LISTENING TO TREES

I moved to Colorado with my parents when I was 16 years old. Like many young people I was trying to find my place. Life had been a little rocky before the move and I took this as an opportunity to redefine myself. Nobody knew me or my past. I was a clean slate.

My sister inspired me with books. As a gift she sent me a copy of the I-Ching, the Book of Changes. Hungry for new direction, I took this odd yet intriguing book up to a mountain park and sat under some tall trees. I read a little, and then sat. I just sat, unintentionally meditating. 

It must have been spring because I remember patches of melting snow. I remember the smell of the earth and the warmth of the sun. I remember listening to birds and the sound of the breeze in the trees. I remember just feeling, without words, without an intended meaning. I remember looking up, realizing I was part of something big, something nurturing. 

Nature.



Taoist philosophy and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) observe nature, providing an understanding of where and how we fit in. Connection. These observations go back to ancient times. Early Shamans gained inspiration from animals, from elements, from the stars, from light and shadows, from the seasons.

A common thread connecting all living things is Qi, energy. Qi exists in nature. We cultivate Qi from the foods we eat, from the air we breathe. Practicing Qigong outside connects us with the five elements common in TCM and Taoist philosophy: wood, fire, the earth, metal, and water. The elements teach us how to get unstuck, how to move. If I’m feeling stressed, I remind myself to move around obstacles like water. If I’m feeling unbalanced, I root myself like a tree and reach towards the sun.  

During Qigong practice, we observe and imitate the movements of animals, mythical creatures, swaying trees, streams and ocean waves, children playing, clouds drifting. We learn by becoming these things.





Each element is paired with a season. 

• Wood = Spring: growth. 
• Fire = Summer: expansion, heat. 
• Earth = Harvest (late summer): abundance. 
• Metal = Fall: inspiration and letting go. 
• Water = Winter: stillness, conserving of energy.

A note about Taoism:

Taoism is a philosophy. You can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic… and still be inspired by Taoist thinking and practice Qigong. There are those who practice Taoism as a religion with rituals and icons. Deities, often borrowed from other cultures, and are assigned particular roles. But I stick with learning from Taoist philosophy without the rituals and icons. Well, maybe one ritual: 

I do bow.

At the end of each Qigong practice session I bow three times. By bowing I am showing reverence and connection.

The first bow is to my teachers which include all living things; the people I study with, practice with, the people and animals and living things that I come in contact with: trees, my dogs, the breeze, the blue sky. I learn by noticing the world. 

My second bow is to my body, my biology, the Jing I was born with. Biology shared with children, brothers and sisters, parents, ancestors. 

My final bow is to the Tao, the Way, my place in nature, perhaps a collective intelligence. I call it the Tao. The Tao unifies all living things.

This is what I discovered decades ago as a kid sitting under a tree in a park on a mountain on a cool and sunny day with an odd little book about changes.

Collected together, the ethers of the universe constitute a unity; divided they constitute Yin and Yang; quartered they constitute the four seasons; [still further] sundered, they constitute the five elements. These elements represent movement.

-Tung Chung-Shu

Now, go find your tree.