Hugging Trees as Spiritual Practice

During the sleep-walking stage of my life, I considered hugging trees as weird — dismissing anyone promoting it and disdaining anyone engaging in it. But waking up to the mystery of the tree — it’s being, nature, and function — has made me a believer, and more importantly, a beneficiary of its readily available, yet routinely ignored source of blessing, healing and even salvation. The awareness that I live because the trees live — and not the other way around — has shape-shifted my view of life.

The fact that I am dependent on the tree for my every breath, is a breathtaking realization, because the tree’s exhale is my inhale!

I looked up the Bible to see what it has to say about trees, and I became surprisingly aware of the fact that trees have a prominent place in the scripture. The Bible starts with the tree of life (Gen 2:9) and ends with the tree of life (Rev 22:3). While the first Psalm describes a blessed person as a tree planted by streams of water (1:3), the Proverbs say that those who lay hold of wisdom (tree), will be blessed (3:18) When the Bible advises us to embrace wisdom by embracing the tree of life, is it encouraging us to hug trees?

The fact that Buddha attained enlightenment under a tree, convinces me about the wisdom of the trees. While holding classes under mango trees, in his school, Shantiniketan, (house of peace) in Kolkota, Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore told his students:

“You have two teachers; one, me, your human teacher, and the other, the tree, under which you sit. I can give you intellectual knowledge, but you can gain much experience by observing the trees. When knowledge and experience meet, wisdom is born.”

It is noteworthy that when Jesus healed a blind man, he first saw people as trees — meaning, the difference between trees and people is blurry, literally (Mk 8:24). The phrase tree of life means that trees are alive, and we should treat them as such. We should approach trees as persons rather than as objects and enter an I-Thou relationship with them.

Canadian author Diana Beresford-Kroeger who plants trees, loves trees and has written a book titled, To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest, says that “The trees are a living library that have a chemical language and communicate in a quantum world.”

Tree scientists seem to confirm the fact that trees really do communicate. They seem to talk with each other using a system dubbed as Wood Wide Web! Diana Kroeger is convinced that trees have healing powers. She says that trees heal us through the aerosols they release, and they carry a great wealth of natural antibiotics and other healing substances. For her,

“The forest is far more than a source of timber. It is our collective medicine cabinet. It is our lungs…It is the mantle of our planet. It is the regulatory system of our climate and our oceans….it is our sacred home. It is our salvation.”

When the last book of the Bible says that the “leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,” I think we should pay close attention, and take great care of the trees, the forest and biodiversity.

After being awakened to the mystery of the entire Universe as being one energy or life force, I started talking to trees and hugging them, and the results have been phenomenal. While walking and driving through my neighborhood, I thank the trees on my route, because they literally keep me alive by giving me oxygen. I respond to the fluttering of leaves by waving my hand. I have selected a huge Oak tree near my house as my protector, provider, container, and conduit of blessings. I stop by her every day, hug her, thank her, and stay in her shade for a few minutes. During those moments, I can feel life energy flowing between us. Beholding her branches swinging in the wind and her leaves swirling in the air, feels like a round of applause and a standing ovation for my arrival!

For me, hugging a tree has become a sacred ritual rather than a secular stunt. It is an affirmation of my communion with the cosmos, a confession of my culpability in climate crisis, an act of apology for my callous consumerism, and ultimately a catharsis for my conscience with a cosmic confidant.

I highly recommend that you enter a loving and tender partnership with a tree in your back yard or your neighborhood and experience the blessings that will literally flow into your life. First, give the tree a name, making it a personal bond.

I have named my tree Johnny, after my son who has autism. Looking at that tree reminds me of him who is living in a group home in another city. When he comes to visit us, he stops under the “Johnny tree” every day, hugs her, kisses her and communicates with her in his autistic language, which the tree seems to understand! Johnny is as innocent and alive in the now as the tree is, and I can viscerally feel the connection between them.

Khalil Gibran wrote that “trees are poems that Earth writes upon the sky.” Try to read that poetry and add symmetry to your life. Make it a daily ritual to hug your tree, and thank her for her constant, stable, life-giving presence. Talk to her about your worries and cares. Tell her about your hopes and dreams. Learn how trees live by patting each other with their leaves and binding each other with their roots — a great lesson in peaceful co-existence. Watch the leaves as if they are singing a celestial chorus and think of the roots as if they are engaged in a terrestrial tango.

Allow the trees to provide you with calm and comfort. Research has shown that hugging trees increases levels of the happy hormone called oxytocin. Being in communion with trees can reduce stress, promote calm, lower your blood pressure, increase your immunity, and significantly improve your overall sense of peace, happiness, and wellbeing.

In 2009, NASA astronaut Jose Fernandez discovered the beauty of the Earth from the space shuttle Discovery which turned him into an instant TreeHugger. According to English novelist Matt Haig, “Finland is officially the world’s happiest country. It is also 75 percent forest. I believe these facts are related.”

So please go ahead — behold and hold those beautiful tree-beings around you and harness their energy to bless you and keep you safe.