Tree is my favorite pose for Christian meditation. I’m an energetic, active person who loves to be in charge and in control. But I’m not always stable in Tree. Sometimes I lean to the standing foot side. Very often, I wobble. Sometimes I have to lower my non-standing foot from my thigh to my calf. Part of my practice then is to be humble, to remember that I am imperfect and not always in charge.
I also love Tree because that grounded foot reminds me that I am a creature of the earth. We are dust, and to dust we will return. But what dust! We are made of the same stuff as the majestic Giant Redwoods and the most delicate, quivering butterfly, the same stuff as snowflakes and diamonds and the very stars.
My raised arms remind me that I am also a spiritual being, with aspirations to goodness and the hope of eternal life, grounded in the earth and reaching for heaven.
But, most often, Tree is simply a worship pose for me, my arms raised and open in joyful thanksgiving, grateful to be both a child of God and an earthly creature.
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory!