Love Your Tree

Resources + Further Reading

• Articles
  • Media Literacy: Educator Resources via the Center for Media Literacy
  • ‘Forest Bathing’ Is Great for Your Health. Here’s How to Do It via TIME Magazine
  • www.self-sompassion.org by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. 
  • https://www.morethanabody.org/
• Books + Podcasts
  • Untamed by Glennon Doyle - Chapter: "Touch Trees" pp. 143  
  • No Tree Knows Mystery – Drawing Parallels Between the Life of a Human and a Tree - By Michael Ribas  
  • The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World  by Peter Wohlleben et al.  
  • The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature by Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst  
  • Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better) by Lindo Bacon  
  • How To Build Body Image Resilience with Dr. Lindsey Kite via the Food Heaven Podcast
  • The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by Sue Stuart-Smith
• Poems
  • "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer begins: "I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree."
     
  • “Advice from a tree” by Ilan Shamir

  Dear Friend,
  Stand Tall and Proud
  Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
  Reflect the light of a greater source
  Think long term
  Go out on a limb
  Remember your place among all living beings
  Embrace with joy the changing seasons
  For each yields its own abundance
  The Energy and Birth of Spring
  The Growth and Contentment of Summer
  The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
  The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter
  Feel the wind and the sun
  And delight in their presence
  Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
  And the mystery of the stars at night.
  Seek nourishment from the good things in life
  Simple pleasures
  Earth, fresh air, light
  Be content with your natural beauty
  Drink plenty of water
  Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
  Be flexible
  Remember your roots
  Enjoy the view

• Songs
  • If I was a Tree on Spotify 
  • Love Your Tree Playlist
• Quotes

  “… when you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying “You’re too this, or I’m too this.” That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”  — Ram Dass, On Self Judgment
   

  “Storms make trees take deeper roots.” -Dolly Parton
   

  “One day when you wake up, you will find that you have become a forest. You have grown roots and found strength in them that no one thought you had. You have become stronger and more beautiful, full of life giving qualities. You have learned to take all the negativity around you and turn it into oxygen for easy breathing. A host of wild creatures live inside you and you call them stories. A variety of beautiful birds rest inside your mind and you call them memories. You have become an incredible self sustaining thing of epic proportions. And you should be so proud of yourself, of how far you have come from the seeds of who you used to be.” – Nikita Gill, You Have Become a Forest