Life Wins ~ The Yoga of Caring

June 12th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Do you remember the 70s song, “What you won’t do, you’ll do for love?” They could easily have said, “What you won’t do, you’ll do if you care.“

Truly caring is a yogic state. When you truly care about something, whether it’s a person, place, thing or ideal, that connection with caring gives you a sense of yourself that’s equal to coming home, at least to the best self you know. In yoga, we call this conscious union with Self.  You know that it’s happening because it feels right, natural; in short, it feels good.

Yesterday the cat at the barn where we keep our horses had 5 kittens. So much joy filled the breezeway, the stalls, the arena, the grassy fields outside. We had been expecting the babies to be born soon. So yesterday my daughter ran to the lounge to check to see if they were born while we got the horses. The sound of sublime sweet excitement, “They’re here!,” came from the lounge. Every cell of my body changed in that moment. I walked into the room to find the mommy, Sissie, under a table in the corner, floating and surrounded by old barn blankets, and nestled inside of her semi-circle-shaped body were 5 perfect kittens suckling.

I know this cat well. She would greet me during the cold days of December when the average temperature in the barn was 25 degrees. She would purr and rub up against my boots as if wanting to warm them before I put them on, and even jump on the mounting block before I would step up to get on my horse. She was welcoming and affectionate; you could even say supportive of my ride and experience of the barn every time I came.

Now there she was, over in the corner, hours after having given birth, signs of the placenta still all over her belly, working on cleaning up her babies. She looked up at me with the same loving eyes and greeted me and my family.

Read the rest of this entry »