The Tree Whose Roots Are Above
Why a Jew sways in learning and davening: like a tree, the head is the root, drawing life from Heaven.
Rav Menashe describes a person as a tree, an image the sages themselves use. He disagrees with Aristotle, who pictured man as an upside-down tree with roots in the head only because it takes in food. Truly, he says, a person stands upright, and his head, where the soul dwells, is the root that draws spiritual nourishment from Heaven above. Just as the earth holds a tree's roots firmly, so Heaven pulls a person's head upward, which is why he is created standing tall. When the intellect receives that flow as he learns Torah or davens, the whole body responds, the way branches sway when rain falls on a tree. The flow of Heaven into the mind moves the body as well.
Source: Nishmas Chaim, Third Treatise, section 6
Next time you daven or learn, notice your posture. Stand or sit upright, as a tree does, and remember that the soul is rooted above and is drawing life from there. Let the words move you, whether you sway, stay still or close your eyes, but do not rush. Take even one bracha slowly, and let it reach you. Ending the day with this small awareness brings quiet joy and a sense that you belong to something far larger than yourself.