This ancient Druid meditation is, in modern terms, a cross between vipassana meditation or a body scan and a yoga asana practice. The tree is sacred in Druidry, as it was in spiritual systems at the time of the Buddha, and even in Buddhism to in parts of the East.
Awareness
Begin by standing, barefoot is possible, in front of a large tree and become aware of the environment around you. If you are not outside in a natural setting, you can imagine yourself in one – such as a forest or woodland grove. Feet in a comfortable posture, about shoulder width apart, and arms relaxed and hanging at your side.
Slowly shift your awareness from the environment to your body and start to move the focus of your attention mindfully moving down from the top of your head, relaxing each part of your body (head for example), each section of each part of your body (top, then sides, then back of the head), as you do so. Relax your face, eyes, and mouth, release any tension in the shoulders and back, and gradually move your awareness down through your arms and hands and torso to your legs and through your feet to your soles.
Feel your feet planted firmly on the earth. Visualize roots traveling from your feet deep down into the soil, and sense these great strong roots spreading, with each breath, wide and deep beneath you.
Imagine the nourishment and energy from the earth traveling up these roots now, until you sense again the soles of your feet. Feel the energy flowing up your body as you move your awareness slowly and peacefully: up your legs, your thighs, your torso and arms, your chest, your neck, your head.
When you reach the top of your head, just let go of this movement of awareness and rest in an awareness of just Being… still and calm, tree-like, breathing in and breathing out.
Movement
Move your arms slowly and mindfully as illustrated in the diagram above and as described below. Breath normally, not deliberately, and allow the breaths to be calming. This is a mindful presence and visualization.
When you feel ready, raise your arms, not forwards in front of you, but out to either side of you, palms facing down. Let your arms float up effortlessly as if they are doing so of their own volition, floating up until they are parallel to the earth. As they reach this position at shoulder-height, turn your palms to face upward, and as you do this, move your arms back a tiny amount and experience the sensation this gives of opening your chest, and your heart–welcoming the world. Imagine your arms and hands are like the first great boughs that mark the beginning of the crown of your tree. Sense the branches and leaves of your crown moving in the sunlight and sky above.
Stay in this position, at least for a few calming breathes, or as long as you like, and then slowly move your arms up until your fingertips touch above the top of your head, sensing as you do this the top of the crown of your tree. Enjoy the stretch of this movement, and then retrace the movement: slowly lowering your arms down on either side, palms facing up until they reach shoulder-height, at which point they turn downwards, and continue in one flowing movement down, until fingertips meet at the groin, at the mid-line of your body.
As you move your arms down to this position allow your awareness to move towards the earth and a sense of your roots, and then feel the energy of the earth flowing up the trunk of your tree, your legs, until it reaches your hands, at which point your hands begin to travel, fingertips touching, up the mid-line of your body to your solar plexus. Pause there for a few breaths with your fingertips touching your body. Next bring your fingertips up to your chest—your heart center). Touch and pause here, again for a few breaths, then move up to the brow to touch there. Next, raise the fingertips right up as high as they can go, to repeat the stretch above your head to the top of your crown, of the crown of the tree.
Stay there as long as you wish, upright but relaxed, and then repeat the sequence twice more: separating your fingertips and sweeping your hands down with palms up, flipping your palms to face downwards at shoulder level until your fingertips meet just in front of your body, then bringing them up again to touch solar plexus, heart, and brow before stretching up to the crown.
On the third and final sequence, after stretching up above your head, lower your arms and bring them to rest on either side of you. Then just rest in stillness for a while, perhaps ten or so deep, slow breaths, open to your awareness, sensing yourself breathing in and breathing out.
When you are ready to finish, give thanks to the trees, and gradually allow any sense of having roots, branches and leaves to dissolve as you become fully aware of your own body again.
At this point you can choose to finish the practice, or you can enter deeper into the stillness, either by sitting down or by staying upright, and focusing on the body as a whole.
If you have questions or comments, you can contact us at DeepDharma.org.