Sonja Semyonova, 45, has always felt lonely but claims her newfound connection with the tree has fulfilled a void. The self-intimacy guide expresses that the emotions she experiences with the tree mirror what she has always sought in a person.
The presence she feels with the tree fulfills a fantasy she has had with a person. “The feeling of being small and supported by something so stable. The sensation of not being able to fall. I had been craving that rush of erotic energy that comes with meeting a new partner, which is not sustainable,” she said.
Sonja relocated to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, in winter 2020 and started taking daily walks during lockdown. It was during these walks that Sonja would pass by a large oak tree near her home and began having “erotic” experiences in the summer of 2021.
Sonja recalled, “I was walking a path near the tree five days a week for the whole winter. I noticed a connection with the tree. I would rest against it. There was an eroticism with something so immense and so ancient supporting my back.”
Sonja clarifies that she does not engage in physical acts with the tree and mentions that the feelings she experiences from nature are not necessarily the same as human sexuality. “A common misconception is that ecosexuality involves physical relations between people and nature; it’s a distinct way of exploring the erotic,” she explained.
She emphasized, “To observe the changing of the seasons is, to me, an erotic act. You transition from the dormancy of winter to the rejuvenation of spring and the mating that follows. There are similarities between human sexual experiences and the eroticism that ecosexuals experience with nature, but they are not identical.”
Sonja believes that everyone is an ecosexual and contends that recognizing this within ourselves could aid in resolving climate issues. “It’s already present in many people. There’s a reason we want to picnic in parks and hike in nature. What we overlook is that we seek to tap into the life force that emanates from these elements, which is inherently erotic,” she said. “I believe that we could benefit from fostering a more symbiotic relationship with nature, and that relationship could certainly be erotic.”
