Rooted: a case for spending time with trees, even if virtually
by Sarah Bun
Illustration by Gab K De Jesus
“Finding the inner compass is less complicated than one may think,” Jessica Marie Baumgartner writes in The Magic of Trees: Discovering the Tree Magic Within. Even when faced with distractions, pressures, and information coming at us nonstop, we have the power to stay grounded and rooted.
Baumgartner’s book shows how we can lean on trees for energy and forests for strength. After all, life is energy and we are all connected.
Trees can be our teachers
Trees clean the atmosphere we rely on and forests absorb harmful chemicals. According to One Tree Planted, a nonprofit focused on global reforestation, forests are “key ingredients in 25% of all medicines.” It is a gift to be able to walk through the woods, find peace beneath a towering canopy, and sit in awareness and awe of the power trees possess. It is act of courage and self-love to explore how we might find a similar strength within ourselves.
In The Magic of Trees, Baumgartner teaches us how to connect with this forgotten art. While many tree-time practices outlined in her book do require being outside, you don’t need to be near a tree yourself to reap the benefits. Some exercises ask that you simply look at a tree, even from a distance.
Although Baumgartner’s book looks at trees through a lens of mysticism, metaphor, intrigue, and intuition, scientific research supports the practice of spending intentional time in nature. In Japan, it’s called shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”).
“Forest bathing is not just for the wilderness-lover; the practice can be as simple as walking in any natural environment and consciously connecting with what’s around you,” Sunny Fitzgerald wrote for National Geographic. “For a more structured experience, you can join trained guides for a meditative two-to-three-hour eco-therapy excursion.”
Go for a hike (or not)
But here’s the thing: you don’t have to leave your home to enjoy at least some of what the forest has to offer — the virtual forest, that is.
Harvard University’s Research Associate Koen Hufkens’ Virtual Forest is one example. His project focuses on experiencing forests through telepresence. In today’s new-age technological lexicon, Merriam-Webster defines the concept as “technology that enables a person to perform actions in a distant or virtual location as if physically present in that location.”
Virtual Forest provides an immersive forest rendering through virtual reality. The sustainability project aims to excite people about exploring “a forest in real life as Virtual Forest remains a proxy for what is a wonderful world.”
Breathing with trees is our first somatic exercise, inspired by this story and narrated by 7-year-old Rudy of Los Angeles, whose favorite trees are the palo verde he climbs most afternoons, and the carrotwood that hosted two broods of doves this spring.
Each chapter of Baumgartner’s book reinforces what being outside with nature can feel like. If we’re open to it, time in nature can refresh and renew us. But if you’re unable to access the outdoors, Baumgartner has activities that can accommodate. In “Tree Breathing,” a tree meditation practice to clear your mind and think more joyful thoughts, you only need to use the power of creative imagination — no actual trees needed. “Focused Sight” helps build confidence and concentration during complex tasks.
If you prefer to use your device to aid your process, the Forest productivity app is a tool that helps you focus while planting a tree. (But you need to briefly ditch your phone to see the plants grow.) The Forest staff also collaborates with Trees for the Future to plant real trees. Meanwhile, Ecosia is a web browser that uses ad revenue from your searches to plant trees.
If we lose the trees, we lose ourselves
We know trees are critical not only to our survival, but also to our well-being. Some forest advocates consider them sacred — a place to connect spiritually. That’s one reason some are willing to risk their lives to save them from destruction. In a PBS Terra special, “Inside the Fight to Save an Ancient Forest,” forest defenders protest ancient giants from deforestation and explain their perspective.
Others, like Korena Mafune, Ph.D., a soil ecologist featured in the segment, are curious about the intricate nature of tree networks. Mafune sat on top of a tree and found mat-like canopy soils that might give us a new look at the lives of trees. These canopy soils are rich in essential nutrients. Mafune also saw fungi — there’s a mycological relationship with trees that may explain the old-growth forests’ resiliency and survival from external stressors.
In Suzanne Simard’s YouTube video called “Finding the Mother Tree,” the forest ecology professor at the University of British Columbia talks about how we are similar to trees and how their lives are every bit as complex as ours. Simard says trees live in caring societies, and they can heal themselves, their families, and their communities through their relationships with one another. When Simard went through a personal healing journey, trees helped her work through her problems and stay rooted.
Simard came away from that experience saying if we lose the trees, “we lose ourselves.”
The professor encourages us to reconnect with nature and to show trees respect. We should give them support in exchange for the ways in which they support us. “It’s not about us saving trees; it’s more about how the trees will save us.”
Get rooted
In The Magic of Trees, Baumgartner too discusses the interwoven connection between humans and nature.
“Uprooting the Voice,” for example, is a practice from the book meant to acknowledge a fallen tree. Baumgartner offers readers exercises for almost every situation. These intentional acts can be a form of meditative communion with Earth, whether done in the great outdoors or with the help of digital nature offerings.
Honoring trees, on purpose, can help us to get rooted and grow.