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• Trees, Bodies, Morphic Fields, Forest Bathing and Constellations

~ Morphic Fields and Collective Memory

Plants, human beings, animals and the mineral kingdom are bonded with each other through so-called Morphic Fields. The biologist H.C. Waddington, deduced, from his research on morphogenetic fields, that “nature possesses a collective memory” and the naturalist Rupert Sheldrake confirmed this assertion with the results of his research: “there is an energetic connection that unites all living beings.”

Sheldrake discovered that between different living beings there are relationships that escape any logical explanation. He called them morphogenetic fields. These fields reveal these connections without the need for ‘matter’ and ‘language’.

Anyone can experience these fields that are independent of time and space and that when interrelating, they become and act as if they were one reality.

The world of modern physics demonstrates that there is a rationally inexplicable phenomenon: the phenomena that occur within the morphogenetic fields occur synchronously. The morphic fields of each system exert their influence on later systems through a process called ‘Morphic Resonance’, entrainment. To give an example, it can be said that the reason why a plant cell becomes a leaf cell and not a root cell is because, through morphic resonance, it tunes in to the morphogenetic fields of all previous leaves of the same species. This process occurs within all systems found in nature.

Such “memory fields” (morphic or morphogenetic fields) are not actually stored in the brain, but rather in an information field, which can be accessed via the electromagnetic field created by our heart in relation to the brain and the other organs. The philosopher of science Ervin Laszlo subsequently gave to this field the name of Akashic.

Due to the morphic resonance, each species has a collective memory. Therefore we are not only connected with each other and with the rest of creation, but also with our dead, being them a powerful contribution to the collective memory. Something similar to what Jung called the Collective Subconscious and which Bert Hellinger, the father of Family Constellations, called Collective Consciousness.

~ Morphic fields are essential for a holistic view of life

Within a “system” all its component parts interact with each other through the field of the entire system. For example, the planets and the Sun, all interact through the gravitational field of the solar system. Around and within them there are magnetic fields, which interact with nearby magnetic fields and electric currents. Likewise, morphogenetic fields are found both in and around plants, animals, human beings and minerals. Such fields, they organize and interconnect all the parts constituting the system involved.

Morphogenetic fields are part of a larger class of fields, called Morphic Fields, all of which contain ‘memory’ received through morphic resonance. For example, morphic fields include “behavioural fields”, which underlie the behaviour and instincts of animals.

The morphic fields of mental activities, on the other hand, are called “mental fields”.

Through these mental fields, guided from our awareness and intent, the ‘extended mind’ extends into the environment and connects with other members of the social group. These fields could therefore explain telepathy, the sensation of being observed and the sixth sense and help to understand premonitions and precognitions through intents that are projected into the future.

~ “Trees are the infinite effort of the earth to speak to the listening sky ”. – Rabindranath Tagore

The tree is a receiver-repeater of beneficial electromagnetic waves with coherent frequencies similar to those of our organs. The phenomenon underlying this energetic exchange and this interaction is Resonance: a vibrational communication. The result is a significant accumulation of energy within the involved and solicited system. Near trees, gardens, parks and woods, we experience a deep sense of well-being and relaxation, even when we are not aware of the sort of interaction involved. Numerous scientific studies show how prolonged immersion in environments rich in trees (Forest Bathing), especially secular, leads to numerous psychophysical benefits. Here, that branch of Complementary Medicine, called Forest Medicine or Forest Therapy was born.

After all, the human species originated and evolved in places that were rich in plant species, woods and forests. Our sense of attraction towards plants, fruits and trees is therefore intimate and innate. This attraction is called ‘biophilia’ and can be awakened in each one of us, bringing us back to a natural state of balance, and bringing us back to our being nature.

“Disease” can be seen as a general bio-electromagnetic imbalance of the cells, which causes a consequent energy imbalance of the affected organ. In addition to providing us with precious active ingredients through their volatile bio-organic compounds, trees, through the resonance of electromagnetic waves, and by stimulating of own energy field, they can rebalance the bioelectric fields of the cells that are in a state of disequilibrium, with a consequent energy rebalancing of the organs, and of the entire system.

These wonderful living beings possess unknown properties that invite us to come into contact with the plant realm in a way that is more conscious and extraordinarily supporting to our existence.

Plants and human beings have a strong resemblance to each other. Each plant is an antenna that vibrates and emits signals in resonance with our organs. In fact, like us, they have a vegetal nervous system, a protective system (so-called immune), circulatory system, lymphatic system, epidermal system, bones (lignin), sexual organs and a soul.

~ Subtle energies are the forces that guide us

Our physical body is alive and vital due to an energy flow that is often invisible, still real and made of vital forces and subtle energies. This body, which we can call the ‘subtle energy body’, is the wisdom and memory that guides the physical body, its organs and its systems. The subtle body is also the one that journey us through different states of consciousness, emotions, imagination and creativity. Holistic disciplines tell us that when the subtle body is healthy and filled with subtle energy, we are healthy and we can experience presence and pleasure. When it falls out of balance, unpleasant symptoms, discomfort and finally illnesses might appear.

The term subtle energies refers both to bio-energies, which preside over and support the development of biological life, and to all other occult energy manifestations present in nature: telluric, environmental, cosmic energies, and psychic and spiritual. Subtle energies throughout history and everywhere in the world have been observed as Prana, Ki or Qi, Orgone, Kundalini, Life Force.

~ The trees, therapists and guardians of the field

The structural constituents of the Tree can help us with their phyto-therapeutic virtues. In the analogical relationship, we might experience energies, vibrations of that particular relationship that is established between us, the Tree, Nature and the Field.

The trees, silent guardians of life, rise majestically towards the sky. They know the secrets to capture the energy of the sun and transform it into vital substance. With their roots they anchor themselves to the heart of the Earth and protect her. With their leaves they temper and filter the air. They give shelter and nourishment to other living beings. They communicate with each other without disturbing. They renew themselves in shapes and colours, so many as the spaces they inhabit. Each tree holds the mystery of life, ready to reveal it to those who know how to listen.

The world should be full of old ancient trees. They are accumulators of energy with the ability to send back and amplify the luminous power of the sun and the stars; soaked in their own fire, wet by water, moulded by the wind, firmly rooted into the earth, generators of wood, alchemically, they are a compendium of the 4 elements , a key to access the Whole. They guard an immense memory, they draw from an infinite database, the morphic field .. We can rely on them for experiences beyond time. They transform us into antennas of light energy, which from us, through our field, expands into the world. They awaken our innate healing capacity and inform us about what has happened over the past millennia.

Trees have a real effect on our Subtle Bodies as they possess a ‘high frequency living energy’. They are a field of higher and expanded communication. Our energy field, when meeting the energy field of a Tree, reacts and tunes in to it, and since the energy flow of the Tree is not subjected, like ours, to continuous fluctuations, it becomes a valid channel of comparison and comfort between the different experiences that we might move through.

In addition, the shape of each family tree identifies its main quality. When we entrain with it, it is possible to absorb it, awakening it within us, in our Soul. The Trees, therefore, act through “information”. They are “information”, since each Tree has gifts and talents to share.

By immersing ourselves in a forest and entraining with the trees, through a momentary shift of energies, we can establish a common energy field that includes all of our present, past and future generations. This process of entraining supports us in transforming our usual patterns, restoring balance and harmony, where before there was an imbalance, be it physical or spiritual. This contact, this fusion, this new experience, is part of our inner process, free from impositions. It is a change of perspective.

The Trees are therefore the guardians of the Field and can be fantastic therapists. They are stable, welcoming, do not change mood, are neutral and support us. They stimulate our capacity to elevate our consciousness and moving closer to our Soul. When our morphogenetic field meets that of a tree, well-being, peace, intuition and creativity are generated.

The natives teach that the trees, which they call The Standing People, are energetic places of Mother Earth that hold the specific memory of what happened in that place. The Standing People see the needs of all the Children of the Earth and offer themselves to serve as a rescuer. The Master Trees can therefore help us find direction, as they bring us closer to our Soul and our Soul always knows the journey.

• Spiritual – Family Constellations

Developed in the 1980’s by the German therapist, Bert Hellinger, Family Constellations, also known as Systemic Constellations, and later on as Spiritual Constellations has its roots into western psychotherapy, existential phenomenology and Zulu culture.

A constellation is a multi-dimensional group process through which is possible to reveal hidden dynamics, and difficult entanglements which don’t allow us to become conscious of, and eventually transform, our destructive and unhealthy patterns. We can explore and become aware of our personal as well of our collective unconscious, enabling us to free trapped energy, and make it available for our life journey.

In this therapeutic approach, the individual is seen as a part of a greater whole, of a “family” system, where his inner movements and their manifestations could be understood within the context of this system, might it be a relation-ship, a family, a working team, a body, a forest, a nation…..

Group Constellation: Led by a facilitator, Constellations are mainly happening within a group setting. In turn, members of the group, can explore an imminent issue, with the support of the others playing the roles of representatives. The participants are positioned in the “field” (the morphogenetic field), and in relation to each other according to the feelings of the client. By observing the scenic representation and becoming conscious of the dynamics between the components of the system we are part of (family, body, forest……), we can comprehend the origin of the discomfort or symptom and then reintegrate the missing element into the system or place order in it, allowing in this way awareness to be, healing to occur, and love to flow. Further readings….

• Forest Bathing

Forests and woods are magical places, evocative and full of mystery. The evocative force of ancient tree specimens, well symbolizes the deepest, ancestral, indissoluble bonds that bind us to nature and overall to trees, as a primordial sacred presence. The wood was in fact the site where primordial knowledge was treasured and where rite of passage were performed. Instead, we commonly tend to acknowledge the forest for its most visible aspects, those related to vegetation or landscape. These themes, important but partial, have a connection with the more general values belonging to the ecosystem of the forest, which must be considered in the complexity of its biological system, in the stratification of its cultural meanings, in the multiplicity of the archetypal and anthropological aspects that have made our history as human beings.

As if something ancestral, an unspoken and unknown bond was connecting us to places and, therefore, to ourselves. In order to get us in touch with the soul of the cosmos, our truest soul.

To re-awaken our conscious awareness of being one with nature, a mental shift is first of all necessary. It is through the journeys in our soul, in our culture and in that of the different populations of the world, meditative practices, but also pilgrimages and walks in our woods, that we enter a path made of curiosity, which brings back to life that natural soul that we often tend to forget in our everyday life.

Our ancestors were deeply aware of this phenomenon and it was in the woods that the most important rites were performed. They had given plants and vegetation a magical-religious value, which not even Christianity has been able to completely eradicate: still today many places dedicated to saints or to the Madonna they conceal the ancient location of natural sanctuaries where trees or wondrous sources were guarded by the fertile and protective Mother Goddess.

The term Forest Bathing has its origin into the translation of the Japanese words “Shinrin-yoku” which identify the concept of “Forest Bath”, the action of “Immersing yourself fully in the Atmosphere of the Forest to benefit from it”, an ancestral practice that in Japan is part of the cultural tapestry since Shinto’s period.

Since the 1980s, thanks to the researchers Qing Lee and Yushifumi Miyazaki and subsequently to those from the rest of the world, scientific research has only confirmed what our intuition already knows: spending time in Nature it is a nourishment for our body and our spirit.

In this way Forest Therapy was born. Also called Forestry Medicine, it is a branch of Complementary Medicine. It is studying, both at a scientific and energetic level, the influences and benefits of these practices and through ‘Forestry Immersions’ offers us the enjoyment of the experience and its benefits.

Immersing ourselves in nature, at a psychophysical level, increases the production of immune cells, raises proteins and hormones that fight various diseases, reduces stress hormones, lowers the incidence of heavy emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety and fatigue, lowers the risk of hypertension , Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes, helps Concentration and Problem Solving practices, etc.

In fact, several factors contribute to the harvesting of these benefits: the prolonged exposure to open air and sunlight, the introduction of moving practices such as slow walking and fluid movement, the stimulation of the 5 senses, the deep contact with the “green” and with the trees, the primordial instinct and the BVOC breathing (Bio Volatile Organic Compounds) – called also active principles of the family of monoterpenes – , the same contained in essential oils, which carry out a phyto-therapeutic action on our body.

Another aspect to consider is our exposure to the bacteria that proliferate in the soil, with which we humans have evolved for thousands of years. On one square meter of earth there are billions of “good” bacteria which, during Forest Bathing, penetrate our airways and come into contact with our skin. Even though there are still few studies on the subject, it is believed that many of these bacteria have a beneficial effect on our nervous system. Such as: Mycobacterium Vaccae, which would stimulate the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects moods, memory, sleep. and digestion (Lowry et al., 2007). The soil, then, is naturally rich in Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, the bacterium contained in probiotic pills and drinks, and which is generally taken to rebalance inflammation and prevent oxidative stress.

Furthermore, investigations in the field of quantum physics have shown that plants, in particular flowers and trees, possess an energetic radiation very similar to that emanated from our etheric body. The imperceptible etheric essence of flowers and plants comes into contact with our energy body through the energy channels, sharing with us its harmonizing energies and thus supporting our healing process. Energy stretch marks, that can occur in the network of the etheric body are healed and therefore re-energized.

In order to harvest the greatest benefits, it is essential to practice for a prolonged amount of time in environments with a great tree density, in which there are monumental trees and ancient habitats.

During our Forest Bathing practices we will alternate slow walks with fluid movements, meditations, breathing and Deep Ecology practices, immersed in the splendid setting of the Madonie Park, surrounded by woods of ancient trees and monumental specimens.

• Open Source Forms technique

OSF is guided by the philosophy that the source of wisdom and creativity is available in each of us. OSF is a self-propelling, self-empowering technique that through the moving body, the dancing body, is journeying us through the experiential experience of the infinite layers of the self. The technique offers awareness by listening to the body in movement, and by doing that guides us through a deep physical transformation in order to bridge us into a deeper one, the emotional and mental one.

Alignment is seen in constant flux, not related to a specific part of the body, but to multi-gravitational fields, therefore through movement and breathing exercises we seed kinesthetic awareness, to offer an experience of our alignment as fluid and dynamic, as in constant transformation.

Excess tension, that might cause alignment problems, constricted breathing and inflexibility, is kinesthetically released allowing freedom in movement and flexibility to be experience.

Open Source Forms technique makes use of guided imaginary and its power to offer kinesthetic experience. Some images focus on specific areas of the body, others on the totality of the self.

Through these images, we are guided into a wholeness state of deep consciousness.

Here our own “movement” would emerge, revealing a whole new range of movement possibilities, a whole new range of creativity. Through movement and touch, we practice listening, acceptance and integration, and we allow the unfolding of our own process through the seasons of change, through disorientation and reintegration.

Through tactile explorations, we practice letting go of what is familiar, to open to a new experience of perception, to the unknown, where the letting go of bones and tissues is embodying “the dying” of preconceive ideas, judgements and expectations, to simultaneously allow a “reborn” into novelty, into a whole new being.

• Somatic Work

How aware are we of our physical body and its way to engage with ourselves, other bodies and the environment? How do we listen to our physical self, to its ways of moving and positioning, in order to be able to use its full potential?

Our self-image is never static, it changes from moment to moment, but through time these changes become fixed and transform into habits. Some parts of us are clearly included in our self-image, others, maybe because of early traumas or emotional blocks, are excluded, limiting our range of movement, asking us an enormous and unnecessary amount of effort. With the support of different awareness tools, as tactile experiences, breathing and movement explorations, we are going to listen to our body structure, energetic components, moving aspects, bodily sensations, feelings……and redirect them into a more balanced and harmonious whole.  Further readings…….

• Nat’s Tarots

An extremely practical tool for those involved in psycho-genealogy, for those used to meditate or for who wishes to approach meditation, a powerful tool for communicating with one’s soul and ancestors.

While belonging to the historical tradition of Burma, the Nats represent the archetypal forces that orchestrate nature and the human psyche and therefore are common to all cultures and traditions. Psycho-genealogy and transgenerational counselling are paths through which it is possible to decode the unconscious programming inherited from the family tribe, at the moment of our birth.

These paths make use of various resources, from the genogram into the family and imaginal constellations. The Nat cards were developed by Selene Calloni Williams after her anthropological research among the animist tribes of Myanmar. Every time we grab the deck, ready to use it, it would be like entering the heart of the ancestral rite .

Have you ever thought that you could talk to your ancestors to ‘know’ yourself, enrich your life and consciously act on your destiny? There is a sacred place, a mountain of volcanic origin – Mount Popa – which rises in the center of a vast flat land near the ancient city of Pagan, where a lineage of shamans shared out the secret of the dialogue with their ancestors.

Selene Calloni Williams, psychologist, anthropologist, writer, documentary maker, has transcribed this secret into a magical book and an extraordinary documentary.

Nat Cards are a revolutionary tool that allows us to call upon our ancestors to see, deprogram, freed, redeem and re-determine. Not only a creative mediation tool for those who work in the field of family constellations and psycho-genealogy, but also a tool for everyone, and within everyone’s reach, to improve their life experience.

The Nats speak of a profound ecology, they are a rediscovery of our love for the Great Mother, a poetic hymn to nature and the ability to lead an inspired life. Reading the Nat cards is a creative journey that nurtures the soul of the consultant as well as the soul of our planet.

• Expressive Arts Therapy

“To the extent that I managed to translate the emotions into images– that is to say, to find the images which were concealed in the emotions– I was inwardly calmed and reassured. Had I left those images hidden in the emotions, I might have been torn to pieces by them. There is a chance that I might have succeeded in splitting them off; but in that case I would inexorably have fallen into a neurosis and so been ultimately destroyed by them. As a result of my experiment I learned how helpful it can be, from the therapeutic point of view, to find the particular images which lie behind the emotions”. – CG Jung, p. 177, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Based on C.G. Jung’s analytical psychology, Expressive Arts Therapy is the use of creative arts as a form of self-discovering. Here the process of creation is emphasized; it is the practice of using imagery, storytelling, dance, music, poetry, movement, voice and dream-work together, in an integrated way to foster growth, healing and conscious self-awareness.

The act of creating is a bridge between our inner and outer world, between the unconscious and conscious self, it is a way to allow our hidden self to come to light in order to be perceived, experienced, accepted and transformed.

• The Medicine Wheel

Spiritual healing practice uses rituals, stories sharing, movement and dance, sound and music and the Medicine Wheel with its concepts of the presence of balance and free will, to accompany us into an integrated inner body, mind, emotions and spirit dialogue.

This spiritual process, guiding us beyond the limitations of our physical body, reconnects us with our energy body, gifting us with tools to experience the Soul, the expansion of our consciousness and the connection with the Spirit and the Ancestral realm.

We are moved from a personal into a collective and spiritual consciousness, where the Spirit helpers and Ancestors invite us into an inner journey through the experience of the integration of all aspects of the self, of our being whole.

The Medicine Wheel is a process, a ritual and teachings of the cyclic movement of life and of the different aspects of the universe, of us, visible and invisible and how they are interconnected. It is a way of finding understanding and balance.

It has the four directions, East, South, West and North, ingrained within it. Each direction is the manifestation of a part of the Self, the spirit in the East, the body in the South, the emotions in the West and the mind in the North. Every direction is as well connected to an action-quality, determining in the East, holding in the South, giving in the West and receiving in the North. By restoring the harmonious inter-relationship of these aspects and their action-qualities, allowing each one of them to be in their position in the Medicine Wheel, we find balance and harmony, while the inner dialogue of body, mind, emotions and spirit helps us with being centered. Further readings….