You Have the Right to Purr. You Have the Right to Hiss.
Ever feel like a scaredy cat trying to hang out with the big dogs? Do you tend to talk too much or feel a hairball is stuck in your throat when you are around certain people or situations? Then take the lead from what cats really do when the presence of fear urges them to humbly move into the strength of Universal Support. They make themselves bigger by puffing up their back and their neck!
By opening the back body, we open to the unknown, to that which is greater than ourselves, to untapped sources of power. Opening in this way, draws in and strengthens the front body and helps us find our own inner power. The back body represents trust and support which is what we need to get stronger and to balance the opening of our heart. Breathing into the back of our hearts and lengthening our necks gives us the freedom to speak.
You have the right to purr. You have the right to hiss. Deliver whatever your expression is in our pose aptly named “Cat Scratch Fever”.
Begin on all fours. Line up your wrists under your shoulders and place your knees hip-width apart. Inhale as you spread your fingers wide and press your finger pads, knuckles and the four corners of your palms down evenly so the center of your palms will lift up toward your armpits. Lengthen from your hips up to your armpits. Exhale and soften into your back body. Soften your throat and the back of your eyes.
Inhale and slide your side ribs back, puff up your back body until you feel strong and supported. Try to even puff up the back of your neck!
Exhale and lift your tail and both sides of your throat up to move your spine in the opposite direction. With your breath leading the
way, move your spine slowly and deliberately back and forth with catlike agility.
For more power, purr, “trust” with your inhale and “strength” with your exhale.
This will awaken your back body in a way that is not hardening or constricting and will bring you to a place of recognition and empowerment so that depending on your needs you can either speak easy or be silent. Breathe into the back of your heart to connect to those big dogs in your life. It will take you to a higher place, and that’s where you want to land.
As Earth Day approaches this year, I am struck by what it means to truly foster Peace on this planet. I remember as a child, learning about anti-nuclear protestors who chained themselves to fences and were forcibly removed and jailed. These brave souls became my heroines and heroes in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. I was moved to tears singing Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” and hearing stories of civil disobedience and the message of non-violent resistance. Later in the 1990’s, when I danced barefoot on my very first Earth Day, a lump would form in my throat when I celebrated each small victory (and the Gigantic Hearts) of environmental protestors who sacrificed so much to save a single tree and worked to preserve open space for our children’s children. Peace.
Have you ever felt not worthy? Maybe you lacked Self-love or maybe you didn’t surround yourself with goodness at the time. Who we surround ourselves with is who we become. If we surround ourselves with downers we begin to feel down. If we surround ourselves with happy, joyous, and delightful people we become more happy and joyful. If we were to eat junk food every single day we would begin to feel down and ucky. When we eat healthier we experience delight and Self-love. Honor Your Self! Surround yourself with goodness. “The first step toward awareness is being willing to look at yourself and your life without judgment or self-criticism.” (Iyanla Vanzant) Awareness opens the heart to new possibilities.