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February 1, 2019

What we can learn from Cats.

I’m a self-confessed cat lover. Yes, even though they’re notorious for killing the local wildlife and can be extremely moody creatures- how could I claim to love humans if I didn’t also love the cat? After all, we know which between the two claims first prize in both fields… But we won’t get into that. Instead I want to promulgate the incredible lessons we can learn from these Zen-Master Yogis that have always inspired me and my own practice. If we observe the habits and abilities of the humble house cat, there’s a lot to be learnt if we keep an open mind.

I hold a lot of tension in my body, we all do. When I’m stressed or anxious I can feel it in my neck and upper back. My stomach is clenched and chest tight. I tense the jaw and can feel the remnant throbbing in my temples. A lot of the pain we experience in the body is directly linked to what’s going on in our heads. Anxiety, fear, anger and all the other feelings that we often stuff deep down inside of us, all of these pent up emotions need a release somewhere. This release is felt in uncomfortable disruptions or even painful sensations in the body.

“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”

-Ernest Hemingway

Now, if you have a cat handy (preferably one you know), pick it up. Let’s call him Tiddles. If Tiddles is light enough you can just pop your hand right under his belly and lift him up. How does he look when you do that? Besides no doubt looking a bit put out by this unusual interruption to his grooming schedule, I bet he’s just flopping right over your hand like a ragdoll. Loose and long. How supple cats are! They can lift their legs over their heads and have a good clean, a yawn and even watch the birds fluttering outside without the slightest effort, still flaunting their pose with grace.

My meditation teacher told me once in an interview “It’s impossible to have anxiety with no tension in the body”. I sat with this and found it to be true. The expression of anxiety in the body, the part of anxiety that makes you feel really rotten, is tension. Now look at a cat. Chances are, unless there’s an immediate threat or danger, it’s looking pretty relaxed right now. They are truly Zen Masters, living in that very moment, with no thoughts of the past or future creating anxiety in the mind or tension in the body.

“I have lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats.”

-Eckhart Tolle

This concept first came up on a retreat when I told my teacher about the difficulties I was having with the breath. About six days into the silent retreat I finally observed what was right in front of me, that I was actually having regular episodes of hyperventilation without realising it, such are the delusions the monkey mind is capable of. I was living in the future, mind conjuring up situations that may never happen, fears, worries, planning. My whole body was tense and suffering because of it with hyperventilation, stomach aches, pain in my neck and back and an irritable bowel. Oh the joys of insight! But truly an important lesson. So I was taught the way of the cat.

When a human undergoes a stressful situation, when there’s the fight or flight response, the mind and body is elevated to such an incredible level of tension and alert. It is ready for any situation as a survival mechanism. This was an excellent mechanism back in the day, and still is in certain situations. However, with the relative safety of our day to day lives coupled with increasingly higher levels of stress, this ancient human response is doing more harm to our systems than good. It is the cause of much chronic pain, anxiety, depression, unnecessary medication, insomnia and a host of other issues. The human body holds on to its tension. A cat’s body does not.

Have you ever seen a cat engage in a fight, frightened by a loud noise or stressed in any other way? From my own observations, mere minutes, sometimes seconds after their stress response their bodies are relaxed and supple again, most likely grooming or finding a good place to nap. Compare this to humans or even man’s poor best friend the dog, who will remain in a heightened state for hours or even days, minds busy, ruminating and alert, tight, restless, fidgety.

No wonder our feline friends feel they have to catch our next meal for us and leave it at the back door. How sorry they must feel for their poor owners. Most of us can’t even touch our toes! A cat on the other hand can rotate their bodies up to 180 degrees to the left and right. “That’s anatomy!” I hear you cry, “evolution, genetics”… Every time a cat awakens from one of their many naps, they stretch to flex every muscle and sinew to its fullest extent and restore circulation. The human body is capable of incredible flexibility and movement as well. When we put in the time to tend to our own well-being, like a cat, we can reap the benefits. When you wake up in the morning, channel the cat and streeetch. I love to watch a cat stretch. The whole body is involved and quivers with energy. Be inspired by them, they’re beautiful creatures.

It’s not just their chill attitude and rubbery suppleness to marvel over either. It’s their lifestyle as well! Modern society lauds activity, haste, ambition, work. I enjoy the silent lessons of my cat Desmond. In his inactivity I read ‘patience’, ‘calm’, ‘peace’, ‘contentment’. He’ll sleep 12-16 hours a day. How much better his body must run because of it. I know when I only get six hours or less I pay for it with less mental clarity, moodiness, drowsiness, negativity and feeling under the weather.

“Way down deep, we’re all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them.”

-Jim David (cartoonist, Garfield)

When looking in a Thesaurus, why are synonyms of inactivity so negative? ‘Lethargy’, ‘sluggishness’, ‘stagnation’, ‘loafing’, ‘dawdling’, ‘truancy’, ‘stupor’, ‘vegetating’, ‘loitering’. In response I look to Kerouac, “Rest and be kind, you don’t have to prove anything.” It’s incredible really, how much we as a society value and endorse hyperactivity and condone ‘idleness’. I’ve never climbed Mt. Everest, but I imagine it can’t be any harder than a meditation retreat. Like climbing a mountain, it takes incredible will-power, as well as physical and mental stability to maintain stillness and focus for such lengths.

Everyone knows the proverb ‘Curiosity killed the Cat’, though I bet you didn’t know there’s a second part to this phrase-‘,but satisfaction brought it back’. How I applaud a cat’s curiosity! They will seek out unusual textures to feel, explore their surroundings with deliberate intensity, smell things, climb things, taste things. They can look for hours with such stillness and interest into a landscape or at potential prey. Their focus can become one-pointed and razor-sharp. It’s this inquisitive nature I aim to bring to my practice of meditation and yoga. To penetrate more deeply into the activities of the mind, the motions and sensations of the body, the interplay between movement and breath, mind and body. A cat can do this with such playful ease. If one can gain such focus and keen interest, and like a cat not take themselves so seriously, then that person can truly be called a Yogi. What a fine line to tread, it’s no wonder a cat has to take so many naps.

Cats are loving yet fiercely independent. Insistent when they need to be. Clean and meticulous. Incredibly agile, strong and full of character. They know what they want. Cats are the great revolutionaries of our age, at peace and content, living only in the present moment. Relaxed, living by instinct, listening to their bodies. For these reasons and many more I am inspired by the humble cat. I bow to my cat Desmond for being my ever-present Guru and express gratitude to my past feline friends and acquaintances who are forever in my heart. I will live by their example and take part in the cats’ silent revolution of satisfied quiescence and calm ease. Against a too-busy world, I will continue in taking my lessons from these most marvelous of creatures. They have a lot to teach, and we a lot to learn.

Written By Dan Gargett

For more by Dan, check out:

Website: https://teatreeyogi.com/

Instagram: @teatreeyogi

https://www.instagram.com/teatreeyogi/

 

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