CHAPTER 2

WHY TREE YOGA?

Endless Benefits

There are more benefits to be had in Tree Yoga than most people can imagine. The benefits are endless, and range from healing physical injury to freeing the mind. Tree Yoga benefits you on all levels — physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically. It is the most beneficial thing you can do for your overall health. This is because we are getting down to the most fundamental level of life — energy. Physical health, mental health, and emotional health are built on the foundation of energetic health. It all comes down to energy, and if you get the energy right, everything else comes into harmony.

It sounds almost unbelievable, but knowing about the benefits in itself will help you receive more benefit! There is a famous Harvard psychology study called Mindful Exercise that proved awareness alone can open you up to more benefits in life. In this particular study, some maids where educated on how what they were doing was actually exercise. The other maids weren’t told anything. The maids that were educated changed how they looked at their job. The other maids looked at their job the same old way. The next thing that happened is fascinating. The maids that started looking at their job as exercise became healthier on all levels. Their blood pressure went down, and they lost weight. They were happier and more vibrant. They were still doing the same thing. Nothing changed except for the perspective. The only thing introduced was awareness. Just being aware of the healing benefits of exercise or food makes the exercise and food healthier. You reap more benefits from increased awareness alone. The same goes for nature, and for Tree Yoga. The more you are aware of the benefits from the practice, the more benefits you receive.

Source of Benefits

The benefits from Tree Yoga primarily come from the EMFs, or the electromagnetic fields, of the trees. The words “EMF” and “electromagnetic field” can be used interchangeably, and they mean the same thing. The word “aura” could also be used. The electromagnetic fields of the trees are a largely untapped fountain of health. Some people utilize the trees, but they have not yet fully opened the flood gates. They are getting a trickle, as opposed to a river. People are not harnessing the full potential of the trees, however that all changes with Tree Yoga.

Before moving on, it is important to know about forest bathing and how it works. People all over the world are discovering and enjoying the benefits of this practice. What exactly is forest bathing? Upon hearing about this for the first time, many people may wonder if it involves taking a bath in some river out in the woods. Forest bathing isn’t literally about physically bathing in water, but rather it is about getting out into nature and bathing in the positive energy of that environment. It is about cleansing at the deepest level. This positive energy is real, and can even be measured. Best of all, it can be directly experienced. There are many proven benefits of this practice, including reduced stress and increased energy levels. People who practice forest bathing have healthier circulation and respiration, as well as stronger immunity. They have more mental clarity, and have better relationships. They heal and recover faster, as well as enjoy life more. It truly is amazing that you can get so much benefit from just going out into nature and bathing in the positive energy.

With forest bathing, where exactly is all this positive energy coming from? The positive energy is coming from the trees. Specifically, it is coming from the electromagnetic fields. The benefits of forest bathing are a direct result of you walking through the electromagnetic fields of the trees. This is how all the magic happens. Now, if you get so much benefit from walking through the outer edges of the electromagnetic fields (where the positive energy is the weakest and least concentrated), imagine how much more benefit you get from plugging into the source — the trunk of the tree (where the positive energy is the strongest and most concentrated). This is what makes Tree Yoga so powerful. It is combining yoga and forest bathing, however the benefits are greatly amplified because we are taking forest bathing to the next level. We are harnessing the positive electromagnetic field to a much greater degree.

One of my mentors once told me that you can’t compete with what you eat. In yoga, we learn that we are not just what we eat with our mouths, but we are what we feed all of our senses. We become the energy we consume and interact with. Your energetic diet is even more important than your actual diet. There is nothing more fundamental than energetic health, and there is nothing energetically healthier than Tree Yoga.

Physical Benefits

Although the primary benefit of Tree Yoga is improved energetic health, there are many more tangible physical benefits. First and foremost, Tree Yoga can help you prime the nervous system to learn any yoga pose or any movement — even ones you used to think of as impossible. You can also relearn poses and movements that your body forgot how to do — either through injury or neglect. One of the best examples of this is the squat. Many people have lost the ability to squat. This is an essential movement pattern. If you cannot squat, the whole foundation of movement is off. You can utilize the tree to help get you in the squat position, and you can eventually do it free of support with some practice. Balance poses are another good example of this. Many people struggle with balance. You can use the tree to help develop balance just as you would with training wheels on a bike.

Additionally, many poses in Tree Yoga allow you to get a deeper stretch than the original version of the pose. For example, the side body stretches in extended side angle pose and triangle pose are much better with the tree. The same goes for nearly all variations of backbends. You can use the tree as leverage to get yourself deeper in many different poses.

Mental and

Emotional Benefits

Tree Yoga will center your mind and stabilize your emotions. In yoga, we learn about pratyahara and dharana. Pratyahara is fasting with the senses, and redirecting your focus inward. Dharana is bringing your focus to a singular point. These are the 5th and 6th petals of the 8 Petals of Yoga, a system designed to bring us fully into the present moment and into a state of deep peace. The 8 Petals of Yoga are outlined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali if you are interested in learning more. These are essential steps on the path to mental and emotional health. Unfortunately, most people are in direct violation of these 5th and 6th petals nearly all the time. In fact, they are often doing the exact opposite. Instead of bringing their focus within, they always project it outward — entangling the senses in constant stimulation. Instead of bringing their focus to one point, their focus is scattered in many directions — entangled in distraction. Living this way makes presence and peace impossible. It also destroys mental and emotional health.

Tree Yoga will unplug you from the constant stimulation of technology. It will bring your focus to one point — the present moment. This is an essential thing to do if you want mental and emotional health. Also, remember that with the trees, you have some help. Just being in the electromagnetic field will help to relax and center the mind. It happens by itself. Additionally, being in this field has a way of dissolving negative emotions, and filling you with positive emotions.

Energetic Benefits

There is no true change without a change in energy. If you do not change your energy, you will be doomed to repeat the same loops over and over again. All of our behavior is rooted in how we are neurologically wired — how our energy flows. Bandaids do not fix the problem. They merely offer temporary relief. You can’t keep putting bandaids on problems and expect them to go away. You need to heal the source of the problem. You need to get to the root.

Tree Yoga gets to the root of all problems. As if through magic, it recalibrates our energy and neurologically wires us in a way that is more conducive to health and success. Physical change is good, and making a mindset shift is great. However, nothing beats, and is more effective than, an energetic shift. When you change your energy, you change your life at the most foundational level, and this ripples out into how you experience reality.

Connection and Love

We now find ourselves living in a world of separation and fragmentation. People are more divided than ever before, and in more ways than I ever thought possible. Many people are even afraid of human connection, even though they crave some sense of connection at the deepest level. This is detrimental to overall health. No person can survive, never mind thrive, as an island. We need connection, and we need love. There have been studies done on children who are not loved and do not receive physical touch or emotional support. The health of these children suffers, and their growth is stunted. They literally are physically smaller, as well as mentally smaller. They see and experience the world through a lens of limitation as a direct result of a lack of connection and love.

Tree Yoga can reconnect you to love. It can establish a strong connection between you and life itself — through touch and through energy. When you are hugging a tree, it is energetically hugging you back. Love is a necessary ingredient in the recipe for good health. If you do not have connection and love in your life, other aspects of your life will suffer. Without love, physical, mental, and emotional health all deteriorate. Love is part of health — a big part.

Relationship

with Nature

Collectively, if we do not address and heal our relationship with nature, we will soon have no relationships at all. The relationship we have with nature — our home for this life — is what sets the stage for all relationships. If there is no stage, then there is no show.

Nature is always trying to rekindle the relationship; always trying to communicate with us and establish a better connection. However, we are not listening. It is not typically because of rudeness. Often, it is an unconscious thing. A lot of people don’t think it is possible to have a relationship with nature, and thus do not even try. They don’t believe it is important, and they often don’t think it even matters. Most of us have grown up in a culture that is completely disconnected from nature. There was never any importance placed on connecting with, and living in harmony with, the natural world. It was never made a priority. However, it is a major priority. Tree Yoga can help you rekindle the connection with nature. It can establish a clear line of communication. You can start to cultivate a more harmonious relationship — learning to live in the natural flow of life in a symbiotic way.

More Practice and

More Benefits

It is very hard, and almost impossible, to overdue it with Tree Yoga. As long as you practice in a balanced way, you can do Tree Yoga for hours on end. I recommend that you practice as much as you can because the more you practice, the more benefits you receive.

A lot of people say they don’t have time for things that benefit their health. Yes, we live in a busy world. However, this is not an excuse to neglect your health. Truly, health is wealth. Your health is your most valuable asset, and it is not even close. Additionally, it is not always a matter of finding more time to do things that benefit your health. You can also create time by changing how you look at things.

Anytime you are near a tree, you are benefitting because you are in the electromagnetic field of the tree. It is great to practice yoga poses and meditate next to a tree, but you can do any activity intentionally next to a tree and receive great benefit. Make time for practicing poses and meditating, but also be next to trees as much as possible. Do things you already plan on doing anyways — just do it in the positive electromagnetic field of a tree.