When we are dealing with deep upset and unbalance, life feels overwhelming, and it seems to be too much for us handle by ourselves. When there are no friends to talk to, talking to a tree can be a great help. I know it sounds all new-agey and tree-hugging-ish but there is method in my madness. Energetically, trees ARE bigger than us, and they can handle the big emotions when we can't.
If you think this would be useful for you in times of crisis, try it now, when you're not in a crisis, so you are familiar with the process and it comes more naturally to you if you ever need it. It's good to help you with stability and to bring you back to your centre. I also have another method for when you're "very deeply upset" which I will mention at the end of this post.
Method:
Go for a walk and find a big, old tree, one that has a very strong trunk and tall tall branches. An Oak tree or a Scots Pine are my favourite types of tree for this work.
See if it feels comfortable to be near it.
Approach the tree, with your hands open, and say hello. Now you don't have to say "hello" with your voice out loud, but you can do this with your energy, like Harry Potter when he learns how to cast spells with his mind. You can say things loudly with your mind and your intention, so say a big "Hello!" to the tree.
Approach the tree and place your hands on its trunk, and ask it with your intention if you can work with it today.
You may feel a resounding yes, you might feel nothing. But if you feel anything negative at all, that's a no, and please do trust your instinct on this. If you get a no, the tree might be damaged and not able to help you out today, so give thanks for the dialogue and go find another tree.
When you get a yes, say thanks to the tree and begin to work with it. How?
Well, start from the ground.
Imagine your energy is going to mix with the energy of the tree. Start at your feet and go down through the earth, connect into the root system of the tree and go deep deep down with the taproot.
Imagine the soil, the stones, the bedrock, imagine going down further until you hit the deepest layers of the earth.
When you are connected to the earth, track your body up from your feet, to your stomach, chest and neck, and then your head.
Draw a chord of your energy out from your head and mix it with the energy of the tree - up up up into the sky with the tall branches, shoot it right out of your head.
Just as the tree reaches up to the sun for light, you call in this light into your body, draw it down into you with the help of the tree, so you are now mixing the sun and the earth, and your energy has expanded.
Breathe that way for a while. It should feel different to how you were before you started.
When you are ready, ask the tree if it will help you "dump" the emotional burden you are carrying into the earth, deep into the root system to be turned into something a little more useful for Mother Earth. (Mother Earth can transform the energy of our pain into energy of growth and nurturing for the plants and insects).
With your breath, blow all your stress, anxiety, trauma through the energy chords you have generated downwards and into the earth. Ask the tree for help if you can't do it yourself. You might get a little light-headed at this point so go gently with the blowing.
Once you are feeling better, when you are ready, draw in some more sunlight in through the top of your head. Stay like this for a while.
What's great about this work is that you can do it all in a public place and people will just see you standing beside a tree with your hands on the tree trunk.
When you feel able to, slowly untangle your energy body from the tree, disconnect completely from it (very important to make sure it's a complete disentanglement) and once again, give thanks to the tree for holding you while you let go of whatever it was you had to let go of. Then move on and get on with the rest of your day.
Some people might find working with trees an easy thing to do, others may have trouble and need to practice. If you feel this is something you'd like to do and are having trouble with it, I describe the process in more detail towards the end of this video I made with Mark Attwood.
And for that "very very deeply upset" method, you can do this in your garden:
Lie prostrate on the grass, facing downwards.
Open your heart into the grass, and call to mother earth to help you, to take away all the pain you are carrying so that you can manage.
Stay here for as long as you need to, until you feel better.
Then make sure you wrap yourself in a warm blanket, get something hot to drink, and phone a friend. You don't need to tell them why you're upset, just that you are upset, and need support. People understand better these days that we are not always able to talk about something while it is still active in our minds.
Sending love - look after you.