Welcome.
Find a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
You're safe here.
You're held here.
Take a moment to fully arrive in this space,
Letting the outside world wash over you,
For now.
If you're here,
You've probably experienced the pain of false inclusion,
Of being told you're welcome while feeling deeply alone,
Of watching your traditions appropriated,
Your symbols turned into decoration,
Your deepest beliefs treated as exotic accessories.
You've felt the crushing loneliness of inclusion varnishing.
And today,
We're going to navigate that pain,
Not bypass it,
Not spiritually varnish over it,
Actually move through it with the timeless wisdom of the tree of life as our mind.
Let's begin by grounding in your body,
Right here,
Right now.
Your body making contact with whatever is supporting you.
The chair,
The cushion,
The floor,
The earth beneath you.
Let yourself be heavy.
You don't have to hold yourself up right now.
Bring awareness to your breath,
The cool air entering your nose,
The warm air leaving your body.
And as you breathe,
Notice,
What does this pain of exclusion feel like in your body,
Right now?
Maybe it's tightness in your chest,
Or not in your stomach.
Maybe it's tension in your jaw from all the times you've wanted to speak,
But stayed silent.
Just notice.
There's no need to change anything yet.
Life together,
And as we do,
We'll let your body release what it's been holding.
We begin in Gevurah,
The sephira of boundaries,
Of sacred no,
Of righteous anger.
This is the place on the tree that says,
What happened to you was not okay.
You are not being too sensitive.
Your anger is valid.
Bring your awareness to your hands.
Make gentle fists.
Not too tight,
But firm enough to feel your strength.
As you hold this gentle firmness,
Let yourself feel the anger,
The rage at being erased,
At being appropriated,
At being told to be calm.
Let it rise in your body.
Maybe it's heat in your chest,
Or energy in your arms.
Maybe it's power in your voice that's been silent too long.
And now,
With your breath,
With your body,
Set a boundary.
Breathe in,
And silently say,
No more.
Breathe out,
And release what you're done carrying.
Gevurah gives you permission to draw the line,
To name the harm,
To stop pretending it's fine.
Feel that power in your body.
That's yours to keep.
When you're ready,
Gently release your fists.
Let your hands rest open.
Now we move to Chesed,
The sephira of loving kindness,
Of boundless compassion.
And today,
We're turning all that compassion toward you.
Bring your hands to your heart center.
One hand on top of each of your hands.
Notice your heartbeat.
This heart that has kept beating through all the loneliness,
Through all the times you felt unseen,
Through all the sadness.
Your heart is still here,
Still open,
Still seeking.
Let yourself feel the tenderness beneath the anger of a real community,
For someone to see you fully and say,
Yes,
You belong here,
All of you.
And gentle,
Filling your chest with each inhale.
The compassion says,
Your longing is beautiful,
Your pain is valid,
You deserve authentic inclusion,
Not varnish.
Let your body soften with this truth.
Let your shoulders drop.
Let your belly release.
Let yourself be held by this compassion.
You are not too much.
You are not too sensitive.
You are exactly right.
When you're ready,
Let your hands gently return to rest.
Now we move to Teferet,
The heart center of the tree,
The place of balance and integration.
This is where we hold both truths.
Yes,
You're hurt,
And you can move forward.
Yes,
You're angry,
And you can seek real community.
Bring your awareness to your whole torso now.
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your back,
Your sides.
Imagine your spine as the trunk of a great tree,
Rooted below,
Reaching above,
Strong and flexible in the center.
Look over its boundaries,
And the tenderness of Chesed's compassion,
Both at once,
Not bypassing either,
Integrating them into something whole.
Notice what happens in your body when you don't have to choose between anger and love,
When you can hold both.
Maybe your breath deepens.
Maybe your chest expands.
Maybe there's a sense of,
Yes,
This.
This is your centered self,
The one who can name harm and move toward healing,
The one who can feel pain and trust wholeness is possible.
Breathe into this balanced center.
Let each breath strengthen your inner tree.
From this centered place,
You can navigate anywhere.
This is your home base on the tree.
Now we move to Yesod,
The place of trust,
The realm just before physical awareness,
Where everything is being prepared.
This is often the most uncomfortable part of the journey,
Because in Yesod,
It looks like nothing is happening in your physical reality.
The world still feels unsafe.
You still haven't found your people.
Inclusion varnishing still shows up everywhere.
But beneath the surface,
Everything is shifting.
Bring your awareness down to your pelvic bowl,
Your hips,
Your seat,
The base of your body.
Feel the earth beneath you,
Even if you're on the second floor,
The tenth floor,
The twentieth floor.
The earth is always beneath you.
Just like the earth,
There are processes happening beneath the surface that you cannot see and yet are absolutely real.
Seeds germinating in the darkness,
Roots spreading through soil,
Mycelial networks connecting tree to tree beneath the outer world may not show it yet.
The authentic community you're seeking is being prepared.
The real inclusion is taking shape.
The people who your only job in Yesod is to trust,
To build your trust muscle.
With each breath,
Practice trusting.
Breathe in,
I trust the process.
Breathe out,
Even when I can't see it yet.
Notice what happens in your body when you practice trust.
Does something soften?
Does something release?
You don't have to believe it perfectly.
You have to practice it gently.
Your roots deepen.
Trust is growing,
Even now.
You arrive in Melkut,
The physical world,
The realm of actualization.
This is where you live.
This is where the healing you've done today will show up in your actual life.
Feel yourself fully embodied,
Fully breathed,
Carrying the boundaries of Givorah,
The compassion of Yesod,
The balance of Tifin.
You are the structure,
The tree is the process,
And you just navigated through it.
Notice what feels different in your body than when we started.
Maybe there's more space in your chest.
Maybe there's less tension in your jaw.
Maybe there's a sense of,
I can do this.
Whatever you notice.
As you prepare to return to your day,
Know this,
You are not alone in this loneliness.
You are not wrong to want authentic inclusion.
And you have a map of your life.
Help you navigate back home to the divine again.
Thank you for trusting this process.
Thank you for doing this secret work.
You deserve authentic inclusion,
Not varnish.
And the tree will help you find your way there.
May you walk in balance.
May you trust your foundation.
May you find your people.
