Tree-in-a-Storm Pose

There are some moments that get permanently engraved into our hearts and minds. I was reminded of one while teaching a yoga class this week. We were doing "tree pose". One woman had wobbled a little and said "I was doing 'tree-in-a-storm' pose". WHAM! I was there.

That moment was back. An AMAZING moment several years ago. We were living in the other house - the "married" house. I was in fact still married, though I'd guess it was pretty much in shambles.

The house sat on a hillside surrounded by many large oaks. Behind the house was 65 acres of wilderness. That night, there was a storm brewing. It was hurricane season, and we were getting the 'blow off' of one of the bigger storms of that year. It hadn't begun to rain, but the wind had picked up, and the energy in the air was palpable.

I had returned from a yoga class, where we had practiced tree pose. The house was silent. As I headed upstairs to our bedroom, I could see the tree limbs swaying back and forth through the sliding glass doors.

The far wall of our bedroom was mostly glass - those sliding glass doors that stepped off onto a second story deck (over a full garage, so perhaps more of a 3rd story...). Suffice it to say, I was up in the air, well up into the branches of those mighty oaks.

I set my mat down and walked toward the glass doors. The room was still dark except for the light down the hall in the stairwell. Instinctively, I opened the door and walked through.

I closed my eyes as the breeze met my face. The wind pushed the hair out of my eyes and I took a deep, deep breath. "oh, how I love a storm!" I thought.

Standing tall, I began. Shifting my weight onto my supporting leg, bringing the other foot to the calf, then the thigh, arms lifting up overhead.

There I stood. Wind on my face, swaying with oak trees. Dark except for the faint light behind me and an occasional flash of lightening. Peaceful. Strong. Balanced despite the storm surrounding me. As it is with God. He would soon show me that....

I remember writing, immediately after the experience:

"Tree pose. 20 feet in the air. back lit. in the midst of a storm. is TOTALLY AWESOME!"

It was. Totally Awesome.