My Sacred Tree prompt
The Best Tree In the Whole Wide World
It grounded our property and our lives
In our yard in North Carolina, where my husband James and I lived for over 17 years, was a magical tree — a huge willow oak that looked a lot like this one above. Its trunk was broad and craggy and the canopy had grown so big over the years that it provided cover from the edge of the house far out into the yard. I don’t know if I could tell you exactly why that particular tree was so special, but it just was — solid, majestic, and emanating a wonderful tree-aura.
I would often go and breathe with it when I was feeling out of sorts. Tree breathing is a powerful practice that I picked up somewhere along the way, and it never failed to make me feel more settled and grounded. Placing both hands on the trunk, I would lean my face in close and just inhale the energy of the tree, imagining taking in all of its natural strength and solidity as I did so. As I exhaled, I would envision releasing any pain or stress, until there was a kind of circular breath going between me and the tree. There were other trees in our yard, but I always used the willow oak when I needed to get a bit more grounded.
I knew that James loved that tree as well, but I didn’t know how much until he bought himself a new car. It was a more…
