Eckhart Tolle in his book The Power of Now said he had lived with several Zen masters, all of them cats. Certainly my departed Chandra was one, but I have more pics of my current pooties, so I will let them show us a bit about being in the moment and managing stress. A lot of the content here was in my previous diaries, but I'm hoping repackaging with pooties will get the information to more people.
Breath work is hard to see in a photo, but can be done in conjunction with yoga, so I'll show Sara in a kitty yoga pose for this.
More on how-tos below the fold.
A simple form of breath work that can be done just about anytime, anywhere, is belly breathing. Put a hand, or both on your belly and inhale slowly , letting your belly expand like a balloon. Exhale slowly, watching your hand go down and keeping your belly soft. A lot of us breathe only from our chests, especially if we're tense or were taught to "suck it in" to look slimmer. Breathing from your belly can re-balance your nervous system and improve the functioning of your immune system. A more thorough explanation of this, and some of the other tips can be found in Fred Luskin's book Stress Free For Good.
More on breath work at
http://www.drweil.com/...
Yoga has multiple benefits of toning muscles, calming the mind and in this case cleanliness
AM & PM Yoga for Beginners is great dvd to start with if going to a class is not an option, here's the Amazon link
Other good links on yoga:
http://www.yogajournal.com/
http://www.kripalu.org/
Check out the easy 5 min yoga break on the home page
Adequate sleep is important, 7-8 hours for adult humans, pooties get more I think. I have yet to test the theory that getting this much sleep helps with weight loss, and the jury is still out, but there is evidence coming in about a link between inadequate sleep and disordered metabolism. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/...
Aero demonstrating the use of a meditation cushion, spending time just being instead of doing. All my cats have been pretty good at that. This and getting that 7 hours of sleep are the most challenging for me since I am more into doing than being, like most Americans. But I have managed to make my 15 min. afternoon break almost exclusively some form of meditation.
Here's a three-minute mini-meditation that psychiatrist Judith Orloff, MD, recommends in her book Positive Energy.
• Find a quiet place, such as a comfortable living room chair, an outdoor patio or a warm bath that's away from people, phones and buzzers. Relax your body. Slowly inhale. Then exhale. Focus on soft belly breathing for at least 3-5 deep breaths.
• Concentrate on a person, place, song or memory you cherish, which makes you feel loved or loving. Feel the sensations in your body as you remember that emotion.
• Thoughts will continue to arise. Just visualize any thoughts as clouds drifting in the sky. Detach from them, letting them float by as they pass in and out of your awareness. Keep returning to your breath as a focus.
• Observe the sensations in the area of your heart. You may feel heat, cool, expansion, bliss or pressure releasing.
Do this for three minutes. Keep practicing. This exercise can improve your ability to be present in the moment, whatever activity you are performing, and it can build energy when you're feeling tired or out of sorts.
Take some time to be out in nature. Sara is best at this one.
Aerobic exercise is something Aero could possibly do more of, but she can still nail the top of the shower door. Humans may want to find less hazardous ways of raising their heart rate for a bit.
If you are able to get some vigorous exercise on a regular basis, you just might get hooked on the endorphins. When I have a crappy day, I'm often saved by being able to use 2 of the above techniques at once; aerobic exercise + time in nature by cycling home along the Mississippi River. So,I'll end with one non-pootie photo: