skirts.
-o0o-
Nat smiled as young hands reached up for the sky in parallel with her own. Greeting the sun. Letting the energy of new mornings and sunny days dance into their hearts.
Shay’s face tipped up a little further, her spine arching into a graceful bend that would have made most of Spirit Yoga’s students weep.
Nat flowed into an arch of her own, reveling in the joys of a flexible body and a wide-awake soul. And then laughed as her niece kept going, floating her hands down to a bridge on the ground. Hands and feet planted, heart soaring up to the sky.
Sometimes intuitive yoga was the very best kind.
Listening to the needs of her own body, Nat opted for a kick into handstand instead, letting the early sun tickle the bottoms of her feet. And then tumbled over onto the grass in a tangle of undisciplined fun.
Bendy bodies sometimes needed time to play, too.
Shay collapsed beside her, giggling. “I thought we were doing sun salutations.”
The sun could be honored in so many different ways. “I’m going to do some with my toes.” Nat held up her bare feet and twisted them into a passable impression of downward dog.
More quiet snickers from her morning yoga companion. Sometimes Shay brought her sisters, sometimes she came alone—but most mornings since school had ended, Nat hadn’t been alone in her backyard sunrise yoga. It changed the flavor of the practice somewhat, especially when all three came. But Shay’s heart, especially, knew how to sink into the joy of the asanas. To find what she needed in breath and movement and focus.
Nat let the grass tickle the back of her palms.
There had been many emissaries the day before, hoping Auntie Nat could get a read on Shay’s soul. The most poignant had been Ginia, worried about her sister.
And they had all been unnecessary. It had taken only hours after Nat had first arrived in Berkeley, even caught in the tumult of love at first sight and a best friend in the throes of power emergence, for two old souls to find each other. One living in a small, blonde girl, the other in a serene yogini, both vibrating to a song most others never heard.
It was a connection, a resonance, that Nat cherished.
She had known Shay would come.
Already, the breathing beside her quieted. Nat let intention flow into the silence. A wish, a gentle nudge, and a promise of love unending. It wouldn’t take the energies long to work. Not with a heart as receptive as the one who lay beside her.
A hand shifted, rustling the grass. “They’re worried about me.”
“Yes.” Honoring truth. And then encouraging it to breathe a little. “Do they need to be?”
“No.” The smile of an old soul who knew her worth. “I don’t think I’m supposed to have power, even when I grow up. I’ll be just like you and Dad. We’re the people who help the magic work better.”
So much love in those words, and also, the edges of risk. A subtle danger—and one an aunt wanted to cover in neon warning paint. Just in case. “We don’t exist only for the magic, lovey.” No matter how strong its gravitational pull or how deep the love of the people who wielded it.
“I know.” Again, wisdom rang bell-bright in Shay’s words. “Dad keeps the world more fair, and you teach people to find the shape of their hearts.” More rustling as one eleven-year-old extracted herself from the grass. “I don’t know my special job yet. Music, maybe.”
Nat sat up, quietly overwhelmed by the glorious offhand compliment. Most people thought she simply taught yoga. “You already know pieces of it.” One aunt tried to return the compliment of being truly seen for who you were. “You’ve got a gift for knowing what matters and seeing how to make it possible.” An agile observer with a very big heart.
Shay’s head ducked, cheeks pink. “That’s really nice. Thank you.”
In so many families, this would be the child
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