human being, how is your nature, it is to continue going forward, you must not go back and say I have been cut and then stay there and limp. “B” took this analogy further, saying: People would say but I am more than a tree, you see. If you cut the tree and it continues to live, why can’t I be the same? That’s the way of trying to forego the past and continue focusing on the future, because the tree has a future, ...to us this is a double advantage that we had, in the sense that we got to yield ourselves as individuals and also we obtained a vehicle or we acquired a vehicle which we can institute in our quest to develop this, this face, you see which we always have. In a way the participants were saying that, although they had been “cut down,” their life’s essence had not been snuffed out or completely destroyed. Like the tree, they still had what it takes to regain their agency and live fruitful and fulfilling lives. It gave them hope and a fresh perspective on life as they realized that the scars and the wounded-ness that had been inflicted upon them and which had been hindering their well-being, did not necessarily mean the end of a future they might have once dreamt. Secondly, the tree has adapted to its adverse environment; that is to say, the conditions under which it is striving have not necessarily changed to favor it, yet it apparently is growing like any of the other trees around it. If it did not have the visible marks of its adversarial experiences it would not stand out from the other trees. Here is how “T” thought it benefited him: Looking at the tree... how it gets to adapt to the environment, all those things... that tree resembles my life, how I’ve managed to go through all those things and found it helpful because this gave me the strength to keep on keeping on ...but looking at this workshop that we had... I think it was really helpful, a good benefit to me... So I took it upon myself that if the tree can survive under all those conditions, then I can also live under these conditions... Lastly, although the tree was hurt, because of its nonviolent nature, it did not retaliate. As “B” saw it: ...If you take the symbolism of a tree... We all stood by it, we touched its branch... that tree was nonviolent, ok, that tree of course it’s not a human