The Mycorrhizal Sisterhood: What Forests Teach Us About Women’s Communities
- Michelle Gallagher Escobar
- Nov 7, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: May 6
By Michelle Gallagher Escobar
I originally intended to write this post to explore the parallels between forests and women’s communities.
Like mycorrhizal networks—the “wood-wide web”—our survival has always relied on sisterhood.
In healthy forests, a close network connects multi-age trees: towering old-growth crones and young saplings alike."Each tree is connected to others via this network, enabling trees to share water and nutrients. For saplings growing in shady areas, there is not enough sunlight reaching their leaves to perform adequate photosynthesis. For survival, the sapling relies on nutrients and sugar from older, taller trees sent through the mycorrhizal network."(Source: nationalforests.org)
Biology Beyond Metaphor
As I delved deeper into the research, I discovered something even more profound:
Sisterhood isn’t just a network for happiness or wellbeing.
It’s rooted in our biology.
We need each other—not only to thrive, but to survive.
Many equate oxytocin, the “bonding hormone,” with mothering—childbirth and breastfeeding.
But every woman releases oxytocin during stress.
This hormone motivates us to bond and seek nurturing interactions.
It reduces cortisol, lowers anxiety, improves mood, and fosters feelings of security.
This response has deep evolutionary roots.
Throughout the history of womankind, the ability to form strong social bonds was essential for both individual and collective survival.
Sisterhood as Medicine
Sisterhood is medicine.
It supports mental, emotional, and physical health.
Setting aside time for bonding with other women—as we do at our retreats—is not a luxury.
It’s a powerful form of self-care that strengthens every area of life.
Like the Forest, We Thrive Together
Like the trees, we thrive in the presence of one another.
We help each other grow.
In nurturing each other, we nurture ourselves.
This is in our roots as women.
Like the trees.
With warmth,
Michelle Gallagher Escobar
Wild Women Hawai‘i
Image of Wild Women Hawai'i retreat by Sarah Gaston
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