Last weekend, I had the privilege of spending two days with some amazing Biodynamic Osteopaths and Craniosacral Therapists. We were based on a beautiful farm in the Surrey countryside, exploring healing and wholeness in the natural world.
A biodynamic practitioner focuses on helping clients rediscover the inherent forces of health, movement and self-organisation already at work within them. They listen for the individual body’s own priorities and support the process already trying to take place.
Within farming, biodynamics views the land as an integrated, individual ecosystem. It incorporates self-generated fertility and incorporates holistic, spiritual and astrological elements to bring about balance and healing. It treats the farm as an living organism – one that is self-contained and self-sustainable.
The weekend was a unique opportunity to spend time in nature and experience the whole integrated natural world of Mother Earth; including her health, healing and the ancient wisdom she holds within.
Informed by original biodynamic principles, our exploration and awareness encompassed not only our immediate surroundings but also the wider universe, including:
– The healing potential of the natural world
– The mycelium information highway
– Plant essence medicine
– Animal wisdom and communication
– Channelling the Innate Intelligence through our hearts and hands
All held within the Living Tide of the Breath of Life.
This was an incredible opportunity to attune as a group, to a deeper connection with food, with nature, with the land, with ancient wisdom, with the living web of life, and with the Whole from which all life emerges.
As I travelled home at the end of the weekend, I quietly reflected on the extraordinary experience we had all been a part of.
We had been blessed by the weather with warmth and sunshine. We had been fed with good, wholesome food from the land. But the feeling throughout my nervous system was that something much greater had deeply affected every cell in my body. There was a sense that the land had deeply welcomed us and there was a reciprocity in the relationship.
During the first day, we sent love and healing to several of the fields that appeared to have lost access to health, helping the land reconnect to its positive energy and vitality. In addition, we connected to some of the livestock in the fields.
On the second day we would receive back tenfold, from the more verdant areas of the land, as we connected with the trees and plants.
The trees around us were extraordinary, some ancient and obviously planted with thought given to position. Others were potentially self-seeded or planted as boundaries. Some were in more of a garden setting, whilst others provided shade and enrichment for livestock in fields.
One tree drew me in so strongly I felt unable to resist.
There were no leaves within reach as the lower branches had been grazed by cows. I was not clear initially as to the species. But that didn’t matter. This particular tree had chosen me.
My tree was part of a copse that was originally situated along a fence line. Now that the fence was gone, the trees served as a transitional place of shelter, a threshold between one field and its neighbour. A place where two, literally become one; the woodland connecting the two adjacent areas of grazing allowing the cows to move back and forth with ease. This was the place my tree had chosen for itself.
It comprised of two trunks at ground level, one of which was probably three times the diameter of the other. They emerged upwards, together, in a U shape from amongst their shared roots and saucers of nourishing cow dung. Each stretched up to reach the light, the leaves just beyond my reach.
This was not the conventional tree-hugging specimen with a shapely canopy and scenic surroundings. But for me, it was perfect.
I took my time, sensing into the energy of the tree and wondering how it would be to connect with the older of the two trunks. I wanted to ask permission to connect and to feel welcomed by the tree, rather than to assume and to impose my energy upon it. I raised my hands slightly but this didn’t feel right, so I let them fall by my sides again.
Suddenly, I was able to feel my whole centre being drawn in towards the trunk.
I allowed my chest to be pulled in and my body to rest against the firm surface of the bark. My hands now connected gently around her circumference.
Unexpectantly, I yawned. Then yawn followed yawn. I lost count. Maybe 12, maybe 15. Deep, loud and involving my whole body. Then tears came. Not many, but an authentic release from somewhere deep within as I surrendered to the medicine of the tree that had chosen me.
The bark on the older trunk was more textured that that of the younger trunk which was fairly smooth to the touch. A few minute red spiders crawled over both of the trunks, moving in and out of crevices, presumably looking for even smaller insects to eat. With a light touch I stroked and explored the surfaces of both trunks.
Taking care not to tread directly upon any of the roots, I was able to straddle the tree between the two trunks. I rested my back against the larger trunk and placed my hands upon the smaller one in front of me. Closing my eyes, it was as if I was inside her. I was aware of her energy and support all around me.
It was the most incredibly loving experience. As it came to an inevitable end, I sent back love and thanked her, my tree. The one that had chosen me.
I have no photos. They would not have done her justice.
This was not about looks or position. The shared experience was about a shared existence, shared wisdom and shared healing. My tree and I share a common ancestor. All living things descend from a single ancient, single-celled organism that lived billions of years ago.
In addition, we coincidentally share a sense of place. My tree, the one that had chosen me, was a Lime tree, a Linden. I live in the New Forest in the south of England in a village called Lyndhurst. Lyndhurst means ‘lime wood’.
The incredible experience left me refreshed and rejuvenated. It reminded me of the power of nature, which we can all benefit from.
Both Somatic Experiencing® and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy are, by definition, trauma-attuned modalities. Used together, either online or in-person, they can facilitate resolution of embodied trauma in a very profound but gentle way, honouring the unique wishes and needs of each client.
If you think you could benefit from working with me, please get in touch. Email sarah@ytenehealing.co.uk or call me on 07747 111040.
Please remember to contact your medical practitioner in the first instance if you have any concerns regarding your health.
