Welcome to a calming,
Guided meditation focusing on trees,
Using your imagination.
In this time of prescribed social distancing,
Trees are a wonderful symbol,
Because they stay in one place their whole lives and thrive where they are.
They are usually at some physical distance from other trees,
And yet we easily recognize a group of trees as belonging together.
Together,
They form a grove,
An orchard,
A copse,
A forest.
Trees are simultaneously separate and connected.
They are not only an inspiring symbol for this moment in time,
But a lens through which to reflect on our human condition in total.
As we begin,
I invite you to let out a long sigh,
Then inhale and sigh again.
Allow your breath to flow lightly and easily as you relax deeply,
Just following my voice.
You may want to close your eyes.
I'd like you to imagine becoming a tree,
Any kind you like.
Begin imagining at the bottom,
Underneath the soil,
Experiencing the solidness of your roots.
In your mind,
See the connection of the roots to the trunk of your tree.
Continue upward,
Imagining the entire trunk of the tree.
Are you a slender sapling?
A tree in its prime?
A sturdy tree with many rings,
Holding the wisdom of time?
Using your imagination,
Grow your branches,
Reaching out into the entirety of the space around you and above you.
Feel the roots,
Drawing up what you need from the soil,
Strengthening you as you begin to form buds and then leaves,
Small,
Bright green,
Pushing out slowly to full size.
Perhaps you are a flowering tree with tender petals of white,
Perhaps pink.
Winter has given way to spring.
Spring becomes summer.
The lively bright green turns to a deeper,
Calmer green.
Simply try to embody the experience of being a tree.
Notice how it feels to stand tall and straight,
Yet flexible when a breeze passes through.
Have you ever thought about how plants never sleep?
Even in the nighttime,
In the dark,
Each tree,
Each plant,
Each blade of grass just stays as it is,
Where it is,
At peace in its place in the world.
The trees and plants are the same when it rains or storms.
They even hold their own when it hails.
So feel yourself as a tree,
Both grounded and expansive,
Maintaining through everything that comes your way,
Whatever the season,
Whatever the forecast.
Take a moment and memorize this experience you've created in your imagination,
What it is to embody a tree's existence for even a moment.
Breathe gently.
Take it in.
And return to your breath,
In and out.
And return to yourself.
Take as much extra time as you need before opening your eyes to see the world from a new point of view.
