Listening to What Trees Have to Teach Us with Ellen Dee Davidson

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Here we explore what it means to be in conversation with trees. Davidson hikes into an ancient redwood forest on a regular basis and practices “forest bathing”. Being a naturally highly sensitive empath, she began getting messages from the trees when she would sit with them and go into a hypnagogic state. Surprisingly, different trees had different messages. When asked if elementals and fairies are real, Davidson enthusiastically responds, “The Earth has consciousness, rocks and stones, and trees. Also, the light has consciousness and we can tune into this consciousness. There is an exuberant, creative joy that is so full of vitality, so perceptible, so alive, and so conscious that it sparks… We are made of elements too… We can be right there with them in this magical space. So yes, it absolutely exists.”. She encourages us to enjoy the health benefits of accessing wild nature wherever we can find it, reminding us that when we are not bombarded with the noise, bright lights, and electromagnetic fields of a city, our nervous system calms down and our capacity opens up to a wider field of perception. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms) 

Bio 

Ellen Dee Davidson is an advocate for the health of forests. Besides her memoir, she’s the author of a number of children's books, also worked as an elementary, piano, and creative writing teacher and raised two daughters. She lives with her husband in the redwoods of northern California where she regularly sits with trees in a form of “forest bathing”. 

Ellen Dee Davidson is the author of: 

• Stolen Voices: In a City Ruled by Silence Can One Girl’s Voice Make a Difference? (Turtleback Books Library Binding 2005)
• Princess Justina Albertina (Charlesbridge 2007)
• Zoe the Misfit (Boulden Publishing 2008)
• Wind (Luminare Press 2022)
• Wild Path to the Sacred Heart (A Forest Bathing Memoir) (Star Tree Press 2019) 

To learn more about the work of Ellen Dee Davidson go to www.ellendeedavidson.com 

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

• What is forest bathing and what are its health benefits
• Davidson takes us on a forest experience: a guided walk in the redwood forest
• Why it’s important to get out of the city and into wild nature
• How, in nature, there is no judgment or expectations on our personality
• How the trees reached out to Davidson in her dreams
• What was her first message from a tree
• How trees are communal, their brain is in their roots and they can communicate with one another
• How the dung beetle navigates by the Milky Way
• How Mother Earth holds us in her embrace, we call this gravity
• Are Elementals, fairies, and elves real
• Justine’s experience with her ancestor maidenhair plant in her office
• Why it is important to have a relationship with Mother Earth
• How trees are our elders and can convey elder wisdom
• What is humanity’s crossroads regarding A.I. intelligence
• How we can participate with the “fierce celebration” of nature
• How we can form circles of support for ourselves

 Host: Justine Willis Toms   Interview Date: 3/27/2023   Program Number: 3787

Music Playlist

From Album: Canyon Lullaby
Artist: Paul Winter

Opening Essay: Track 04 Canyon Chaconne
Music Break 1: Track 04 Canyon Chaconne (cont.)
Music Break 2: Track 04 Canyon Chaconne (cont.)
Music Break 3: Track 12 Waltz of the Ravens