Transcending Rationality: the Magic of a Full-Body Yes

The innate knowing that something is exactly right for you, even {and especially} when it makes no logical sense

Glendalough Upper Lake, Ireland | Photo by Magdalena Smolnicka on Unsplash

Experiencing a deep yearning to connect with the raw power of the land and my Celtic roots, I spent much of 2018 journeying to many sacred sites throughout England, Scotland and Ireland.

I was often drawn to venture off the beaten path of the tourist circuit ~ magically led to spaces where I could really hear the trees and stones whispering messages they’d held in safekeeping through the ages, where I could feel the cells in my body being activated and coming alive in a whole new way.

It was here that I first deeply understood how we are always in a reciprocal relationship with Nature, that we are essential elements in its ecosystem. I would sit in a grove of ancient yew trees or by the side of a river flowing red with its iron-rich waters and I’d express my deep appreciation for all the liberation, wisdom and clarity I was receiving. As I thanked the trees, the moss and the stones, I could feel them thanking me back.

What? You’re thanking me?

I imagined giggling responses that went something like, “Of course, silly. Just as your cells are being awakened and activated in our presence, the same is happening for us. As you and others like you are drawn to be here, your energy of love and appreciation reignites something within us. This is how it works ~ giving and receiving in reciprocity, in a continual state of mutual thriving.”

In the midst of a string of mind-boggling synchronicities, I met a young Scottish man named Ryan on a ferry from the mystical island of Iona to the mainland of western Scotland. We both experienced an instant, soul-deep recognition and quickly learned that we were on similar journeys ~ both being powerfully called to visit sacred sites, to connect deeply with the land and to remember, appreciate and exchange this something that is both palpable and ineffable.

The Invitation

At one point in the hours-long conversation that ensued, Ryan said that I really should consider attending the Ancient Ireland retreat that he was helping to facilitate the following month. “Oh no, I’m not one for group tours of sacred sites, and I’m really not looking for any sort of personal transformation retreat at this point. I’m good.” He looked at me with a knowing grin and said, “I hear you. Here’s the link just in case you want to check it out.”

Later that night, I pulled up the link to the website, skimmed through the beautiful images to the price and decided it was not for me. I was living off my savings at that point and the registration fee for the 7-day retreat was more than a month’s worth of my “living expenses.” {Side note: think about that phrase for a second and the message it sends to our unconscious that we need to somehow pay to be alive, to earn our keep.}

Over the following week, my mind kept going to the Ancient Ireland retreat. As much as I kept walking away from the opportunity, it wasn’t walking away from me.

Finally I decided to schedule a call with the woman who was leading the retreat ~ so I could feel into it more, confirm that it wasn’t for me, and let it go.

Within the first minutes of the call, I felt something special in the connection with Niamh. She was born and raised in Ireland, had spent the past several years in Australia, and had been strongly called to come back to her home country and to bring together this retreat.

Before I could share what I had told Ryan, she said, “You know, this is not your typical group tour of sacred sites. And it isn’t like the personal transformation retreats I’ve been leading in Australia. This is very different ~ it’s for people who feel called to connect deeply with this land, knowing that there is something they have to bring that is needed at this time, contributing to something bigger than themselves.”

In that moment, all the yeah-but voices in my head ~ the thoughts that told me this would not be a smart choice, that I couldn’t afford it, that I could and should just continue on my own ~ simply evaporated. I felt a wave of energy move through every cell in my body that can only be described as a “knowing” that I was meant to be there ~ that this was something I had agreed to at a level and dimension beyond what I could consciously understand.

Although this trip went well beyond what made any logical or rational sense, the words “I’m in” came out of my mouth … and I knew they were true.

I knew beyond any doubt that this was the next step in my journey, in whatever this mission was that was clearly moving me.

The Full-Body Yes

This was the full-body Yes that I’d only recently been coming to understand ~ a knowing that was vastly different from the well-reasoned choices I’d been making my whole life from my mind, believing that was the only place from which decisions could {or should} be made.

This Yes arises spontaneously … sourced from a deep, authentic and omniscient place. This Yes seldom makes logical sense and yet always takes me exactly where I most need to go.

This Yes is not one that feels like a high of exhilaration {Oh my gosh, this will be so amazing! This will be the thing that makes everything better!} or a low of waffling and wringing my hands {Oh, I don’t know, should I? shouldn’t I? Is this a good decision or a bad one?} that stem from the mind alone. This Yes feels more like a calm, centered revealing of what just is.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go....” ~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

A month later, I was in Ireland with eight other incredible women. Ryan and one other man cooked deliciously nutritious meals and held the masculine energy in a way that allowed us to fully inhabit our feminine ~ connecting with ourselves, each other, and the ancestral and elemental energies of the land in one of the most profound experiences of my life, one that continues to ripple through me today.

Ryan is now leading his own Sacred Scotland experiences and continues to be a dear brother to me. Niamh would go on to become one of three women who initially came together with me to midwife the birth of Grail Leadership.

And it was there in that Ancient Ireland retreat that I connected with the second of those three women ~ Julia, my closest friend and fellow traveler on this epic soul journey, who has been my co-creator for the past four years as we prototyped and embodied a new-paradigm model of roundtable leadership.

This full-body Yes has guided me to places and experiences I never would have gone to otherwise. Slowly but surely, my mind is learning to pause the knee-jerk reactions and WTF protests, to trust it and even support me in finding the best way to get to where the Yes is taking me.

Have you experienced this full-body Yes? Where are some of the illogical, irrational and unreasonable {yet profoundly perfect} places it has taken you?

Thank you for reading & engaging!
Holly McCann