Jay Doyle on Tree Climbing

It was a sensory experience, I felt strong, tall, free. When climbing a tree, there is a struggle, a challenge, but the end result is truly great. The air is crisp and fresh as it comes through the branches and leaves. The feeling is surreal, the course tree bark on your hands and feet, the birds singing and you ascend the branches, the wind flowing through the branches, the pockets of sunlight that make their way through the leaves. The leaves of this tree were green as grass and bright as the sun, a sight to behold as you climb. People see climbing a tree as something a child does, but everyone should try it. When you finally reach the highest branches you feel alive. You feel tall, being able to see above all of the man made objects we have, seeing over your house, your car, everything. The world seems different when you are in a tree. There is a silver maple in my yard that I have climbed for years, but when I climbed it this time, I decided to focus on what I was feeling with my senses. When I climbed my tree, I felt the course bark as I gripped each branch, I heard the leaves rustle as the branches moved when I did, I felt the wind come through the leaves and branches as I ascended. When I reached a spot in the top of the trees, I sat down on a branch with my back to the truck of the tree. I straddled a large branch and rested my head on the tree. I closed my eyes and began to focus on my breathing. I began to feel all of my stress and worries flow out of my body. It began to feel like meditation. I was calming my mind and body in nature, in a tree. Soon I felt as if I became one with the tree, one with nature. My body and mind began to clear, and I felt at peace. The clouds began to clear and the sun’s ray began to penetrate the leaves and hit the tree. A ray of sunlight struck my chest and it warmed my body. It felt like the sun and the earth were giving me a hug. The sky became a sapphire blue, and the clouds began to disappear. This was a meditative experience and I will do this again when I feel stressed or worried.