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.
The week before college life officially started at Belmont Abbey College, the Student Life department held one of its biggest and most important trainings of the year for its Resident Assistants. “RA’s” are some of the most influential student employees on campus. They represent the college in helping new students settle into resident hall life, assist in planning social events, lead discussions, report maintenance concerns, serve as a resource to campus information, lend a listening ear and comforting shoulder to cry on, perform room checks, work in the hall office and much more.
