This afternoon, I came outside to dry my hair after showering, and found the air temperature 78° and the wind just slightly gusty. The sun at 3 o’clock, the sky clear, the desert still green from the rains a few weeks ago, and the desert I greet each morning and say goodnight to each night seemed to bless me with such good energy, I could only stand still with my eyes closed and let it sink in.

Then a healer inside me, a resident or maybe one who just comes in now and then, took me through a series of slow motions like tai chi, then collapsed me down, my head to my knees, then twisted me very slowly in one direction and the next, rolling across with my head bowed and rotating, all so slowly that every muscle fiber after another hummed with joy. Then we rose again like a tree slowly twisting and swaying in the wind, then slowly returned to this pose that I don’t know about, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was an asana: my feet apart, toes wide, knees bent, arms bent beside me, palms forward, shoulders relaxed, breathing full, loving the stretch in these muscles that don’t often get used, finding slightly new variations with a slow twist, relaxing.

I believe we all have inner healers that can help us release stress in our bodies without lessons or classes, give us the same benefits of an expensive massage, get our lymph system moving, get our blood fully moving, our nervous systems made happy, and healing begun.