We are the forest

Last winter, a huge tree came crashing down near to my house. It now lies, wedged but precarious, between its neighbours. The ivy that covers its entire trunk continues to thrive, keeping it looking alive in every way but its incongruous horizontal direction.

We might be too quick to judge them as ‘stuck’ but trees are everything we want to be as humans.

Tall, steady, strong and long-living. They hold their space and yet they are as connected to their species as we crave to be to ours. Invisible links and shared energy runs between them, providing protection and nourishment.

Their roots run deep and, while we may move physically, we often remain just as tethered, emotionally, to our origins.

For many nature lovers, trees hold a magical power. They provide light and shade, reflecting and refracting in a way that tangibly changes the energy we feel when we walk among them. Their powers of renewal are unrivalled; it is they that herald the first signs of a change of season, from the tiniest bud of life to the carpet of crispy fallen leaves which never fail to amaze us with their colours.

When the tree opposite me fell onto its side I became so aware of a different view but also of how things had changed for that tree’s ecosystem. I’ve often wondered about the life that exists just on one tree alone.

Perhaps it’s as a result of growing up being told the story of The Faraway Tree, but I became acutely aware of a host of creatures whose homes had been uprooted.

This one tree had been their entire world, the boundaries of their universe. Some may have lived out their entire existence here, unaware of, and not in need of, the wider world around them.

Would they still be there? Could they reach their safe hollow; their carefully burrowed home within the trunk, branches or leaves?

Throughout our lives we gather things that live within us as these creatures do on their tree. Our life experiences and stories become living things that inhabit our being, belonging only to us, through our own unique interpretation. On the face of it, we’re a single entity but, scratch the surface and we’re teeming with fragments of actions, emotions, meetings, love and loss. An ecosystem within that creates our presence, our energy, and allows us to renew and strengthen, season after season.

And if the crown of the tree holds birds who take flight at will, but return to their nests each dusky evening, then our own heads are surely the equivalent. Full of thoughts and memories, free to come and go, but some forever entwined within us. The many branches of our life and existence weave a canopy of life and movement that surrounds us.

And, despite their freedom, we can be thankful that our deepest memories come back each night and flutter through our minds as we hover in the liminal space between our busy lives and peaceful sleep.

Yes, we are more tree-like than we could ever imagine.

Existing in clusters or proudly standing alone, a mix of colours, shapes and sizes who all share the same ability to collect and house beautiful small things that enrich the world around us.

My essay was inspired by the poem ‘The Forest’ by Nikita Gill which was shared during a recent yoga retreat in the Lake District, hosted by Julia Poole of Ocean Light Yoga.

Nature is also a central pillar of the Buddhist teachings because of its cyclical rhythm and ability to self-sustain and co-exist.

I believe we can still learn so much about living interdependently, not harming others, and using our energy for good.