Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Morning yoga with Sandy (yoga con gato)










Greetings to the Sun, a big hug to the Moon,

Every morning before breakfast I do yoga (I did) for 20 minutes with Sandy. While the world wakes up to more bad news, I stretch, bend, contort and twist as if there was no tomorrow. Sandy does too.  Sometimes I wonder whether I am selfish, egocentric or disinterested, but I don't think so. I am certainly not alone in my existential nonchalance.

Take Frank Kakfa, the famous Check novelist, for example. In August 14, 1914 he wrote in his diary: 'Today Germany declared war on Russia. In the afternoon I went swimming.' That was the day WWI began. 

If Kafka went swimming in the afternoon, why can't I do yoga in the morning? The thing is I do my yoga practice and let the day to take care of itself. I mean, if I didn't, if I waited for important  developments to happen, sitting quietly in my living room, worried as hell, would that make any difference?  would my empathy and concern for mankind stop any crisis, conflict or war? The answer is: not at all. In our troubled times existential nonchalance is a must.

Yoga as you know is an ancient discipline that originated in India. There is evidence however that other cultures developed similar disciplines but the brand as things are called today, belongs to India.

The interesting thing about yoga, and this is still a mystery to me, is that yoga works at 3 different levels, harmonising the body, the mind and the spirit in one go, so the three work in perfect sync. 


When I finish my yoga routine I feel so good and Sandy does too, she's told me.  Watching Sandy stretching and contorting it has occurred to me that we may owe the existence of yoga to cats


Consider this: Unlike humans, cats have it in their nature to stretch. They are natural contortionists whereas humans are not.  Think about it. A holy guru in India, over a millennium ago, was sitting next to a cat.  He was pondering how he could reach a state of holiness and perfection in life. By observing how a cat's stretching routine ends in a total state of relaxation, it is well possible that the guru got some ideas and did some experimenting himself and, cutting the story short, it produced, with the help of others and the passing of time of course, what we know today as yoga. In fact, there are many kinds of yoga, I am simplifying a lot, this is a blog, remember.



Yoga for cats


Cat owners know that after stretching cats take one of these two options: they curl up and go to sleep, (cats can nap for up to 20 hours a day) or they go in what I call the 'duck position' (sitting) or 'the monk position' (folded front paws) completely still for long periods of time as if meditating; cat owners know that cats don't meditate (too much effort), they are merely thinking about and waiting for their next feed. The guru for sure didn't know that, he looked at a cat with innocent eyes, like those of a child (before PlayStation was invented).


Anyway, we don't know how it all started but I certainly believe that cats have not been acknowledged by their contribution to human civilization. Because there is more. Here is another idea:

Would it be possible that the revolutionary education reforms that took place from the mid 1960's and 70's by the 'Me Me Me Generation' (sorry that was a stutter) were the result of adopting and incorporating a cat's attitude to life into human behaviour ?  

'I want this' 'I don't want this' 'I need that' 'I don't need that' 'You can't tell me what to do' 'My needs are not met' 'You are soooo stupid' 'I feel misunderstood' 'I know'  'I have choices' and 'this is my right'.

May be I am going to far in my musings but cats are undoubtedly the masterminds of existential nonchalance, practised by millions of people today as a survival strategy, and that includes me. The existential nonchalance motto is: 'I don't give a f#%$^!
I am so royal
Well, that was how Sandy and I did yoga for many years.


Matilda ♥