Mangled Beauty

Lessons and somatic healing from trees.

Feb 27, 2026

∙ Paid

We went on a snow hunt. We found a wise tree.

One of my commitments as a parent and now home schooler is to enrich my kiddo’s life with SNOW! At least once a year, I think it’s an essential part of honoring winter to go touch the stuff. Especially since it’s not so far away!

So, Monday, we dropped everything (and everything is a lot lately), and went on a snow hunt here in SoCal. We slipped and slid and sledded, we got cold particles in all kinds of nooks and crannies, we made a snow dog!

And all this was such good fun. And then as we stumbled through the chilly forest, we came upon a striking tree (see above).

Immediately the energy here felt palpably strong, woozy-making almost. I have often felt this way in the presence of great trees. The impact of this one silenced me.

Trees are a wondrous energetic resource.

“Forest bathing” is the new hip lingo, akin to “grounding” or “earthing”. Much research has been done around the low electromagnetic frequencies that trees emit and the subtle influence this has on the human endocrine system, stress levels and mental health, (not to mention the green, the smells, the fresh air.) Here’s a couple of articles. I’ll leave further internet-rabbit-holing to you!

For now, I’ll stick to exhibiting myself as a sample size of one. Connecting with trees has always been an instantaneously impactful somatic medicine for me.

As a kid (and an adult), I could often be found up in a tree, sitting in the embrace of their branches, hugging them like a friend. I named them and visited my favorites often. This gave me a sense of familial connection and safe community, a bedrock for a developing understanding of Self.

Gazing at the fluttering leaves from afar has always brought surreal, meditative calm. When I learned about visual resourcing in a Somatic Experiencing training, and later learned how to test the nervous system impact of this resource through neurosomatic intelligence, it added the nerdy, science-y layer of understanding why this practice of connecting visually with trees has been so impactful and needed throughout my life.

As a Reiki practitioner, I will say that trees’ energy is easily palpable in a way that drops me into “the field” with a magnetic swiftness. Each tree is different, and sometimes, you come across a great mother like the one we found in the San Bernadino National Forest that demands a reverence of you simply for being in her presence.

Some say trees hold memory. The molecular structures of water as it is exposed to various music and words has been studied in The Hidden Messages In Water. While it is called pseudoscience, it is truly fascinating and opens up a world of collective consciousness that is worthy of exploration. If water can respond this way, and trees are filled with water, (approximately 50% water!), then it makes sense that the water they hold may have been impacted by the stories they witnessed over the sometimes hundreds of years they have lived.

As I meander through these facets of tree connection, I hope you are inspired to get outside today and be with a tree. Perhaps visually, energetically, through touch, or by calling one a friend, you can be supported by these stoic creatures who live alongside us, quietly waiting for appreciation and collaborative healing.

Here are a couple of tree practices for you to try!

Go outside, anywhere that has trees.
Visually take in the trees if there are more than one. Notice if a particular one calls to your interest. Focus on that tree.
Sit or lie down comfortably and breathe for one minute while gazing at that tree. Alternate your focus back and froth from visually taking in the tree, to noticing your own internal landscape. See if you can observe how your body takes in the tree. Do you notice any physical sensations arise as you are with the tree? (you can do this practice for as long as you want! One minute is just the minimum.)
Now, go to the tree. Silently ask its permission to touch it, to receive its energetic support. Hover your hand close to the trunk. See if you can feel a subtle shift inviting your touch. Place your hand on the tree and bask in the energy. Notice any energetic sensations in your body. Silently or audibly tell the tree you offer yourself as a conduit that you may both receive healing universal life force energy together through this shared touch.
Perhaps hug the tree, or sit, lie back down, and take a closing moment to receive anything else from these practices. You may get Felt Sense nudges, intuitive hits, ancestral murmurs, or the peaceful nothing of quiet meditation. Conclude your time with a practice of thanks to the tree kin, the Earth, and your own sacred body.

Sometimes the healing is Somatic, sometimes it’s Story

For me, much healing comes from meaning-making, story, whimsy. Often the confusion of life is resolved in grandiose Ah-HAH hits that come crashing through busy days like lightning strikes. The tree moment on our snow hunt day was like this.

It’s striking appearance and energy stopped me in my tracks and I thought, “Oh, what a beauty shaped by forces of intensity!” Her branches grew in such a chaotic shape, perhaps mangled by storms. The trunk bent and wove its way toward the sky, clearly a journey to weave her way towards light. A bottom chunk of her was chopped out, like a seat, a nod to human alteration. And for an instant, I saw myself in her. We two, sisters, both shaped by the forces of our lives, both cut, altered, yet thriving, strong, majestic. I touched her and felt her strength, and knew that it was in me, too.

Collective Creator Corner

Like trees, we grow together! This section is always for highlighting another wonderful creator or a collaboration.

I’m so excited to shine about the Lyquid Fusion Collective, led by the amazing Dani Nicole! Dani is a passionate dancer, stretch therapist, and community builder. If you love Fusion dance and partner dance, I highly recommend the Lyquid Fusion events. These spaces are a place to connect with other brilliant dancers at any level of dance through consent-forward, mindful, expressive shared movement.

And, on April 25th, we have a very special event called ConFusion that I will be performing in! This event includes a class, a show and a social dance. It’s the best of everything dance in one fantastic evening. And the secret theme is a powerful one.

Check out ConFusion details here