The Life of a Tree

Trees make me happy. This particular tree above is one I fell in love with many years ago during my frequent drives between Austin and Houston on Highway 71.  Serving as a mark to know where I am in relation to each city, no matter what season of the year, leaves or no leaves, this tree always looks beautiful to me.

My admiration for trees started long before I discovered this one in particular and through the years, I’ve reflected on why I think trees are amazing. Since trees are the tallest, longest-living organisms ever to grow on earth, it seems as though they may have a thing or two to teach us about life.

Think about how these may relate to your own self.  Here are a few I have come up with:

• United We Stand- Trees in a forest that are close to one another become more tall, massive plants as they grow in groups, connecting by way of their roots and sharing sunlight.

• Ground Yourself- The solitary tree stands alone in one spot for its entire existence. It nurtures itself by growing roots deep into the ground to take in nutrients from the soil and use what it needs to grow, develop, and repair.

• Trust your Natural Protective System- Trees have grown in ways that give them super survival powers since they cannot move away from potential destructive conditions.

• Grow Your Roots to Stay Alive- The root system of a tree is vitally important to its continued survival. Roots help to anchor the tree into the soil, they store large amounts of energy reserves below the ground, and the roots absorb and transport the water and dissolved mineral nutrients to the rest of the tree. 

• Give What You Can- Trees are very important to our existence as they provide us with what they have to give. From them we get the most essential part of living by producing oxygen so that we have clean air to breathe. They also provide us with wood for shelter and warmth along with a nice shade on a hot sunny day.

The next time you walk by a tree show it some gratitude by simply stopping for a moment to admire it, maybe water it if it hasn’t rained in a long time, or just give it a hug. 

Root&Connect is born...

The beginnings of Root&Connect came to life in my mind many years ago. In part, I acknowledge my father for being the person to first introduce me to a holistic approach of health by taking into account the mind, body, and spirit; the whole person. He was a psychiatrist in Austin, Texas when I was born and 3 to 4 years later, he decided to leave psychiatry to go down an almost completely different path to practice alternative medicine. Many people today might think of this as any kind of alternative healing modality such as nutrition, herbs, vitamins, preventative medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage therapy or yoga therapy.

I remember him always saying that the difference between alternative medicine and conventional medicine was that one worked to find the root of the problem and heal from the inside out, while the later was used more as a band aid for the physical symptoms, without taking into account all parts of the person and how one might be affecting another. Alternative means one of two or more available possibilities. Conventional means to be in accordance with what is generally done or believed.

This is not to say that I am against conventional medicine. There are times when it is absolutely necessary to be used in emergency situations when a person is experiencing an enormous amount of pain or they have been diagnosed with a chronic illness or a terminal illness. My father would remind me that alternative medicine was not going to be a quick fix, but that when the root of the problem was discovered and treated, the body would naturally begin the healing process to stop the physical pain or discomfort.

I have carried this concept with me through the years and believe it to be the path to feeling mentally well just as much as it is for feeling physically well. What I learned about health at an early age, I now try to apply in my work as a psychotherapist or counselor (if you are more comfortable with that term). Recently, it dawned on me that in a sense, what I did was fall right smack in the middle of my father’s footsteps to work in integrating mental health with alternative (mindful) practices that nurture the whole person.

Root&Connect flourished from my vision of wanting to help people learn about how all of our parts are connected and how they affect one another. These parts being MIND, BODY, SPIRIT, and our EMOTIONS. Once we are able to fully connect with our whole self, we begin to feel good, and more grounded in the relationship with ourselves so that we can grow relationships with those close to us and in our COMMUNITY.

Through talk therapy with mindfulness practices, I am dedicating myself to guiding others in discovering their own unique way to nurture their mind, body, spirit, and emotions by learning how to connect with them and listen to what they need.

For me, this is the way to feeling optimal wellness.

I am a firm believer that what we give, we get back. That giving of our time, attention, and care to our own self is just as important as what we give to others. Connecting with and nurturing each and every part of us, changes our perspective on things and enhances our ability to shift internally to know ourselves, love ourselves, feel good, be fulfilled and truly live with purpose.

 Welcome to Root&Connect, are you ready to get grounded and feel good?