It’s Cecilia coming to you from a bus trundling down the mean streets of Reno on my way to spend 25 days at the meditation school I study with in Northern California.
Already I can feel a deep sigh spreading out from my belly into my arms and legs, a starfish floating in the warm ocean.
My body remembers this feeling after spending 3 months volunteering this summer. Not that it was easy. Cooking (inside and out), cleaning, drilling, painting, weeding, laundering, etc… I also bubbled, stewed, and erupted much like the countless volcanoes in the area once did.
It was challenging and beautiful and when I came home my eyes were clear, my belly was solid and my fur was brushed soft and smooth.
I’ve had a regular meditation practice for the past few years. Some days my practice is good (I’m still, I feel solid, I open), some days it’s not (I fidget, my mind won’t stop, I close).
A few weeks ago I had the bright idea that I would save time if I went to put my laundry in before meditating.
I. Was. Wrong.
Not only did it not save me any time, but I felt like a cat whose fur was pet the wrong way. Icky, wrong, prickly, grumpy. Yuck!
I ran home, deposited myself on my cushion, and I sat... And as I sat, I could feel my fur remember the summer, remember the feeling of being soft and smooth. As I sat, I slowly let go of the prickles, the grumpy, the icky. Little by little I got closer to Ahh...
In a way I'm glad I tried that little experiment. Now I know that even if my meditation is crap, it still makes a difference to my fur and my day.
I'd love to know:
- What makes your fur stand on end?
- What helps to smooth it out?
Comment below!
Take care,
Cecilia Moorcroft