Being with Pine Trees: Renew and Reconnect with Your Inner Peace
Spend time with everyday pines to bring clarity and peace into your life.
Dear Readers,
to join us as a guest essayist on meditating with pines. In the process, we ended up collaborating and became co-authors. Mindfulness does not always mean sitting on a cushion and watching your breath. It can also be in the presence of trees as you will discover below . - SD Shanti
This week I invited
There’s something about being in nature when it’s just you and the trees. You can spend your time in quiet, mindful contemplation, inhaling their fragrance and exhaling your cares and worries.
Spending a few moments with a tree can promote calm and peace. It is the perfect time to immerse yourself in nature, to stop and listen. You may feel a light caress of the wind upon your cheek and maybe even hear a whisper upon the wind, inviting you to immerse fully in the present moment.
Focus on the details of your surroundings and appreciate the “medicine” of the stately pine tree. This medicine is not a pill or something you ingest; it’s a feeling and emotion that circulates through your body and can rejuvenate you and remind you of your connection with the big picture of nature.
Gain a New Perspective
Even if you live far from the woods that’s okay. You don’t need a whole forest of trees. You can connect with a tree in a park or your backyard.
Trees are always there, ready and waiting to be appreciated. Even the common pine tree is a remarkable tree with much to offer.
Tune Into the Present Moment
As you spend time with the trees, you might start to notice feelings inside your body in response to the trees.
You can think of trees as ever-welcoming friends: they offer you moments of rest and rejuvenation. Bring yourself to the tree or trees just as you are, in whatever state you are in.
Remind yourself – that who you are is much more than just your passing emotions of stress, tension, or worries. Trees don’t judge you if you are feeling tense or anxious.
They do not admonish; they simply offer you their presence – and their peace.
Connecting with Your Inner Calm
Think of trees as your companions on this journey of life. Through their calm presence, they offer us comfort. They give us a beautiful focal point through which we can become centered and deepen our ability to be mindful of the world around us.
Just be with a tree and let your thoughts and feelings arise…Notice what comes up without any attachment or judgment. You can think of the tree as a nature-made companion or guide in your process of regulating your emotions.
Trees are living, breathing, dynamic beings – with whom we are all in an inter-dependent relationship.
They give us oxygen. We give them carbon dioxide.
If You Cannot be Next to a Tree: Create a Welcoming Place in Your Mind’s Eye
In those instances when you find that you cannot get to a tree or grove of trees, here is a way of connecting with them regardless.
You can create a welcoming place through your imagination.
Imagine yourself next to an evergreen tree. Imagine breathing in the scent of pine so it energizes and recharges your battery.
Acknowledge that you belong with nature because you are a part of nature.
Imagine yourself as one more pine tree within this forest, standing tall, with roots deep in the soil, spreading far and wide for support. You are part of nature and a meaningful member of this tree community, and you play a role within the earth community.
Pine Tree as Your Sanctuary
Any time you want to ground and recenter, such as when your emotions feel out of place, remember your time with the pines, even if you cannot access them immediately. Whether in real life or through your imagination, you can connect as often as you can.
You will always be welcomed into the sanctuary among the pines, and through that, you can always reconnect with the peace that exists within you.
 | A guest post by
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