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Trees offer us glimpses of calm and transcendence and a way back to ourselves and our world around us.
I lived for two years getting to know a particular tree in my back garden at the time, a big old beautiful tree, and he (it or she – though I think this one felt more of he to me) reminded me that I can communicate with trees, and not just me all of us can if we want to.
To spend time with trees’ is to have moments in the presence of enlightenment. There is a knowing, understanding and an energy that pulsates through your body in subtle and non-subtle ways that can be translated with practice, love, feeling, and most importantly is simply to be experienced.
I told some friends, I had remembered I can talk with trees, and one in particular, they laughed and joked in tone of dismissal and disbelief. I didn’t mind so much, as we have been trained over centuries to forgot our deep connection to all of nature, and thankfully despite all of that it has never fully worked. My friends hadn’t, as yet, experienced what I have. I realised with this interaction ‘talking with trees’ is not quite the right way to describe it. This is one of many experiences we have where language doesn’t have the capacity to explain, poetry, music and art can get closer. I didn’t talk to trees with words, though sometimes I could energetically interpret into words, to a degree. Words aren’t necessary to understand the overwhelming feelings of unconditional love and presence, this is the overriding communication I have experienced from most trees. At the same-time they are all unique characters and sometimes they have more specific messages. When I was in relation regularly with my tree (I say ‘my’ though I know he does not belong to me but to reference the first tree as an adult that became my good friend, I will call it ‘my’ tree) I became more attune to other trees. Trees experience time differently to us, so, it can take some time to develop a more intimate relationship with a particular tree, though paradoxically this can also be instantaneous.
Someone told me once to ask a tree first if you can embrace it, and now I do this before I step closer, I ask if I can and then intuit the response which if you allow it, will come pretty quickly. This kind of communication is broken with overthinking, you feel the response... Most trees say yes but not all of them, some of them seem a little surly at times or grumpy but still in the most loving way. Some trees I sense are mother, and carry different wisdoms, some I have felt have different personality energies in the same tree.
The way my communication developed was by showing my appreciation to trees as I walk or cycle past them, I say thank you for all that you are, I love you (usually in my mind) and they feel this. I would sit with my tree and feel its energy in my body. We have electromagnetic fields emanating from us especially from our hearts and so do trees, I think if we can get just a little bit quieter and be in our bodies and hearts more rather than our minds, we become more aware of these interactions. For most of us as soon as you walk into a forest or an area with enough trees, you instantly feel different, the air is cleaner, its cooler, you feel more relaxed, your shoulders drop and tension is released from your body, the energy shifts, it’s about leaning further into that with your breath, with presence and a quieter mind. When I moved to the flat with my tree, it was the end of an exceptionally frantic time in my life, it was emotional and transitional and I was slightly less chaotically busy than I had been for years. I softened a little and had a bit more space away from all the busyness I had allowed. So, the timing was right. I was also doing shamanic journeying at the time, so perhaps because I was open to different states of being and having more awareness to the otherness that is all around us helped. My yoga practiced had shifted to a more nurturing practice and because I had a garden, I could put my bare feet on the earth more often. And of course, the tree was in my garden so I was with my tree everyday.
When the time came to move home, I was very emotional, I felt such a strong connection to this tree, I could relax and be myself in its company and breathe so deeply. I felt clarity in its presence and I would meditate with the tree. Whilst feeling sadness to leave this garden and my tree, I know our relationship is not lost. This tree will forever be in my heart and our connection un severed by time and space.
If you would like to work with me, I offer shamanic healings and mentorship sessions.
