At times during therapy, I will ask clients to draw a tree with roots, and label both the various roots AND the branches. The creativity and insight that comes from this project is illuminating. It allows space for the complexity and the beauty and struggle of life, intertwined with both roots and branches reaching out and searching for life. It is often a difficult project to explore and reflect on what are some significant moments that have been buried or not explored for some time. The drawing can propagate a grieving about a lost opportunity, an unrealized expectation, or the beginning of acceptance of an unwanted current reality. The drawing and exploration can also be “beautiful hard” as insights of deeper understanding of oneself become more vivid.
Roots of Renewal
What are our roots that really ground us? What is the anchor for our heart and soul? What are our roots of renewal? What does the concept of roots and renewal stir within you?
Simone Weil, a French philosopher, wrote, “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.”
Maybe as we are reading this we are feeling weary and tired. How might a bit of rest be a sort of renewal for our hearts? For me, an intentional breath can be a balm, a quiet respite, a mini-meditation for my soul in a worn-out moment. At other times, a longer walk in nature, a nap curled up with our dog in the sun, or sipping on a cup of lemon tea can be restorative.
The season of spring represents renewal in so many ways. Maybe the renewal of our heart is looking closely at the roots we need to nurture, or maybe we need to pay close attention to a root that might need more delicate tending.
“Root” comes from the Latin word radix, which means "starting point," and you can think of the root of something as the place from which it starts, whether that's the root of a tree, or the root of a problem. What might be the beginning, the starting point, of our root of renewal?
Maybe there is a location that feels renewing for us – a specific place in our yard, the lake dock, a trail in nature. Maybe there is a specific activity that is renewing for us – a time of prayer, meditation, or journaling. Maybe there is a group of people that offers nutrients for our heart – friends, a class, a place of worship.
When doing various balance poses in yoga, the idea of being grounded or rooted is significant. It is amazing how much it helps to mentally focus on the grounding. What roots can we envision that help us visualize renewal and growth?
Roots of Resilience
In researching resilience, we can discover many attributes of resilient people: resourceful, able to reality check the stories going on in our head, willing to ask for help, recognizing there are ways to help ourselves, managing the myriad of feelings swirling around, having others who are willing to walk the journey together with us, being connected to others, having hope, being curious about our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and practicing spirituality.
I love the way Dr. Brené Brown defines spirituality: “Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”