Into the Trees - A Walking Meditation

Having dogs, I spend a lot of time in the wood near my house. Over the years I have come to know it very well. It is an absolute joy to feel so intimately connected to a piece of woodland in this way. To know the trees who have lumped roots that provide drinking pools for my dogs. The trees that hold woodpecker nests or have a hole where the Blue Tits have made their home. I know what it’s like to cry after the storm, as so many of my beloved trees fell, ripped and torn violently, jagged shards left jabbing skywards. I wander these labyrinthine paths with ease, can navigate them in the dark of winter, can visualise the space in its entirety like a bird soaring above. I have sat on the damp, mulchy floor, listened to rain thundering through the canopy, sought relief from the hot sun, watched owl swoop through at dusk. These woods are a place of sanctuary, safety, breathing space and connection for me.

I thought that I couldn’t go any deeper in than I already had. But I was offered the opportunity to experience nature in a new way. I seized the chance, and I was richly rewarded.

On a retreat day in a stunning ancient woodland called Quaker Woods, I took part in a walking meditation. After some grounding breathwork, in silence, slowly, slowly, step by step by step, into the trees we went. At this glacial speed my senses erupted almost immediately, and I embodied a truth I have long since understood; the slower we move and experience our lives, the richer the sensory information we can receive. This is true in-the-moment living, a presence so alert, like a taut wire, a tuning fork, that all and every sensation vibrates and ripples through us. With every step I felt as I was being altered, as though my essence, my energy, was floating outwards into the air at the same time as the woods showered me with their electrifying energy, invisible particles and chemicals. I could see the air around me alive with this universal energy, sparkling, flowing, coating everything with its healing rays. Suddenly everything around me seemed to shimmer and vibrate. The spongey, star-like moss that grew on the wet tree bark. The spectrum of autumn leaves, a full colour wheel scattered on the ground, plastered together with rain. The sun breaking through the clouds and lighting up the orange trees causing them to sparkle and glow golden as the sun energy met the water energy dripping off each fiery leaf. The bird song and arhythmical drips. The rich smell of wet earth, of compressed leaf matter, of rain on soil. The fungi sprouting quietly, on the ground and on the trees, their complex and fantastic underground life playing out beneath our feet.

And as I walked, as I kissed the earth with my gentle feet, as I pressed my cheek to the soft, damp moss and inhaled the scent of bark and stone, my breath began to respond. Slower and slower, deeper and deeper, every inhale and exhale guiding my nervous system down to a place of rest and alertness. I experienced total and utter peaceful presence.

At one point the relaxation within my body felt so powerful there was a moment of fear. The more relaxed and connected I became, the more I experienced a dissolving of my sense of self. Briefly if felt out of control until I gently reminded myself that this was ok. That my body longed for this. It knew what to do. It understood this state. It was a homecoming.

As my breathing slowed to a crawl, every cell of my body relaxed. But my senses were alert to every piece of the moment, seen and unseen. I was awake. Alive and fully, fully there, connected across millennia to the trees, the soil, the air, the earth.

To unplug from noise and demands in this way is vital for our remembering. Our soul’s wisdom lies waiting to be rekindled. Our spirits are unsettled, yearning to go home to our true state. Yearning to once again merge with nature. Yearning to stand in the full flow of cosmic energy, fully alive.

Fully alive.

The busier and more unsettled the world becomes the more we need to slow down and breathe.

The more we see hatred, intolerance and oppression on the rise, the greater the need for a collective re-connection

A reminder of our shared humanity, our shared experience, our shared dependence on Mother Earth. Our shared breath, our shared love, our shared desire for wholeness and peace.