Tree of Life
A grounding and centering practice for when you feel untethered…
The Tree of Life has many places of honor in many spiritual traditions, and not just the Garden of Eden of Christianity. There are trees that symbolize the life of the soul in the the Yggdrasil of Norse mythology, the Bodhi tree of Buddhism, and in other such tales in Iranian, Chinese, Jewish, and many other cultures. Trees predate our human existence, have a language of their own, and develop deep connection to the ecosystem of their homes whether in the wild, or cultivated to dwell among us humans.
This practice can be used to center yourself and ground deeply into the connection of all life around you. This practice can be helpful for when you’re feeling disconnected and isolated, lonely, lacking in support, or just generally untethered. This exercise most often makes use of the chakras of Ayurvedic medicine, but can also align with the meridians of Chinese medicine, or just generally the placement of the spinal cord and central nervous system that runs from our brains down the trunks of our bodies and branches out like roots into our other supporting systems. The idea is that we connect deeply through each of the major energy centers of the body, starting with the root, located at the perineum, the belly, the abdomen, the heart, the throat, the third eye located in the center of the forehead, and the crown, located at the top of the head.
Let’s begin:
Find yourself in a comfortable position either sitting or standing.
Take a deep breath in. Expanding your lungs out to their fullest. Let it go, and with it all the nagging stresses in your body - aches, pains, itches, bloated belly, etc. When you find a particular ache or strain that won’t easily let go, breathe in deeply again, and feed that breath directly to the part of your body until you feel it release. Do this until your body feels at peace.
Take another deep breath in, this time allowing the air to expand out to the edges of your body, collecting in all the thoughts and distractions that are keeping you from being fully present in this moment. On your exhalation see those thoughts break apart on the molecules of your breath as they expand away from one another, knowing the universe will take in that energy and do something productive with it. As with the body, breathe into any resistance you feel in your mind and allow it to be eased away with the breath, and do this until your mind feels at peace.
On your next breath in, allow the energy of your breath to pool at the base of your body, between your legs, at your perineum, or root. Breathe into this space of vibrant and pulsing life force, allowing it to become full. When we say breathe into a space we mean to think of that place as we intake breath, and as we exhale directing the energy of that exhalation toward that space in our bodies. As with all of these practices, ‘fake-it-til-you-make-it’ is totally valid, and it’s ok of you feel like your only imagining it. The practice is still valid, as it is your mind doing the imagining, and therefore, doing the work.
When you can feel yourself full of breath energy, allow it spread out from your perineum like roots. When I do this practice my root generally splits into three strands, one following the path of each leg into the ground, and one coming straight down like a tap root. If this works for you, great, and if not, try not to control the process too tightly as it unfolds and let whatever happens happen, especially if this is your first time doing this practice. Continue to breathe in allowing your roots to find their way through the bottoms of your feet, through the floor of the space you’re in, into the ground below, down through the darkness of the earth, through the layers of humus and clay, the topsoil and subsoil, the fresh groundwater, the plants and creatures of days gone by, the parent rock and bedrock, down and down and down to where the earth becomes warm with the beating pulse of her molten iron heart. Feel your roots, like straws, plunging through this fine crust of warmth into the molten core of the earth, letting her take away any last lingering feelings of doubt, discomfort, or distress. For her, energy is energy - there is no bad nor good - it’s all just a tasty snack she can use to transform into exactly what someone else needs.
Now, plugged in as you are to the center of the earth, begin to drink up her energy through your straw-like roots up and up and up through all the layers, so easily and effortlessly, as the energy of the earth is pushed up your roots by the eons old beat of her churning heart, feel the energy enter up through your root, and then spreading back out filling the bowl of your pelvis, dripping down your thighs, over your knees, down the backs of your legs, into your calves and chins, into your ankles loosening and warming them, and into your feet, the pads and soles of your feet, and into the heels and balls of your feet, and your toes.
Feel again that fullness in your pelvis, and as you continue to breathe, feel it spreading up the back of your spine, and filling your belly, and then continuing up your spine, filling your rib cage, and the front of your abdomen or solar plexus. Feel your internal organs, your intestines, stomach, liver, kidneys, and adrenals all being bathed in the energy of this living earth, mixed with the energy of your life-giving breath, being restored to health and balance.
From there feel the energy continuing up and always expanding with each breath into the center of your spine between your shoulder blades and up into your heart, and spreading out over the front of your chest and pectoral muscles, up into the backs of your shoulder blades, and your chest, collarbone, into your shoulders, and then pooling t your shoulders feeling the energy flow down the tops of your arms into your underarms, your biceps, your elbows, your forearms, and your wrists. Let it flow into your hard working hands, your healer’s hands, your fingers, into your nail beds, letting it drip from your fingertips.
Feeling back into the fullness at the top of your shoulders feel the energy expand with your breath into the back of your next, the base of your skull where it connects, and up from your collarbone into your throat and into your skull and your jaw. Feel your jaw unclench, feeling your tongue let go of the roof of your mouth, and feeling your face soften as the breath energy continues into your cheeks and cheekbones, and into your scalp and hair follicles. Feeling it in your mouth and your nose, and up into the center of your forehead and the seat of your third eye, pooling up in the top of your head at your crown.
Breathe into your crown feeling your crown pulse with the living beating heart of the earth, pooling until you feel yourself become full, so full that the energy within you wants to reach out like lightning flowing up into the sky with a flash…let it burst forth from your crown in branches reaching up and out to pierce the sky, and as the sky is pierce with your brilliance, let the energy of the sky rain down all around you, feeling it coming into your crown, and down your chakras, into your third eye, your throat, your heart, your solar plexus, your belly, and your root. Feel it flow down your roots to kiss the earth, and feel your hoots sprout and spread out with fine tendrils seeking connection with not only the earth, but all the creatures within it, the mycelium - the fine network of vegetation and fungus that connects the living flora into a family that nurtures, protects, and cares for one another. Feel yourself a part of this network. Feel into all the other human creatures who have and are rooted down into this place, knowingly, and unknowingly, all of us connected to one another.
When you feel yourself connected like the kiss between two beloveds, give yourself one final full breath in, the energy of the earth flowing up into and within you, reaching through you - reaching up for the sky like a long lost lover - and the energy of the sky reaching back down to enfold you and the earth and all things into its expansive embrace. Feel the earth and the sky holding you and holding one another. Knowing you are connected, you are cherished, and you are never alone.
Blessed be.
💖
