Trees and living from the heart

 

In ‘How to read a tree’, the author* writes, “Trees aren’t aware of what the next question will be, but they know the answer. It’s always, ‘Grow more wood.’” In other words, “Trees grow more wood wherever they sense [stress], until it evens out the strain.” This sounds like the essence of Oak, doesn’t it? Responding to ongoing demands without taking a sensible break for rest and recuperation, but adding resilience and determination to the flagging spirit, just as the oak tree adds more timber.

Considered again, this insight into trees is equally true of all 16 trees in the Bach flower range.  As we scan our recollection of them we can see how the essence of each underlies the tree’s own strength and aims.  Walnut gives us the protection and strength to resist outside influence on our plans and dreams. Pine and Larch give us the ‘extra bark’ to resist unnecessary feelings of guilt, or lack of confidence, respectively.  Elm provides the fortitude to overcome our belief that we cannot cope with all our responsibilities.  And similarly with all the other tree remedies.

Trees prioritise the security and well-being of their armour, their bark (not their heartwood) and do whatever is needed to preserve it in prime condition.  Do humans do the same with their heart? Or is it the mind?  Which one does all the thinking, reacting, over-reacting and over-thinking when something appears to threaten us?

The first 8 cells of a human foetus form the heart, such is its importance. But the mind is something that small children start to develop in response to their environment – which includes siblings, parents, daily life, emotional atmosphere etc.  The mind is the one that ‘grows wood’ in self-protection.  I imagine the heart as a loving, caring mother holding the hand of a tired, fretful toddler (the mind), trying to soothe and allay the fears, anxiety, impatience, bad temper and self-centredness that all small  children (and minds) are prey to.  Amidst all the noise which the mind generates on a continual basis, the voice of the heart can go unheard and ignored, yet remain always open to compassion, always ready to love.

The primary role of the mind is to protect the human from danger but it can get over-stimulated.  It may not know the answer to perceived threats but it knows to ‘grow more wood’, so it shields itself with a carapace that onlookers see as aggression, boasting, garrulity, anger, irritation and a hundred other negative emotions.

The flower remedies restore in us a proper balance. They quieten the mind’s hectic voices so that the loving energy of the heart can come to the surface. The fretful child stops growing wood and allows the mother to come to the rescue with the caring, protective energy that restores peace and radiates harmony, compassion and calm – to the benefit of everyone.

*How to read a tree: clues and patterns from roots to leaves, by Tristan Gooley.