Healing by trees – an interview with Russian scientist Mikhail Vinogradov |
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Since antiquity there have been stories about the living and the dead water, about the trees that give energy and those that steal energy.
Are all of them merely products of the folk storyteller's imagination, or do they have a basis in reality?
For, even the old medical books described some trees, for instance birch, as having properties almost like a panacea, a cure for all illnesses. Where is the myth, and where does reality begin?
What are the healing powers of the trees?
Today there is a whole new branch in popular medicine – dendrotherapy, healing by trees or with the help of trees, says Mikhail Semionovich Vinogradov at the beginning of our interview.
- Trees really can cure, heal, make man wholesome, feed him energy. The best in this respect are oak, birch and pine, but almost equally valuable are cedar, locust, maple, rowan, apple, plum and others. But, there are those that can steal your energy. These are various poplars like the Russian cheryomuha, or American cherry, as it is known in the United States.
But, it would be wrong to believe they should be eradicated; not at all, because those "thieves" can be useful in certain situations, with which we shall deal later.
When were the earliest dendrotheapeutic methods devised and what did they look like?
- You know, there are records that even in the pre-Christian era girls used to go to a birch tree to collect positive energy so that their marriage and life would be happy.
Pregnant women would sit under a linden tree, while wounded soldiers would be placed under an oak so they would absorb its strength needed for healing their wounds.
Healers not only recommended sitting under trees, but climbing it too, so that the strength of the tree would be absorbed as much as possible, or exchanged with the person's strength.
Even today children instinctively climb trees, and many people build homes in the woods. As you can see, nothing new under the sun.
What are the rules of communicating with trees for the purposes of healing?
- The rules of communicating with a tree that provides healing energy are very natural and simple. Face the donor tree at the distance of 40 to 60 cm, close your eyes and relax.
Focus on receiving its energy and visualise a warm wave of energy slowly rising through your body from the feet upwards.
After relaxing, start doing breathing exercises, which will help you distribute the received energy throughout the body.
Correct breathing involves inhaling, holding the air in the lungs, exhaling and a period when the lungs are empty until the next breath. Each phase should last four to eight seconds and must be performed evenly, without struggling or interruptions.
While you are holding the breath, the energy of the trees "spills" and is converted into your bioenergy.
A communication with trees should not last long, sometimes not more than a few minutes. It is best to do it in the evening, before going to bed. You know that after a short evening walk in the garden or in a city park you feel much better and rejuvenated.
The best way to proceed is to isolate yourself somewhere in the nature or beside "your" tree that you know and that has known you since childhood. You know, there used to be a custom, when a child is born, to plant a tree, for instance an oak for a boy and a fir, birch or linden for a girl. It is interesting to observe them as they both grow and develop.
It is very good to spend time in a well known area, but it does not have to be so. Being in nature is great for clearing your thoughts, reconsidering your actions, saying a prayer to the Lord, feeling the connection between everything that breathes under the sun. Finally, you should know that dendrotherapy only helps if it is performed regularly, if you turn it into a habit.
What about a big city dweller, who has no park nearby, let alone a grove?
- Specialists suggest using thin slices cut of various sorts of trees. Although each one of us has his or her own tree, it has been noticed that oak, birch and pine fit almost every profile.
Academic Boris Dodonov managed to create an universal corrector of human biofield. It is an ordinary slice, a piece of a tree, 20 to 30 cm wide, up to 10 cm thick. This piece has an opening in the middle and seven oblique, radial incisions around the opening.
You said that some trees give, and others steal life energy.
- Yes, the donor trees, the givers of energy, really have the ability of accumulating a high amount of cosmic energy. They are the aforementioned oak, birch, pine, cedar, locust, maple tree...
Each person should know what his tree is, the one that enables him to cope with the life difficulties, with illnesses. When one learns this, one should plant it in his vicinity.
But, there is the so-called negative energy. How to get rid of it?
- Well, now we are talking about the energy-stealing trees. The strongest in this respect are all kinds of poplars and goat willow. Chestnut, fir and cheryomuha (American cherry) are weaker, but very useful. They are great for treating some illnesses.
I'm not sure whether you know the Russian folk poem "Ivushka zelenaya", about a girl asking a goat willow by the water where she would find her love.
See, the folk intuition has worked impeccably for millennia. When you are sad, tense or upset, press your back (with the spinal column) and your palms against such a tree, just as you did when you were playing hide and seek and hid behind a tree. This is very good for freeing yourself from tension and irritability.
If you have problems with internal organs, simply hug a tree as it was your best pal. But, it is not recommended to stay in such a"hug" for more than twenty minutes.
One does not need to emphasise how much better it is to use a living tree, rather than a piece of it, but in a case of emergency, that would do too. Pieces from the upper part of the tree are better than those from the lower part.
I am not sure if you are familiar with this, but toothache, sore throat, gastritis or headache have always been treated this way in Russia.
You keep a piece of wood beside the painful spot for 5 to 7 minutes, and it is all over. These methods cannot hurt and are especially recommended to those who suffer from brain spasms or from cardiovascular diseases.
Please allow us to ask you about the birch, as we have a personal interest in it. It was subject of poems, Yesenin dedicated many verses to it, and the literature is full of descriptions and recipes for the treatment with birch sap, leaves and buds.
- It is true that birch is the most popular, because it has numerous curative and healing properties. It is sufficient to go to a birch grove once a week, choose one of the larger specimens of this beautiful tree, hug it and stay with it for fifteen minutes.
You have mentioned its curative properties: birch buds, sap, leaves and even the mushroom growing on it – chaga, they are all beneficial, extraordinarily rich in biologically active materials.
- Birch leaves contain essential oils, vitamins, rutin, caroten, phytoncite, flavonoids... Young leaves are rich in proteins, fats, vitamins. The best is the so-called warty willow, the one that is sprinkled with fragrant resinal "tears".
Birch leaf teas are great against hypertension and they also alleviate pain. Various herbal remedies from birch improve circulation and break down thrombus, which makes them recommendable against thrombophlebitis, skin inflammations, pneumonia, bronchitis, gallbladder and urinary tract diseases etc.
Birch is useful in the treatment of diseases caused by radiation. Birch accelerates wound healing, regulates liver and gall bladder functioning. In order to speed up and intensify the process of dendrotherapy, the specialists advise applying soft massage with the index finger at least 50 times over the area of the right epigastrum, where the liver is located.
Teas from the leaves and buds rejuvenate the tissue successfully and without scars, even if deep wounds are involved. Wash your hair with the birch leaf tea, because you will get stronger, lighter and thicker hair like the ancient Slavs.
Drink birch tea and combine the procedure with spending time in the nature and the direct contact with the tree.
In case of brain spasms drink birch leaf and celandine tea one third of a cup three times a day. Birch leaves and St. John's wort help against cardiac insufficiency. Birch also helps concentration, improves attention and strengthens the organism. It is also great in ionizing the air.
What about other trees?
Oak also has extraordinary properties. Above all, it is useful as an antistress therapy. It activates circulations and shortens recovery time. It is one of the best positive energy generators. It is good to have oak furniture at home not only because it is lasting and beautiful, but because it emits positive energy.
Pine calms and eliminates mental tension. A lengthy stay in a pine-wood protects from cough, sneezing, bronchitis and similar problems.
Beech increases stress resistance and strengthens concentration, while also having a positive effect on circulation.
Chestnut relieves rheumatic ailments, eliminates insomnia and, as folk wisdom claims, chases away the fear and tension of various origins.
I would also add that many of the aforementioned trees also strengthen the organism against allergy. However, while the allergy is in progress, the best help will come from the pieces of wood we discussed before, because in the flowering period the direct contact with trees may cause undesired reactions.
Finally, are the trees around us a sort of indication as to how we live and how healthy we are?
- Yes, you are right. A tree influences the area in which it grows, by protecting it in a certain way. A poor state of the trees around a home is a sign to the owner that something is wrong.
The message, therefore, is: learn how to communicate with nature and understand its messages. That will help you a great deal.
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