Achieving a meditative state has not been an easy journey for my active mind. I have previously shared how integral my guided visualizations have been to my practice. Four years ago, I explored something new with my morning meditation: I started to attach myself to the vision of a huge tree in a field.
Closing my eyes and thinking about a tree helped my mind achieve my desired neutral state quicker because I was anchoring to a strong and tangible visual.
Meditation Visualization
Over the last couple years, I have achieved deeper control of my mind and the vision of this tree. My mind has moved from seeing the tree…to now being the tree.
When I first started to use animate objects to help me ground myself, I thought about a tree ‘over there’ in the distance. Literally, my words were “that tree, that trunk, those roots.” I was describing it as if I was observing it from afar, from a 25-foot distance.
I have found a profound difference in my mental strength (and my agility and stability when dealing with challenges as they arise) when I speak about the tree in first-person. “My trunk, my roots, my branches.” This is how my morning meditation visualizations have evolved. So the key, for me, has been to literally visualize and feel each word in an ‘as-is’ state.
I am a tree – I am life, I am shelter, I am light, I am love, I am a guide…
I do not say these words out loud in my morning meditation. My mouth does not move and does not utter these sentiments. My mind speaks these words – loud and proud – to my subconscious.
A strong tree meditation
I am a tree: I stand firmly on top of the world. I stand strong, tall, and wide and my trunk connects – from the bottom to the top – from our mother earth all the way to the outer limits of our universe. My roots sink deep into the grass, the dirt, the mud, the sand, the salt, the rock, and all the way to the salt water, the tar, the oil, and the hot lava magma at earth’s core.
The magma does not burn me, yet it makes me stronger and is central to my root system. The earth, and all of its elements, penetrate my trunk to feed me and make me indestructible. So my roots pull all of that energy to help my trunk stretch far and high into the sky. Every day my trunk grows new branches and spawns new leaves that reach from the air, through the vast blue sky, beyond the clouds, piercing our atmosphere and puncturing into the deep dark cosmos.
Dig deep roots
It is here I can see all the stars and the planets. I can easily reach and touch the moon, the sun and the stars. Here I securely stand. I see, touch, and feel everything from here; flexing and bending with the changing climate and seasons.
It is from this place that I achieve my full power and help all those around me to find theirs.
My roots pull food from the deepest part of the earth’s center to create a strong and stable core. The top and tips of my leaves and needles connect to our limitless universe for light, vision, and wisdom. It is here that I stand, like living magic, for myself.
It is here that I stand – and am able to be magic for others. I am a tree – I am life, I am shelter, I am light, I am love, I am a guide…as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, leader, co-worker, and mentor.
It is from this place that I achieve my full power and help all those around me to find theirs.
Finding your visualization
Are you intrigued and want to try this meditation out? Don’t feel silly. Call on your creative side and find the creator in you. Then, choose any image that you want! You can be an animal, vegetable, or mineral (I am joking, kind of). Pick something that helps you, at your core, kick off your day being who want to be that day.
