Hello and welcome to this meditation,
Using the imagery and wisdom of the tree as a way to connect more deeply to yourself and the divine.
I'm recording outside so welcome the sounds of nature and of life going by as part of the richness of this meditation.
I invite you to arrive to spend some moments settling in,
Coming to a comfortable position with your feet on the floor.
Entering into your body and gathering yourself into this time and this moment.
Gently begin to become aware of your breath,
Following the inhale and the exhale.
Slowly let your attention come down to your feet.
Placing them on the floor and noticing the heels and the soles and the toes and feeling the connection between them and the ground.
You may begin to notice sensation in your feet as you bring your attention to them.
Imagine roots moving down from the soles of your feet.
That sense of being rooted,
Grounded,
Sustained and held by the earth.
I'm going to read a couple of sentences from Psalm 1.
You are like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in due season.
Your leaves flourish in all you do you give life.
You are like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in due season.
Your leaves flourish in all you do you give life.
Now imagine the roots at the base of your feet moving down into the soft earth below.
Reaching down and down for nourishment.
Notice what it's like to push into the earthy darkness in order to receive what you need for sustenance.
Where do your roots go?
Do they meet anything as they reach down?
When your roots feel as if they've reached sustenance,
Receive the nurture that the soil of darkness offers.
Drink deeply of what you need.
Let this nourishment move up through your roots to the trunk above ground.
As you drink deeply of the nourishment below ground,
Imagine all of that sustenance travelling upwards.
Allow it to move into your body,
Your limbs,
To your head,
All the way through you to every cell as life giving energy.
You may want to receive this nourishment as divine energy,
Moving up through your roots into the whole of your being.
Imagine yourself as the tree that receives this nourishment through your trunk all the way through the branches to the leaves.
Now begin to notice what it's like to be above ground in the light.
What's it like for your leaves to receive sunlight and reach towards a blue sky?
Bringing awareness once more to your breath,
Breathing deep and wide.
As you breathe,
Reach down to your roots into the dark soil on the exhale,
Bringing nourishment with you to the trunk,
Branches and leaves as you inhale.
Repeat the exhale down into the deep dark,
The nourishing soil and the inhale as it brings that nourishment to leaves and branches.
Notice the movement from dark to light,
How the tree is surrendered to and needs both.
What's it like for you to reach down into the soil whilst also reaching up into the light?
Do you notice this movement from dark to light at work in your own life at this time?
Do you need to reach further down in order to find nourishing sustenance?
Are you being invited to reach further up into the light?
As we come to the end of this meditation,
I'm going to return once more to the words we started with.
You are like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in due season.
Your leaves flourish in all you do,
You give life.
You are like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in due season.
Your leaves flourish in all you do,
You give life.
Blessing grace and love to you.
Amen.
