The Living Tree Model ©
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Connection :-
its quality of life, Connection shapes our relationships, our community, our support systems, and even our sense of soul and spirituality. It helps us resolve conflict, grow in emotional maturity, communicate with clarity, and feel part of something bigger than ourselves. At its heart, connection is the way we stay grounded — through others, through kindness, through our inner world, and through the wider web of life we’re part of.
Resources...
Our resources shape the rhythm and stability of daily life. They include our time, routines, income, work, finances, energy, possessions, and the natural resources we rely on. This branch reflects what we have access to, how we use it, and how resourceful we are with what’s available. It’s also about knowing the difference between what we need and what we want, and recognising when we’re stretched too thin or carrying more than we can manage.
Connectivity: * Relationships * Community * Support systems * Stoicism * Self connection/ soul * Spirituality * Conflict resolution/ perspective * Emotional maturity * Intrapersonal communication * Interpersonal communication * Digital life * Acts of kindness
Environment ...
Our environment shapes how we feel, think, and move through the world. It includes our personal spaces, the homes and workplaces we inhabit, the communities around us, and the natural world we’re part of. The environment influences our habits, our sense of balance, and even our physical and emotional regulation. It’s the energy of a room, the flow of a space, the platforms we use, and the way we care for the world we share. From the smallest corner of our home to global concerns, our environment is the ecosystem we live within — and it quietly shapes our wellbeing every day.
Environment: * Personal space * Living / working spaces * Home * Local environment / community * Platforms * Feng shui * Collective responsibility * Sustainability * Nature * Global concerns * Inside / outside balance
Resources: * Time * Routine * Income streams * Occupation * Finances * Possessions * Natural resources * Energy * Access * Resourcefulness
Mind ...
The mind is the inner landscape that shapes how we think, feel, and make sense of the world. It includes our instincts, our ability to focus, the way our brain processes information, and the time we need to filter and understand our experiences. This branch holds our mindfulness, meditation, wisdom, learning, creativity, and the priorities that guide us. It reflects our mental health, our capacity for strong, steady thinking, and the mindset we bring to growth and gratitude. The mind is where clarity begins — a space that supports perspective, resilience, and the gentle unfolding of insight.
Body ...
The body is the physical home we live in every day. It’s shaped by how we nourish ourselves, how we move, how we rest, and the care we give to our health. This branch includes our food choices, exercise, sleep, holistic healing, medicine, and the simple routines that keep us clean, supported, and well. It’s also the way we listen to our body’s signals, honour our energy, and create practices — like stretching, walking, or yoga — that help us feel balanced and regulated. The body is our physical form in the world, and tending to it gently strengthens every other part of life.
Mind: * Neuroscience / Areas of brain * Instinct * Mindfulness * Meditation * Wisdom / experience * Filter * Processing time * Mental health / ‘strong minds’ * Knowing priorities * Learning * Creativity * Growth mindset * Gratitude
Body: * Food intake/ nutrition * Exercise * Movement * Sleep * Holistic healing * Medicine / Drugs * Cleanliness * Physical care * Yoga
Trunk / Individual ...
The trunk represents you — your sense of purpose, your direction, and the personal rhythms that shape how you move through life. It holds your preferences, your ways of expressing yourself, and the strengths you lean on. It also includes the places you feel tender or stretched, the things that drain you, and the things that energise you. This part of the tree reflects your self‑awareness: the quiet understanding of who you are, what matters to you, and how you show up in the world. The trunk is your steady centre — the living core that connects your roots to your branches and allows your whole ecosystem to grow in its own natural way.
Roots ...
Our roots hold the stories, influences, and deep patterns that shape who we are. They include our culture, upbringing, attachments, heritage, beliefs, and the values and ethics we carry forward. This branch also reaches into the instinctive, unconscious layers — the parts of us formed long before we had words for them. Our roots don’t define us, but they nourish us, steady us, and help us understand why we move through the world the way we do. Tending to our roots brings clarity, compassion, and a deeper sense of belonging to ourselves and the wider human story.
Individual You! * Sense of purpose/ direction * Personal cycles or rhythms * Preferences * Self expression * Strengths * Weaknesses * Self awareness * Emotional drainers/ energisers
As you explore the twigs for each branch, think reflectively about how they interact
for you, how they impact your resilience and how you can achieve your individual, natural balance, by changing different areas.
Roots: * Culture * Upbringing * Attachments * Heritage * Beliefs * Values/ ethics * Instinctive unconscious
A gentle breeze or a powerful storm, the rise of the sun or the glow of the moon, the wild chase for food or the tender care of the young — nature is always shifting. The dance of the bee, the flight of the birds, the droughts of too little and the floods of too much, the shedding of trees and the burst of spring buds — everything lives in a delicate, ever‑changing balance.
The Living Tree Model was created out of a deep respect for nature and the careful balance it is atuned to.
The Living Tree Model is created by M. Drew and is offered for personal growth, learning, and educational use. You’re welcome to explore it, share it, and use its ideas in your own reflections, teaching, or wellbeing work, as long as the original creator is acknowledged. Please credit M. Drew — Living Tree Model whenever the framework, concepts, or wording are used. This helps keep the roots of the work clear, honours its source, and allows the model to be shared widely while staying connected to its origin.