Tree Meditation For Grounding
It’s no secret the natural word, especially trees, can be a great source of beauty and inspiration. There is growing knowledge and worldwide popularity suggesting that trees can make you healthier. But did you know that you can harness the power of trees in your meditation practice?
Tree meditation uses the power of trees to center and ground practitioners. Using tree meditation for grounding will allow you to connect you to the natural world and feel the strength and spirit of a tree within yourself.
Tree meditation can be used alone or in conjunction with other meditation practices, such as essential oils meditation. You’ll feel the grounding and centering benefits of tree meditation as soon as you add it to your practice. By combining tree meditation with essential oils for meditation, you’ll elevate your meditation practice to a new level.
In this article, we’ll start with some simple tips to get you started. You’ll learn the basics of tree meditation for grounding and the healing power of commonly found trees.
Tree Meditation
For thousands of years in Daoism and Chinese medicine, trees have been a major focal point of mental, spiritual and physical health. One of the most powerful meditations people used was to meditate with a single tree. Standing Tree Meditation, Zhan Zhuang, is simple and inspiring. In a sense, it's a way to really commune with nature. Once you start practicing you'll find that meditating at different trees will feel like different conversations. Each type of tree singing its own tune.
Let’s start with tree meditation. As we said before, tree meditation uses the power of trees to ground the practitioner. Follow these simple steps to perform your own tree meditation.
Start by finding a quiet space in nature with a tree. Any tree will work but try to choose one that you connect with spiritually or that you feel has a strong grounding presence. Begin your meditation standing in front of the tree. Cup your hands together and bow to the four directions.
As you stand, try to embody the spirit of the tree. Your feet are planted like roots. Your core is strong like the trunk of a tree. From here, we will go into three different poses:
For the first pose, raise your hands up above the crown of your head and cup them like a basin. Think of yourself like a tree growing upwards. Pull your shoulders back, but don’t become stiff. Allow yourself to relax. You can even sway in the wind like the tree. This pose represents the heavens. Hold this pose for as long as you feel you need.
- Next, lower your hands so they are eye-level, keeping them cupped. Keep your shoulders back Lower your gaze so your eyes are almost closed. Imagine you are illuminated from within. This pose represents Earth.
- Finally, lower your hands to chest-level. This pose connects you to humanity. Hold this final pose for as long as you want. When finished, lower your arms and embrace yourself by crossing your arms over your chest to end your tree meditation.
Below we will introduce a few of our favorite trees and what the East says about them and scrolling further down Mary gives a 5 minute instruction video on Standing Tree Meditation so you can practice at home!
Top Common Trees for Healing and Meditation
- Pine ~ known as the elder of the forest, it's known as the wisdom keeper. Being by pine gives you a lighter feeling, a feeling of liberation. To be liberated is to be without needing something externally, knowing you hold the power within. Found in Initiaton Blend
- Aspen ~ is the first tree that reappears after a fire has devastated the forest. Aspen represents renewal and new life. It is a tree that attracts energy to it, even lightning. Aspen may be used as an amulet for fear of the unknown and the emotion of dread. Relates to Grandiose Blend
- Maple ~The 5 peaks of this leaf taps into the number 5 of numerology that represents the 5 elements, or 5 phases of life. The maple is an ally to help you to be able to move to new phases of life, like retirement or parenthood, or even a new chapter of your life. Relates to Completion Blend
- Fir ~ one of the younger trees of a forest, it is thought of as a student tree. Silver firs open the eyes and helps to see your future more clearly. Frasier fir helps us deal with feelings of inferiority or feeling a lack of accomplishments because you put yourself down. Found in Grandiose Blend
- Cypress and Cedarwood ~ represent love and humility. They are an emblem of the heart, to learn to have respect for who you are. Hug a cypress tree to feel that connection. In Daoist ceremony you will see cypress used in a basin to sprinkle water over you, representing the wand of change. Found in Grandiose Blend and Completion Blend.