I was looking out the window the other day realizing it was time to once again rake up pine needles in our yard. Our neighbor has a backyard full of pine trees and each spring and fall I go out and rake pine needles out of my mulched flower beds and off our grass. We also spend a fair amount of time scooping them out of the pool after a good wind or storm. Despite their messiness to my yard, these trees are all very tall and give a fair amount of interesting view when I’m in the yard. They seem to speak a great deal of wisdom for backyard trees who spread needles everywhere without care.
When I think of the soothing powers of trees, a regular pine tree like we have here in the South wouldn’t be on the top of my list and maybe I’m wrong about feeling that way. I envision tall mighty redwoods or hearty spruce trees filling a forest. The trees that are mighty and strong and yet pine trees have some of these intrinsic values too. At the core of any tree is wisdom and experience we can all appreciate, even from these nuance pine trees. For example, pine trees give a distinct sign that only occurs near Easter each year where the tips of the branches form a small cross shape for a couple weeks. This production of crosses symbolizes a time of new birth and rejuvenation that we need to apply to our own lives.
The wisdom of the trees is always present around us too but I think we normally just see the major changes they tell us. We see the Fall leaves turning bright oranges and reds or the burst of greens and flowers in the spring. Yet tress are always speaking and sharing their truth. They are there to remind us of our own perseverance and strength when things get challenging by being able to withstand storms and strong winds. They teach us of the importance of growing into the best version of ourselves in order to offer refuge to others when they need us. Most importantly though they teach us about balance.
Balance is one of these things we talk about a lot in natural living. It is the careful art of keeping things in check so they don’t become overwhelming or too fast but also honoring of our own needs. Balance is best experienced when everything just feels right and in the right amounts at a comfortable pace. We feel content yet have energy. Trees teach us this important lesson of balance because it is the opposite of scarcity thinking and fear of not making it. We may bend a lot at times under the pressure but we can emerge from any storm with new strength, beauty and grace. I think trees have this balance thing figured out and there’s quite a bit we can take from their wisdom.
In essential oils, tree oils are coveted for their support to balance. Each oil has this meaning associated with it like Stability, Perspective, Divine Grace, Community and even Motion & Flow. These of course are all characteristics of trees but when we apply the oil extracted from a tree to our body or smell it through a diffuser we are building our own strength from that of the tree. It is a powerful thing to feel the tree share with you it’s own power when you first smell a pure essential oil made from it. Every time I open a tree essential oil I’m thinking about some tall tree, even the pines next door, and what they are telling me in that moment.
Even if you are not an essential oil user, you experience this same thing when you stand looking out at the mountains covered in trees or walk through a wooded area. The trees calm us and give us that sense of protection, strength and adaptability we so often need in life. Afterwards we feel calmer, renewed and even balanced to be able to go on with what we face. How then can anyone doubt the power of using a tree essential oil?
While they are always around us we often forget to look at them. As in really look at them and study what they are telling us. Life gets busy and we get caught up in a million different things that pull us in every direction. Stress and overwhelming pressure feel like layers of bundled clothing making it hard to move. This is the exact moment to look at the trees and feel their strength and comfort. It is a simple acknowledgement that this too shall pass and we can be strengthened from their own strength. I know in those very moments in my own life where things are crazy busy and I can’t breathe from the stress, I grab my tree oils like doTERRA Siberian Fir, Arborvitae, Cypress, Cedarwood, Black Spruce and Douglas Fir and start listening. I setup the diffuser and start blending with them.
Trees are powerful wise beings in our life that have so much to offer in our daily living. No, it doesn’t mean life will always be easy or even in balance but even when it is the worst storm we’ve ever been in there is still our own relaxed grace we can rely on. It is not a surrender as much as it is a trust that we can make it through yet another storm that has raged into our life. We can find that balance to adapt in a new way and grow despite the circumstances. We can also share our own wisdom from it with others.
As I plan to spend the weekend raking my yard of pine needles, it is there I realize how beautifully wise these trees actually are. While they may not in fact be my favorite or what I envision as a wise tree they are indeed exactly that. Their wisdom to know it is almost Easter and spreading that hope is wonderfully beautiful. The aroma of pine trees fills me with hope that anything is possible and I can be incredibly adaptable to go more with the flow to enjoy it more in my own life.
For help and support in your natural living journey, reach out to me at dragonspitapothecary.com.
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