Grow Through What You Go Through (Amy)

Have you ever seen the tree that still holds on to dead leaves through the fall, then into the winter? You wonder, is it dead? Why is it not following the natural rules? What’s wrong with it?

The scientific term is Marcescent - leaves or fronds withering but remaining attached to the stem. There’s nothing wrong with the tree. It holds on for a reason. Theories include: protection of leaf buds from drying out through the winter, and as a moisture-conserving mulch when the leaves finally fall and decompose in spring. Dropping them in spring delivers organic material - like compost or mulch at a time it is most needed by the growing tree.

We are often told in yoga, meditation, grief, stressful times, on the daily to “let things go.” This statement sounds so simple, but is one of the hardest for me to comprehend.

What if we took the time to love ourselves enough to understand what (or who!) it is we are holding on to and why?

Like the marcescent leaves, we protect our hearts for a time like the leaves protect the bud through the chill of winter.

Trust that the leaf will drop. Trust that it is where it is for a reason or a season. Trust that the hard thing you are holding on to will fall away and teach you in the process and will nurture you in years to come. Acknowledge the thing, breathe healing energy and kindness into it, allow it to become something that feeds you.

The trees that inspired this meditation protect and shade the prayer garden by St. Mary’s Parish House that has been cultivated by Lisa. I began this writing in 2020 and never finished it until Oct 2022, I do not believe this is a coincidence!