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Call me a hippie, but in my world, it’s always tree-communing season–lush summer, earthy fall, brisk winter, blooming spring. Many years ago, I had a mind-blowing semi-mystical experience hugging a crab-apple tree–I was able to connect to it and sense its power as a growing, living being.
I didn’t hear it speak in words, but I did feel its wisdom resonate in me as a cleansing, rooted power–the tree seeemed to be reminding me that I was just as whole and holy as it–no less pure, no more essentially complicated. What I also humbly realized was that trees, like every other being on the planet, like to be loved, noticed, given energy.
Since then I’ve had natural healers prescribe tree-hugging as a way to feel grounded and release negative energy–as long as you’re not physically harming the tree, it can easily transmute your bad vibes to happy ones like it converts carbon dioxide to oxygen.
To further my leafy love, I happily unearthed this sweet list Mara Freeman wrote for Beliefnet and added my own thoughts. It’s an evergreen (hee) guide to communing with the creatures that help us breathe. I’ve added to her thoughts with some of my own.
How to Talk to a Tree
by Mara Freeman (& Valerie Reiss)
Take a walk in your local park or woods and learn how to tune into these wonderful beings and listen to the wisdom they may have to impart. You may have to overcome some feelings of self-consciousness–which is why it helps to have a fellow tree-loving friend–but it’s worth it. And if you’re overcome by not wanting to be the crazy person hugging a tree, recall our friend the Lorax, the tree hero extraordinaire–ask yoursel WWtLD?.
1. Feel. Wander through different groups of trees, quiet your mind and practice tuning into their energy. In some parts of the forest, the trees may seem more “awake” than in others. Some may appear to exude warmth and friendliness, while others remain aloof. Notice how different species emanate different kinds of energy.
It may sound out-there, but each plant–and every living thing–has a vibration, and as such, a personality. Some may resonate more or less with your own. Try to see/feel/know this with your body, not your mind. Sometimes the scrawniest trees have the best energy. And sometimes the most robust are a snooze–at least for you at that moment.
2. Choose. Let yourself be drawn toward one tree in particular, and move closer toward it. Observe every part of it from root to top. Every tree has an energy field, an aura. See if you can detect where the aura begins by walking towards and away from the tree and using the palms of your hands to sense its energy.
When homeopathic doctors figure out which medicines to dispense, they usually have the patient hold the bottle of pills or tincture and then either muscle test them or ask how they feel. When our fields mingle with a substance or a creature, they change a little–sometimes getting weaker or stronger. See how the tree you’ve tried on makes you feel–bigger, small, softer, harder, sweeter, sour-er, and follow the positive feelings.
3. Connect. Send warm energy toward the tree from your heart and ask if it will allow you to draw closer and spend some time with it. If it is granted, walk closer to the tree and circle it slowly in a sunwise direction. Then put both your hands and your body against the trunk and tune into its consciousness. Notice how the tree looks close up, how it smells and how it feels against your skin.
Assuming that we’ve moved past the “this is totally kooky” phase, we can notice that trees have a sentience, that they can actually, in their own still, solid way respond to us if we ask and truly listen with all our senses. Trees get energy from being noticed, acknowledged, respected, and offered the love of our presence. Plus, paying close attention to their heft, texture, scent, and vibe brings us more into the moment. Keep asking yourself, “What am I sensing?” and with each observation you can wake up a little bit more to the present.
4. Inhale. Rub a fresh leaf or needle between your fingers and inhale the fragrance.
In aromatherapy the scent of evergreens like pine and fir are considered cleansing and grounding. Trees sap, trunk, and leaves often are full of this essence. When we’re not near a tree, drops of those oils to a bath or massage oil can help us feel our roots more strongly and bring clarity and a sense of protection.
5. Relax. Sit down against the trunk and open yourself to the power of the tree, and let it take you into a deep state of meditation. You don’t have to do anything other than stay relaxed and present and let the tree calm your thoughts and gently cleanse your mind of all the agitation of modern living. Enjoy this state of peace for as long as you want.
This is the good stuff, da kine, juicy moment you’ve been buidling toward. You can either sit or stay embracing the tree–during my cosmic tree experience I actually felt my own “hara” or energy center–the zone between the belly button and pubic bone–open up and connect with the tree’s hara. It was like we were two harddrives naturally hooked up, making communication deeper and easier.
6. Commune. Open up a dialogue with the tree. You can ask questions about it, about yourself, and also for guidance on any problems. Sit in the silence and wait for a response, which usually comes as an inner sense of knowingness.
Now that you’re in the deep tree zone you can use this time to tap into nature’s wisdom. Your questions can be existential–What is my life’s purpose? Or more practical–What should I do about my relationship with my partner? The answers may came as words, knowing, or a gentle breeze. The key here is your own receptivity and lack of expectation. You could simply be planting seeds for the answers to come later. No matter what, do your best to enjoy and feel the moment–even if “nothing” comes, you’re still outside, in the embrace of a tree.
7. Give Thanks. When you are ready, stand up and place your hands on its trunk again, sending it thanks from your heart.
This is essential. You loved to be thanked, right? Especially when you’ve shared your heart and soul with someone in deep communion? Well, your new tree friend is no different. When you thank it, you also might want to add a blessing for its continued well-being–something like, “May you continue to thrive and be blessed so that you may be healthy and happy and inspire all beings to be healthy and happy.”
Now step away slowly and ease into your next activity–you may be in a very sweet, rich space, like you’d feeel after a massage or a meditation. Honor that. And share the tree-y joy!
Related Articles:
Thanks for the Lorax, Dr. Seuss
[Image via: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baumstamm.jpg]
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posted September 29, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Martin Buber said that one needed to become a tree.
posted September 29, 2009 at 9:15 pm
“I actually felt my own “hara” or energy center–the zone between the belly button and pubic bone–open up ”
Is that like, around your bladder?
posted September 29, 2009 at 11:49 pm
damn hippies…
posted September 29, 2009 at 11:58 pm
What the hell did i just read?
posted September 30, 2009 at 12:05 am
thank you kleash.
posted September 30, 2009 at 12:07 am
I talk to trees all the time with sticks. I scurry up the trees beating sticks against them, and they move internally and shape the sound into a language I understand. They tell me to tell you to quit hugging them, it creeps them out. If you keep doing it they will give you the plague.
posted September 30, 2009 at 12:29 am
Doesn`t it seem a bit cruel to do step 4? I don’t think I’d appreciate it if you greeted me by ripping off one of my fingers
posted September 30, 2009 at 12:32 am
well, im all for meditation and chilling out, but you realize that this is only effective by way of placebo effect right? I mean, what your saying here is not physically possible, you cannot communicate with a tree, and trees do not contain wisdom, they are very basic lifeforms and they have no capacity for memory. At the most all you are doing is communicating internally and philosophizing based on what your metaphorical comparisons between your life and this object that really isn’t much more than a chemical converter. Or are you trollin?
posted September 30, 2009 at 1:10 am
Feel the tree and share a special moment of thanks… then walk home and enter your tree graveyard you call a home… Then use a toothpick to pick out the vegan meal that was roasted over tree skeletons. Alway give thanks.
posted September 30, 2009 at 2:07 am
trees have memories in the form of rings within their trunks :p
posted September 30, 2009 at 2:16 am
Rubbing a fresh leaf means you have ripped one of the tree you are about to talk to…methinks the tree will be none too happy.
posted September 30, 2009 at 2:26 am
WHY? What did I just read, none of that makes any sense at all, seriously go and do something productive.
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:15 am
as per your request, I’m going to call you a hippie, god damn hippie.
creative posts normally would be appreciated, but the only thing you’re doing is slapping a new name on meditation.
yes meditation and inner thinking do not require a tree.
posted September 30, 2009 at 6:21 am
John Muir would surely appreciate this post. Even if far-fetched for most folks, this is the sort of up-close nature watching could do us all some good.
posted September 30, 2009 at 7:28 am
Yes. I think, we can talk to trees. The way, we talk to ourselves or with our toys or with computer or even God. The similarity is, none of them respond and if any one else sees you doing this, he will certainly think that you have gone crazy. But, no doubt, an easy way to unwind.
posted September 30, 2009 at 8:02 am
You’re not talking to trees, you are communicating with daemons
posted September 30, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Hi, all – I’m feeling called to jump to my blog sister’s defense here because some of these comments seem awfully harsh.
Of course we welcome any and all ideas–even if they disagree with ours. But please remember that your words matter, and when you choose them, try to keep the spirit of this blog–kindness, joy, seeking–in mind.
posted September 30, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I want some of what you are on…. sounds like shrooms or LSD or something of that nature, spread the wealth
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:08 pm
What’s with all the ridicule? Trees are no less miraculous than other living things. Just because they don’t have brains doesn’t mean they can’t detect energy and respond to external stimuli. (It does, however, require a central nervous system to be prideful, mean, and narcissistic.)
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:43 pm
You just made the use of toilet paper a weird experience. Thanks for that.
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:44 pm
You just made the use of toilet paper a weird experience. Thanks for that. Oh and that captcha is “ennmah”. Nice.
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Thanks for this beautiful post! I connect with trees as I connect with all of nature: with a deep intuitive feeling that we’re all one.
Also, I have a dear friend who hugs trees in Manhattan, and I think she’s so cool for doing it.
posted September 30, 2009 at 3:49 pm
i never hear anything over the noise of my chainsaw
posted October 2, 2009 at 10:31 am
To those saying step 4 is mean, you don’t have to pull a leaf off to rub it between your fingers. I can rub my hair between my fingers without ripping it out, why couldn’t I do that with a leaf, too?
I have a yard full of trees and I really want to connect to them and let them know that they aren’t going to be neglected like they were with the previous owner, but it’s hard to get past the sense of “if someone sees me I’m going to look like a weirdo” that runs through my head.
posted October 3, 2009 at 1:59 pm
What a lovely idea! Fresh thinking about how we interact with our immediate environment can provide some much-needed inner peace. Here’s another idea about how to re-envision our urban landscape by re-claiming parking spaces:
http://arrow9studio.blogspot.com
posted January 11, 2010 at 5:55 pm
We dare to feel trees, water and fresh Air in our polluted environment…so we decided to pass on to action to be amongst the active people of tree, too. Though fashion, we raise climate crisis. We plant our own tree in the countries we showcase our collections. In Tunisia for i.e., one of the Olive tree countries in the Middle East, we have planted our own Tree [for Growth] Olive tree [for Glory]!
Thank you for sharing our same feelings:)
With my love from the land of the Cedars, my Green Lebanon!
Norma
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