Few acknowledge the intelligence of trees. Sacred citizens of the world, trees give us oxygen and inherently understand that they are only as strong as the forest surrounding them. Trees are highly communal and cooperative, sharing nutrients across species. Scientific evidence shows they recognize their kin and favor them with the lion’s share of their bounty, especially saplings and those most vulnerable. They care for everyone in their community, sometimes nourishing the stump of a felled tree for centuries. They provide a home to many animals and insects. Linked in an underground tapestry, they nurture the health and well-being of the ecosystem. Yet all over the world — Canada, Alaska, Russia, Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia, the Philippines — forests are under assault. The equivalent of thirty soccer fields disappears every minute. By treating forests like lumber factories and clear-cutting them for industrial agriculture, our dominant culture is ripping out the lungs of the planet.
In the face of this insanity, it is easy to understand why humans struggle to love themselves and why they may view themselves as raw material, only as valuable as what they can produce or achieve. In college, before I had cancer, I treated myself that way. Love was something to be earned. I became a psychotherapist to hold others the way the trees held me. It was easier to hold others.
And more difficult to love myself, especially when I made a mistake or others were upset with me. In those moments, I would ask the trees for help. I would lean my back against one of their trunks or lie on the ground, looking up at their branches waving in the wind or sparkling in the sun. Then, I began to climb trees again, like I did when I was a child. Wrapping my arms around the trunk, I would stay perched for hours — whispering, singing, resting. I could let go of whatever was going on in my life or my head when I was with trees. In their branches, I could receive their love.
I share my fondness for trees to inspire you to cultivate a relationship with them. Befriend the ones that live near you. Spend time with them. Ask them questions and tell them what you love about them. If you struggle to love yourself, tell the trees and ask them for help. Perhaps sit with your back against their trunk and see if you can feel their support. Imagine your heart connecting to the heart of a tree.
Wild Yoga Practices for Receiving the Love of Trees
Go to the forest, spend time with trees, or be with them in your imagination. Feel the power they have to love.
- Befriend a tree. Sit and lean against its trunk, taking in its love and support. Feel its bark at your back and imagine the tree’s heart connecting to your heart. Let the tree hold you. Be open to whatever arises — sensations, images, memories, feelings. Offer gratitude for whatever comes.
- Become a tree in your imagination. Visualize what it would be like to sit in the same place for years, decades, or centuries. To stand through every season or kind of weather, day and night. Imagine the world from the perspective of a tree in the forest, connected by an underground network of organisms. What does it feel like to live in a community?
- Return to the trees in your imagination. You can do this while riding the bus, waiting in line, or sitting on a park bench. While recalling a challenging moment, such as when you received sad news or heard harsh words, close your eyes and imagine what it would have felt like to be held by the trees. Imagine you are with them now, receiving their love and support.
- Write a love letter to yourself from the perspective of a tree that knows and loves you. Imagine what the tree might say to you, and write it in the letter. Let the tree help you love the aspects of yourself that you find the most challenging. Reread the letter often.
- Find people and organizations that honor trees as living beings and aim to protect the well-being of forests. Join them. Fight to keep ancient old-growth forests alive. Speak on behalf of trees whenever you are able.
Excerpted from the book Wild Yoga: A Practice of Initiation, Veneration & Advocacy for the Earth Copyright ©2023 by Rebecca Wildbear. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.
