the wind.
And as you contemplate the tree,
Contemplate its strength and its humble beginning.
This mighty tree began as a tiny seed,
A seed that fell into the earth,
A seed that received moisture from the rain,
Nutrients from the soil.
How the hard outer shell of the seed had to break open.
How that opening allowed it to send out a tiny tendril of a root into the earth,
And a tiny little stalk to reach for the sun.
How very small the tree was at its beginning.
And how over days and changing of seasons,
How through windstorms and rainstorms and hail,
Dry seasons and wet seasons,
How the seedling grew year by year,
Ring by ring.
What was once a seed became this mighty tree.
All through its life the tree experienced all that every living thing experiences.
The changing of the seasons.
Times of plenty of rain,
Times of drought.
And still the tree grew.
Some years maybe it didn't grow as much because there weren't as many nutrients.
Other years were rich in nutrients and the tree grew more.
The tree may have been admired by people.
And the tree was untouched by this.
The tree kept growing,
Abiding in its treeness.
Being a tree,
That's all.
Many people just passed the tree by and never noticed it.
There may have been people even who disliked the tree,
Maybe didn't like where it was located.
Maybe a tree grew to block somebody's view.
But still the tree continued to grow,
Unconcerned about the opinions of others.
And all the changes that are a part of the turning of the earth,
The changing of the seasons,
The rising of the sun,
The setting of the sun,
The rising of the moon,
The setting of the moon.
The tree just accepts all and abides in its treeness.
Noticing too how even though we can't see it,
The tree is breathing.
The tree takes in carbon dioxide,
Absorbs that to needles and leaves.
In a sense it's breathing in what we breathe out.
And in a sense as the tree exhales,
It releases oxygen that we breathe in.
Maybe taking a moment to even feel that exchange.
How the tree's out-breath is your in-breath.
And how your out-breath is the tree's in-breath.
Breathing in and breathing out with the tree,
Deeply connected.
And now holding that image of the strong and powerful tree in your mind,
Imagine that you can bring the tree into you.
So that you become the tree.
That the tree's strength becomes your strength.
The tree's uprightness becomes your uprightness.
The tree's deep roots connecting it to the earth become your deep roots connecting you to the earth.
The tree's crown reaching up to the sky becomes the top of your head.
The tree's branches become your arms.
The trunk of the tree becomes your torso and legs.
And feeling your roots reaching deep down into the earth just as the tree's does.
And noticing too how the tree's wholeness becomes your wholeness.
Allowing yourself to embody the tree.
Just taking a few moments to rest in this place of tree-ness.
Breathing as tree and being as tree.
Breathing in and breathing out as tree,
Embodying tree-ness.
And if the mind has wandered into thought.
No problem.
Just notice that.
Being gentle and kind with yourself.
Just gently redirecting yourself back to that sense of being tree.
Of being deeply rooted.
Of standing strong,
Upright.
Natural nobility.
Just,
Without knowing really who it is you are.
And now as we prepare to wrap up this tree meditation,
Just taking a moment to reconnect with that groundedness,
That rootedness,
That natural nobility,
And know that tree medicine is always here for you.
You can imagine this powerful tree,
Bring it into yourself,
Let it inspire you,
Let it be part of you.
And so we end this meditation.
May the forest be with you.
Namaste.
