Last month, I went on a hike through Tryon State Park with my new friend, MLWT Guest Blogger and Acupuncturist, Becca Seitz . Despite my constant and intense headaches weeks prior, I felt the need to get outside and move. Preferably with someone to talk to and in beautiful surroundings, which Becca and Tryon Creek provided effortlessly. During our walk, I was telling her about my headaches and being buried under a great deal of stress. I had several theories for my throbbing temples ranging from lupus (of course) to changing barometric pressure. She shared with me some philosophy, which I plan on hitting her up for in a future blog post, that struck a chord in me and I’ve been mulling it over daily since our walk.
She explained that this philosophy (I believe it is within Chinese medicine) describes a symbiotic relationship between us and trees that involves an exchange of stress. We often hear how detrimental stress is to our health and wellbeing, causing all sorts of problems within our own bodies and spreading to other peoples’ ‘bodies’ we share our days with. What we don’t always consider is the wood element in Chinese medicine, also present in Western pharmaceuticals. Trees have been a part of treating illness for centuries when it comes to medicine, but there is more to that relationship than just the ingredients of the bark we absorb. The trees are believed to absorb from us, too. Becca brought up how stressful conditions actually make trees stronger and, if you garden at all, you know to not to tie up your new tree seedlings too tightly to their pole. The movement from the wind and other forces actually strengthen the trunk during its development . As we walked along the path through the trees, we spoke of this wonderful idea about unloading the stress we have within us during our walk to make us healthier and that, in turn, we could actually be benefitting the trees around us by making them stronger.
I’ve been pretty frustrated with the weather here this Spring, as I suspect many of you have been, too. I thought that it could be because I’m back to sitting in front of the computer for longer periods of time working on several big projects. Maybe it is because of the gray skies leading to my darker moods, aches and poor sleep.
It could be that I just miss time with my friends and trees, my fellow stress magnets.
This weekend promises some heat and sunshine, and not a moment too soon. My oldest daughter is graduating from high school and she will be the first to be leaving the nest, so there has been some stress building up within me over that, too. I know I will be hitting a trail as soon as possible to relieve some pressure and make something good with it, or I will undoubtedly explode.
Today, I came across a link that leads the reader through a meditation linking trees with de-stressing . I did it and, surprisingly for me (I don’t like meditating), I actually felt great afterwards. I’d put it here, but haven’t yet figured out whether I need to gain some permissions in writing first. There’s something else to stress about! The gist of it is just to stretch, breathe deeply and move gently as if responding to wind. You can take it from there, but it isn’t anything new. Just be sure to recognize your own limitations and don’t push yourself too hard.
Wishing all of you a more gentle breeze today and a wonderful weekend~
