Early in my yoga practice, I often rushed to the studio straight from work. I quickly shed my conservative suit, rolled out my purple mat and exhaled, or was it melted? Getting to class was a push after failing to extract myself from the office on time, but part of my scurry was a desire to whisk past the oddities on the studio shop’s shelves. 

I’d always loved hearing stories about ghost sightings or angel assists. I wanted to believe. Yet when I heard a firsthand account, it inevitably threw me. I thought I was open to the possibility of what we do not normally see or understand in our physical world, but my very rational left brain analysis kicked in and spit out a “does not compute” response, usually in the form of copious tears streaming down my cheeks.

I think fear at the notion of the paranormal landing so close to my reality zone threw me into a confused state of irreconciliation. I trusted the person telling me their story, yet I found it unbelievable on some level. Until it came my turn to meet face-to-face with a seemingly impossible being and I surrendered to possibility.

Winding away from my cul-de-sac, beyond landscaped lawns and sidewalks onto the muddy, overgrown path of the forest, I scanned along mossy limestone outcroppings, remnants of a glacial past, for a resting spot. Nestling into the scooped root bed of a mature tree, I felt the strong, rough trunk firm behind my back.

I tilted my head back and opened my eyes to the dizzying sway of naked branches creaking under swiftly skimming clouds. I sunk into the leaf-covered ground, thankful for the winter partition this sunny day offered. Connected and grounded, I felt the energy of the tree enter through my back, filling my body with its signature current.

I’m halfway into my luxe birthday gift, a hot stone massage, when Alexis squeezes my calf so hard I bite my lip. She lets up just as I’m just about to wave a white flag, and my leg feels amazing. Energy courses the length of my muscles.

In the midst of enjoying this flow, my head suddenly bursts with a visual of my whole life mapped as a swirling spiral. I see the paths of professions, personal relationships, education, travel, personal pursuits, stirring, seemingly unrelated, like stars in a galaxy, until they converge on a central point of uncompromised clarity and harmony, before swirling out again.