Welcome to this Tree of Life practice.
This is a grounding and centering practice using the archetypal image of the Tree of Life.
Come into a standing position with space around you.
Then I invite you to bring to mind a strong,
Beautiful tree.
Might be a tree that you have met in your garden or on your walks,
Or maybe it's just a particular kind of tree which you enjoy seeing.
Whatever tree appears in front of your inner eye,
Let this image filter down into your body,
Imagining how it would be to be this tree.
Sense your feet and your legs as the roots connecting downwards into the earth.
Sense your torso as the strong,
Flexible tree trunk.
Imagine your arms,
Your head and neck and upper body reaching out towards the sky and the sun like the branches of the tree.
Take a few moments now to really connect to the sense of being the tree in your body,
Finding the posture and perhaps even some small movements that allow you to bring this sense of tree-ness alive inside of you.
And let's drop into the roots of this tree.
As you bring your awareness into the lower parts of your body,
Particularly your legs and your feet,
Sense a connection through your roots to the ground.
Take a moment to consider your own connection to what is below the ground,
The soil into which your roots stretch and anchor.
What is it that grounds you?
What is it that nourishes you?
What is this place from which you are supported to grow?
And then think about the roots of your life,
The roots of your own past,
Your life journey that has taken you to this point right here and now.
And also the many lives that came before you and made your life possible,
Your own ancestors that survived and passed life on.
The whole evolutionary journey of life itself,
The intelligence of life that evolved through billions of years and took on different shapes and forms,
This intelligence in which your life is also rooted.
Take a moment to acknowledge the strength of these roots and all that you're connected to here.
And then imagine the way this intricate network of roots below the ground is mirrored by the crown of the tree,
The branches stretching in all directions.
Reach up and out through your arms to get a sense of your own branches.
Feel the space around you,
The air that touches your skin.
Imagine the leaves,
Blossoms and fruit that have grown and continue to grow from these branches through the different seasons of your life.
Feel the connection upwards through your crown,
The way the sun calls on you to stretch and grow.
And see the ways in which you reach into the world around you,
The ways in which you inspire and nourish others with your life and your offerings,
The way your branches provide shade or shelter.
Find a gesture to acknowledge and represent this way of giving of yourself,
Blessing those around you,
As well as your own future,
The way that your blossoming,
Your fruiting contributes to life and the web of connections of which you are part.
Find also the way that any fruit,
Blossoms,
Leaves that fall from your branches become compost to nourish your own roots.
And then bring your awareness into the middle part of your body,
The torso,
The back,
Chest,
Belly and hips,
This part of the body that connects the roots and the branches.
This is the trunk of your tree that centers you in the here and now,
In this present moment.
Your core,
Where you connect to yourself and the place from which you meet life and the people and beings around you.
Find some movement in this trunk,
To sense both into its strength and its flexibility.
Finding a sense of the fluidity of the trunk,
Which allows it to respond to life,
To move with life,
To bend but not break.
And then find a gesture to acknowledge this part of your tree.
And then connect to an embodied sense of the whole tree,
Rooted and nourished,
Connected and resilient,
Engaged in cycles of growth and of giving and receiving,
And giving and receiving.
Notice what is present with you right now as you are embodying this tree.
What are the sensations,
The images,
The thoughts and feelings that arise?
And when you feel complete,
Taking a moment to acknowledge the original tree with which you connected at the start of this journey,
Perhaps offering a word of thanks.
And then giving your body a little shake or a pat down or a stretch to move once more into this human form,
And from there onward into your day.
