try standing on a tree stump

This might not seem so silly to begin with. It's quite natural to stand on a tree stump. Every child will do it. If you want to feel a little more daring, take off your shoes and socks and stand on the tree stump in bare feet. Then perhaps close your eyes, and imagine the roots of the tree, still in the earth. Imagine them bringing energy from the earth, up, up to the stump and into your feet and up into your body. Take some deep breaths, as if you are breathing in this energy through your feet. Mmm.

Of course, if you are not used to playing with energy – if these words mean nothing to you – then you will need to be a little curious to try such things. Approach it like a child would: not knowing, not needing scientific evidence to do something, just playfully exploring the world. Try to find this open mind, this curious mind. And go, find a tree stump to explore in this way.

It may help if the tree was a large tree. It may help if it has been recently felled. But by and large, any old tree stump will do.

Become a little sensitive to the energies of the world, the natural world. For we, too, are part of nature and have mysterious energies flowing within us. Be brave enough to embrace the mystery of life once more, as we did when we were new in the world. And you will begin to feel fresh and young again; alive.

Try standing on a tree stump.