Welcome to the Tree of Life Wellness Workshop!

Tree of Life: Using Symbolism

Photo: IRC in NY

Welcome to the Tree of Life workshop! The Youth Program Coordinator and the Safety and Wellness Coordinator organized the in-person Tree of Life Workshop in early June for youth students. The theme Tree of Life represents the sharing of our goals, heritage, and values. The image of a tree served as a symbol to help reflect on the theme. Youth students and a mother joined the IRC in NY’s Tree of Life Workshop. Together, they shared their life stories and gained perspective of each other's stories through drawing and sharing trees that represent their lives. Each part of the tree represents different ideas:

• the roots: represented our backgrounds and upbringing
• ground: where we are now and what we like to do
• trunk: our values, skills, qualities branches: our short-term and long-term goals and dreams for ourselves and the world
• leaves: our support systems and role models fruits: legacies and gifts that have been passed down to us
• flowers: legacies and gifts we give and wish to pass down

Some participants are from El Salvador, Turkmenistan, and China and some had recently arrived in the US just a few weeks ago. It was a meaningful activity for youth students. During the Tree share out, youth students talked about their home countries, including the landscape, way of life, and family traditions. Students shared how similar or different it is compared to New York.

Participants bonded by sharing their family values, and their hopes and dreams for the future including learning English, becoming a scientist, traveling, and building a new life with their family in the U.S. The Tree of Life workshop ended with two mindfulness activities in the classroom. They were a tree meditation, in which they envisioned being a tree in the forest, AND the explore your 5 senses activity. That was their favourite part!