Cat-Scratch-Fever

You Have the Right to Purr. You Have the Right to Hiss.

Cat-Scratch-FeverEver 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 theIMG_1662 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.

 

More to Explore

  • Shames, Shames, Go Away! And Don’t Come Back Another Day!

    Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam

     

    Avoidable is the sufferingshames regrets doubts
    that has not yet to come~
    That feeling of shame
    That sticks like chewed gum.

    How do we get through places
    That are stuck deep inside?
    Where the holdings, the collections
    The patterns reside?

    The patterns of feeding
    Our suction cupped shames~
    With secrets and silence
    And judgements and blames.

    Attract the energy of movement~
    And comfort with movement~
    Comfort with change~
    Comfort with improvement.

    Create space between impulseZI60-Hands-Button
    And action that binds~
    The stuck feelings that resists
    Our meetings of minds.

    Space is the experience
    Of minds open and bright
    The Wisdom of Grace
    Is filled up with light.

    Grace is the knowing
    Our mistakes serve an aim~
    Instead of allowing
    Our mistakes to serve shame.

    So to prevent future suffering~
    And the feeding of shames~
    Create a steady practice
    Of breath work and aims.

    Here’s a mantra for you
    To embody and embed~
    Press thumb into each finger
    And say in your head~

    {I inhale to prepare~shames 2
    I exhale to share~
    I inhale to release blame~
    I exhale to transform shame~*}

    {Repeat 11 times}~

    Keep your sitting bones rooted.
    Slowly rotate your core ~
    Counterclockwise 3 rounds
    Your breath? Don’t ignore!

    Inhale going backwards,
    Exhale going forward .
    Your movements ride on your
    breath~

    TS24 big

    It’s pretty straight forward.

    Pause and move clockwise.
    Repeat 11 times.
    Close eyes and listen.
    To your heart beat like chimes.

    Find someone you know,
    You love and you trust
    Show them your shames
    And watch your blames turn to dust.

    May we have what it takes
    To transform all our shames~
    To allow our mistakes
    To serve our Great Aim~

  • A Sutra a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

    What are these sutras
    You speak so about?
    Are they stitches like sutures
    With some sort of clout?

    Good question, my friend~
    Why, yes, yes indeed,
    These sutras are potent
    In times of great need.

    In times of great need,
    And in times of great bliss,
    These highly condensed words
    Should not be dismissed.

    The most essential core thread,
    Of deep subtle meaning,
    That runs through the fabric~
    It supports out of gleanings.

    Gleanings of insights,
    And wisdom fused pearls~
    From the direct experience
    Of wise boys and girls.

    Sutras express so much
    In so very few words.
    With vast significance,
    It’s not for the birds.

    Sutras are formulas
    To be memorized and studied.
    To solve the perplexities~
    Of minds getting muddied.

    So chose your text wisely~
    Yoga, Shiva or Seuss,
    Buddhist, Tao, Platform,
    Tripitaka or Mother Goose.

    Then write them in BOLD~
    Where you’ll see them each day!
    Melt their magnificence
    In every which way.

  • Belmont Abbey College RA’s Get Grounded

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    Needless to say, the RA position entails a great deal of responsibility, but these students are ready and capable of giving even more light and love back to those they serve. With all of the trainings, seminars and long check-lists to prepare the resident halls for new student orientation, the RA’s wanted one more important thing to prepare them for this celebratory new year of college. . . to get GROUNDED!