And outside, another group gets a lesson on tree hugging — literally.

Instructor Cindy Miller, after speaking with the group in a classroom, takes the group outside for some tree meditation.

“Close your eyes,” she tells them, as the exercise begins. “Imagine you have roots sprouting from your feet, moving down, down into the earth, down into the core of the earth ... Feel it up into your knees, feel the limbs reaching out of you and up into the sky, up into the atmosphere, into space, feel the pulsing energy of the universe.”

She then has them do individual meditations with specific trees. One woman curls her arm around a tree trunk and leans against it, eyes closed. Another tree has five people around it, each with both hands pressing against it. It’s slightly reminiscent of that photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

Anna Vaith of Racine, Minn., was among the tree group. She said she’d hoped it would have also discussed some more advanced techniques, as she already knew most of what was done.

This was her third conference. She liked it so much she even brought her mom, Gunderson from the “Channeling Loved Ones” workshop.

“This gives me a chance at topics I don’t have much access to,” she said.

The conference, she said, gives her an opportunity to learn at a place full of strong, intelligent women.

She also liked the chance to spend the weekend with mom.