Trees of Life and other thoughts

Despite the fact that lots of us feel disconnected from nature or feel we don't belong here, we are absolute embodiments of the planet we live on. How else could it be? It looks certain that as a species we have arisen from planet Earth and not surprisingly there are lots of clues that attest to this fact. One of the biggest is that we are highly fluid in our body composition. 70% or thereabouts seems to be a generally accepted fact which looks very similar to the composition of the surface of the Earth. 70% Ocean and 30% Land. Which is a fluid to solid ratio. And that's how we are. A mix of structure and fluid. 

The other clue is the fact we need air. We are designed for breathing air and selectively filtering oxygen from the air. Our lungs have arisen to meet this need of our cells. The other cellular need is glucose. What an amazing invention. Sugar plus air equals energy. Brining air and fruit and plants together creates energy. That's really wild and something I would have never thought of. To make this crazy brew the body has evolved a gut and lungs. We go around and take in glucose which we call eating and we take in oxygen which we call breathing. We take in interesting parts of the planet. The cells are the ones driving this. And when you think about it the cell raw material requirement is responsible for us having a mouth and nose and a heart and blood and actually everything we have. It's good to recognize this fact. The body has come about because of our cells and their needs. Afterall we are a basically a cellular hive. 1 trillion cells with needs! 

The other clue is we have limbs. Limbs are a consequence of needing to forage in order to eat. It's not about breathing. We could do that from an armchair. Or a bed or anywhere. So the gut and the limbs are deeply connected so that the limbs are carrying the gut around to get enough food. Food doesn't just come to you unless you're a clam or a barnacle. And even they move around from time to time. Nothing is static. Funny air just comes to us. One part of this equation is easy and the other really hard. So much energy and effort goes into digesting. 

And the clue i really like is that we are formed of Trees. Three of them. The lymphatic, nervous and vascular trees that run through the whole system as capillarized structures that mesh together to form a million miles of fine nerve fibers and lymph vessel strands and blood caplllaries that interweave into all parts of the body so that all cells are in touch with the interstitial space around the trees of life. In fact the cells have grown around these trees. As the embryo grows it grows from its Trees and the body shapes around it. So the fundamental life structure of the body is the Trees of Life which exist in the Ocean of the interstitial fluids. Thats a great image. And the phenomenon is everywhere. All animal and plant life have these trees of life. Particularly trees! 

Here's an experiential exercise to reveal your inner trees: Start with your heart. This is the easiest thing to feel in the body because its beating (hopefully) and creating a huge flow of blood. It's the pump going off day and night. Your brain filters it out from your daily consciousness but it only takes a few seconds to orient to it through felt sense awareness. Get interested in the flow out from the heart in all directions so that you come into awareness of the vascular system and the movement of blood through your interoceptors. You know when you have it because it's literally a rush. Now do the same with your brain. The hum of electrical activity of the brain is filtered out from daily life just like the heart beat but you can sense this quickly. It feels like an electricity generator going off in your head and spine. This time follow the trickle of electric flow meandering into the spinal chord and brain. The sensory flow is the most recognisable nerve flow. Sit with that for a while. Now bring the two flows and their different qualities together. Let them overlay in your experience of your body. Blood moving out, nerve flow moving in. Wait for the meeting of the two to arise like an entwining. Think of a tree canopy or a root system and this will help you feel the matrix of fine fibers and capillaries that make up the complex of life structures at the level of your cells i.e. your interstitial fluid space. It's not the main arteries and veins and nerves that are the big things, its the fine branched network that meets here. Your consciousness will move from a gross structural awareness to a much finer cell awareness that brings you into contact with the whole bed of capillarized structure. Capillary comes from the Latin for hair. Now get interested in the background and a much slower flow coming from the lymphatic tree that is your immune tree. Quite a different quality that brings about an interesting state of awareness. Notice how this relationship transposes your experience of the blood and nerve trees. Stay with the flow of life through all three trees and follow how your body naturally reorganizes in response.