I'm in the midst of "move madness" so not posting a lot, but within all this busyness I've managed to stay surprisingly centered and even "rooted." I attribute this to the fact that I've found my tree friend and continue to make time for that relationship no matter how busy I get.
Yes you read that right: I found my tree friend.
There is a tree in a nearby forest that I visit almost every day when walking my dog. I put the back of my heart chakra against it and plant my feet on its roots, sometimes also holding the dog up to the front of my heart chakra, which all 3 of us really get a kick out of. I'll stand there like that for 5 minutes or so, letting it send me energy, insights, and various forms of its natural love for all beings and connection to the Earth.
The tree teaches me, heals me, grounds me, and nourishes me.
Then I turn for a minute or so before I go and put the front of my heart chakra to the tree, so that I also give it a little love in return.
The trees in that grove in general have become a bit of a friendly neighborhood I'm a part of, but that particular tree is my friend there.
Is there a tree where you live that you could cultivate a loving relationship with?
Maybe you're not into chakras. But you could just sit or stand with physical contact in some way, and simply relate to it as a conscious, loving being relating to another conscious, loving being. Are you willing to feel love for a being that isn't ambulatory like you?
It can't walk. Can't really move it's arms, unless you consider the wind moving its branches that. I suppose it is possible the trees could call forth the wind. I've had that experience as a human, and they are far more tapped in than I am in terms of connection to all of life, so maybe. But I don't think of them as engaging in deliberate movement. They are stationary. Their roots gradually move in search of water and their leaves grow toward the sun, but they don't walk or talk, or even bark or meow. So we don't relate to them naturally as being both alive and conscious. We don't think of them as having a sense of self, where we might recognize such for a pet, because they aren't ambulatory or vocal like us, and our standards for "self-aware" are fashioned after our own experience of life.
So I ask again, can you break out of that limiting belief set? Can you relate with love from one conscious being to another, giving and receiving, even if only one of you walks and talks?
If you can, then find your tree. Cultivate that relationship. It may just be one of the most important ones of your life.
If you do it today, come back and tell me what it taught you.
(Photo source: Pixabay)
Other posts of mine you may enjoy:
- A Simple Observation
- My Bucket List - challenge accepted
- Letting Your Dreams Lead You Along Miraculous Paths
Resteems always appreciated!
There was this tree when I was a boy. It played with me always. It never went away. It was there waiting for me every day after school, enticing me every moment with its complex branch network and natural climb-pathways to the top. I rejoiced the time I spent exploring its intricacies. One day I felt from it, my mistake for accepting a dare. It was forbidden that I climb again, but I still did at times. Until the time the people with the chainsaws came and took most of it away. Regardless, I continued playing near that tree stump for years until I also was taken away. The bonds created during those years never subsided. He was and still is my tree-friend. @fcpway
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Congratulations on having had such an important relationship, and from so young. Even if gone physically, what it left you with will always remain a part of your foundation.
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I have a bunch of tree friends, I should visit some of them :) One time one of them gave me a stick. Being as I was using pscilocybin at the time, I was walking and something alerted me of the stick lying a ways off on the ground.
I picked it up, more of a club really, and had an intuitive understanding of the physics of the stick, I was twirling the thing around like a ninja. It was a nice gift from one of the trees on the trail I hike frequently, and one of the more revealing experiences I've had. To know that such an inherent understanding of the world is at our fingertips and we deny ourselves access to it is frustrating at times, but has been a consistent force in me keeping with my spiritual practice.
The little me wants to figure out how to get back to that level of consciousness so badly, but I know now that isn't how this works.
Trees rock, I try to befriend them all :)
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To be a friend of trees! Yes, let's befriend them all. Let's be a part of one family with them.
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It's really sad that humans have completely lost connection with nature. I used to draw a lot of power from trees.. But then whenever you see someone hugging a tree you are inclined to not take them seriously. Even sitting quietly and enjoying nature is weird (No phone, no Ipad? What a psychopath right?) Thank you for your great post!
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I must confess that as "take it or leave it" as I am about myself in general, I do sometimes look around to see if there is anyone within view as I visit with my tree friend. I am self-conscious about being judged as a "tree hugger," as if that was something crazy. But it is so natural and so good. More of us most dare to be seen being in healthy balance with nature, so that we can help normalize it.
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Trees can teach and they are very good at using sunlight, too.
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