Meditation for today

Image by Lesly Juarez

“Humankind is in desperate need of a shift from a mentality of competition to one of cooperation.”

The exercise was created by Stacey S. Mallory in her book: Revolutionary Wisdom: Organic Psychology in Action by Dr. Michael J. Cohen and Dr. Stacey S. Mallory. (2017)

Draw yourself as a section of a tree. Leave enough space to draw the upper branches and roots. Now transform your tree into tree-ness:

• Draw roots of various sizes going into the ground to demonstrate senses you are attracted to moment/moment (m/m) such as feeling nourished, grounded, etc.

• Draw branches to demonstrate attractions to the senses; you can sense around you, such as the sky, air, color, or sound.

• Draw leaves, flowers, or fruit to express other attractions you may have. Don’t be afraid to draw abstractly! Put fruit or symbols of how you sense something inside of leaves or flowers.

Reflective Questions

1. What qualities do you like about the tree?

2. Try to go back to the tree on another day. How is the tree
different? How are your sensory attractions different?

3. Write down what senses or feelings come to you as you
draw yourself as a tree. Repeat this as you draw yourself as tree-ness. How do the two differ?

4. Are some roots, branches, leaves, and so forth larger or smaller than others? If so, does this represent anything for you?

5. Is there anything you did not want to add to your drawing but
did? If so, what, and why?

To learn more go to  Revolutionary Wisdom: Organic Psychology in Action by Dr. Michael J. Cohen and Dr. Stacey S. Mallory. (2017)