Yoga Partners

Yoga partner: 

there's two black cats, sisters, I think around 11 years old now and I've had them for about year, rescued from a shelter. Recently I wrote about the smaller of the two and her love of sunbeams, really, any small ray of light that makes an appearance within her room of choice and she will fit her entire body within its lighted hold. She has also become my yoga partner, stirring from her rest as my mat unfolds, offering a warm-up stretch and then insisting on the proper attention between my every pose, weaving through my legs during standing asanas and stretching right beside me as I practice on the floor. 

she's a yogi too it seems. 

it's the larger cat that's really my companion though, sleeping on the corner of my bed, not being the least bit concerned with my nighttime tossing, simply adjusting her position to find comfort with the change. Every morning she waits outside the door as I meditate, never insisting for me to hurry, patient, sitting in her own asnana of contemplation and only moving as I make my way down the stairs to prepare my coffee and to give both cats food and fresh water. Yes, the larger one is also my yoga partner, joining me in meditation, absorbed in whatever mantra that holds a cat's attention. She stays pressed against the door until my sitting time is over, every morning, and often again in my later session of the day. If the door is shut during any other time she will insist on entering, fairly demanding her right to join me in whatever it is I'm doing - but meditation is the exception to her rule. 

she's most definitely a yogi. 

both cats are my yoga partners, differently, as one is more attuned to contemplation and the other seems drawn to motion, with each finding joy in their individual paths of yoga. I should add that my visiting dog is also my yoga partner, Misty, a bodhisattva, a true embodiment of joy. She follows the path of karma yoga, action, committing herself to our every activity with love and rapt attention. But there are times that she's also joined me in meditation, her usual exuberance set aside for quiet moments of breath and mantra, sitting with me undisturbed until our meditation time is over. 

Misty too is a my yoga partner, a yogi of the finest order. 

I am blessed by these companions, how they found me in this exact time of needing partners on my journey, each offering a special moment of their own. 

yoga partners, one and all. 

~

Peace, Eric