Breathing Trees

There are things you believe in this life, without having ever experienced them directly. Things like the pyramids being real or the Mariana Trench being the deepest place in the sea. Maybe even more esoteric things like Jesus having the power to reverse death or that you can be anything you want to be.

I have long believed that the world I live in is alive and breathing. And not to be overly simplistic, but to quote Pocahontas "I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name."

Up to this point, I have largely relied on a deep knowing with sprinklings of imagination and wishing to engage with the natural world more fully. Like standing on a bluff looking over ancient forests and contemplating each tree as an individual consciousness with stories and experiences and a dynamic adaptive ability that allows it to survive centuries without crumbling. It's very moving and highly interesting to be in the presence of aged witnesses to the passing of time.

And yet, I haven't ever had a tree talk to me or watched a plant breathe. I've had plenty of friends and colleagues describe their experiences of auras and telepathy, but so far, I've been the happy believer.

So the sage Buddhist advice, "Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference." really finds a home in my world view.

BUT TODAY! Oh my.

I was on my yoga mat outside, moving through a series of poses, looking up at the huge pine tree in my backyard, when I saw something. Moving. Tree.

But it wasn't the visible tree or its trunk or needles moving, it was something streaming OUT of the tree's needle clusters.

It looked like the halo you see around an open flame or the ripple of fumes from gasoline as it's being pumped into a tank.

The tree was sending off shimmers of light that was more like a vapor and it was pouring out its body.

Really, I had to wipe and blink my eyes several times because I wanted to make certain I was actually perceiving it and not just letting my imagination have free run of my mental computer. But nope.

The tree was breathing and I freaking SAW IT.

I SAW THE TREE EXHALING THE FLIPPING AIR THAT WE BREATH.

So yeah.