Being a cat parent for the past few years, here's what I have observed on cat behavior.
Cats tend to clean themselves ONLY when they feel they are in a safe and secure place. Our pet cat W loves to lick and clean herself when she sits on my lap. I jokingly scold her, "Do you think I'm your bathroom?"🙂
Cats show their tummy ONLY in front of people whom they absolutely trust. In fact, their way of showing love and trust is to roll over the floor carefree.
When they feel they are in a safe place, cats sleep in such unique poses that they look so cute and funny! One such pose is the pic you see above😉
With trust and surrender, they feel relaxed, at ease, and without any concerns, whereas, if they sense even a slight threat, they become super alert with their ears turning in all directions.
I've been reading a very interesting and powerful book that talks about the power of trust and surrender to the Universe / supreme power / Divine. As I soak in the words from this book, I couldn't help but wonder how my cats are teaching me the same lesson.
Their complete trust in us makes them feel totally relaxed at home. Not sure if cats have an autonomic nervous system similar to ours. But if they do, I'm sure their parasympathetic nervous system would be activated during such relaxed times.
If we trust the Universe and surrender our fears and worries, our nervous system would respond in a calm and relaxed way. That could be the reason why Bhakti Yoga is supposedly the easier path as compared to other types of Yoga.
This particular line from the book just blew my mind -
"Separating from love means that you deny the presence of a higher power / Universe and learn to rely on your own power to feel safe."
As I observed in the last couple of years, relying solely on our power and abilities just puts too much stress on our shoulders, especially during situations that are beyond our control. For a logical, control-oriented person like me, it took me a while to understand the power of surrender. It sure is powerful and transformational.
Not revealing the title of the book for now, but will share the review in the next few days once I finish reading it🙂