Speak to the Trees, My Friend
If we are navigating the turbulent waters of chronic illness, symptoms and daily events can be overwhelming. The ordinary way we call ourselves home into the body seems like it’s no longer a safe haven. In searching for the safest place to take refuge, we might retreat into our mind. We might even begin to identify with our thoughts, even the ones that if we stated aloud couldn’t possibly be true. As a result, we begin feeding the loop of not being really here and we become ungrounded and disconnected from the wisdom available in our body. The last thing we might want to do is be in the body, which holds pain and dysfunction when ill, however it’s actually right where we want to be in communion to learn more about what will make us well.
When we are sick, we often forget that often our mind is affected too. We might have clouded thoughts due to being ill. When we begin to feed those cloudy thoughts, we can begin to feed the spirit of the illness. And we feed our illness, we unknowingly bond with it, and the line between our own sovereignty and the spirit of the illness blurs. Our identity then begins to fuse with our illness. If that happens, it can take more work to dilineate what is our illness and what is us - but it’s not impossible.
Due to the disappointments and heartbreak illness may have brought us, our hearts can begin to close down. There might even be a tendency to not trust or rely on the rhythm of our own heartbeat or listen to what our body needs. But as many shamanic cultures that have existed have attested: the heart is the place of transformation. Indeed, we are more than we think we are.
One of the biggest lessons I learned when I was bedridden was to sink into BE-ingness. We are not human doings, afterall. The trees on the land that I lived on supported me in this quest to just BE, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Here is an exerpt from a piece I wrote regarding that experience:
There were times that I would be deeply comforted to share the days’ most intimate moments involving a sugar maple outside my bedroom window. I still recall the world stopping with the incoming of gentle spring air and maple flower buds; the passing of time with the summer cicadas’ humming amongst the denser wind and the rich, verdant leaves that had unfolded; the scampering of gray squirrels through autumn’s magnificent gold, salmon, and crimson leaves; and the quiet Maine snow blanketing the bareness of the branches.
When I moved from that house years later, I sobbed, acknowledging that I made it out alive. I also sobbed saying goodbye to that beautiful tree and the compassionate Fair Folk of the land who walked with me for that time.
Ten years after my recovery, my heart still holds a expansive space for the company of trees. There are many wise trees that thrive on the land that I live on now. Not surprisingly, a sugar maple has stepped forward within the last two years of working with the land and offered its gentle friendship. Whenever I need a mini-retreat into Nature during my busier days, I go to this tree which has a trunk shaped just to fit a human at its base. 🌳
We can talk to trees. They do hear us. Many times I will go to my tree friend, settle into its energy, hug it, and whisper a prayer into its branches. In this prayer, I ask that its roots and the mycelium hear me and ground the prayer into this reality. When we talk to the trees, we are speaking to the whole cosmos. They are so consciously interconnected that talking to one tree is speaking to everything.
If you are struggling with chronic illness or pain of any kind, carve out some time today to listen to the wisdom in your body. I also invite you to extend this practice to reconnect with Nature, as well as your tender heart. Find a tree where you live that seems to be inviting you for a retreat from the experience of being ill - just for a few moments. Ask the tree if its alright to sit near it and feel its grounding energy. Listen to any wise messages it wishes to relay to you… Listen with a sacred ear. Ask it if there is anything it would like. When you have a connection with a tree, it becomes a very giving, reliable friend. Don’t forget to thank this spirit for holding space for you. When we are in the vibration of gratitude, beings are more willing to hear us and reciprocate.
Although living with illness may seem like some sort of punishment, I would like to challenge that belief to help you see that there is a sacredness in being ill. Your body is holding pertinent information to living a life that is on the other side of your illness. Your illness is a signal that there is another way to be. It holds a secret to another way of becoming. Take the time to cue into what you hear from Nature as well as your body. You will soon understand that there is no separation! The rhythms of Nature ARE a part of you, and you are a part of it! Isn’t it time to get into the flow?
