Stanza 1: This is about the general philosophy of ‘just keep coming back to yoga’ – even when it places you out of your comfort zone. And that we may say ‘I can’t do’ something or ‘I won’t do’ something, and yet something within us encourages us to stay, to explore the discomfort, to align breath, body and mind, heart and soul… to grow rather than ‘go’. Because ultimately we know that this will make us stronger, and a better version of one’s self. So with direct comparison to the tree pose, when you think of standing on one leg and remaining rooted to the ground and standing strong, but you feel doubt and perhaps the temptation to hold the wall, or not do the pose at all. The aim is to focus, and live in the moment, not worrying about the outcome, and this continues to Stanza 2.

Stanza 2: A tree is always something; once a seed, then a plant, then a tree, then a bridge, book, or book shelf… and this verse is a symbol of the liberation of the tree pose – the fact you can literally be anything you want to be if you are fearless and let go… giving to the universe as a tree does – with beauty, dignity and strength. Physically, if you pace yourself in tree pose and allow your breath to guide to calmness and balance, than you can really learn how to breathe through life one stage at a time… taking each chapter as it comes – you focus on the journey and not the result. This is where you find roots and comfort in the pose, almost as if when you rise in tree pose you are acknowledging your years on the inside and overcoming your life fears by reaching tall… the two polar opposite feelings that tree pose offers – to be grounded yet sky high and free ‐ With a trunk of stability and branching out creation with the leaves of knowledge ‐ a tree is the epitome of life and eternal circular creation.

Stanza 3: This verse can relate to the Yamas and Niyamas of the eight limbs too. For example, Aparigraha, non‐attachment and by letting go, you become richer. Where you put energy, is where it flows, and so if you give you will receive – a simply rule of the universe. It encourages standing tall with everybody else who embarks on life’s challenges, to support each other as different trees of the same forest… that you can be in synchrony with everybody in any weather.

Stanza 4: This takes you from being grounded to growing tall metaphorically, and allowing your efforts in the world to bear fruit for you and for ‘all’, and that these fruits may be material, but the words, creation, experiences are true wisdom of growth and the real things that enrich our souls.