Warm And Still - Sleeping With A Purr

For Cat lovers!

This special little meditation is designed to welcome you into night time rest with a cat at your side. Perhaps a bit of an unusual idea, but it has always helped me to sleep with an animal nearby.

We don't need an excuse to rest. And its not a reward. Rest is life. All we often need to do to understand the cycles of life, is watch nature.

I truly hope you enjoy this creation. It's ideal to play daily!

The beautiful music in the background is by Denis Pavlov.

Transcript

Close your eyes, Take a deep breath in, Slow and easy, And let any tension go. And just let your body settle into where you are. The pillow, The warmth, The weight of the covers. You don't need to arrange yourself or get comfortable, You're already comfortable. Just let yourself be held exactly where you are. And I'm going to take you somewhere tonight, Somewhere warm and quiet and completely safe. And when you get there, You won't be alone. So just let your thoughts begin to slow down now. Not by force, You don't need to push them away, Just let them do what thoughts do when the day is finally over. Let them lose their urgency, Let them become quieter and further away, Like voices in another room. Good, Stay with me. Now I'd like you to imagine you're in a room. It's evening time in this room and there's that particular golden glow where you know that everything is slowing down, Time is slowing down between one day and the new nighttime. The lamps are on in your room, Low warm amber light that doesn't ask anything of you, It simply exists to make everything feel safe and soft. There are thick curtains at the windows drawn against the night and outside somewhere far away you hear the distant raining. In here, Nothing of the outside world can reach you. The room is beautifully warm, That particular warmth of a room that's been lived in and loved. There might be a fireplace with a fire that settled into deep glowing coals throwing out steady reliable heat or perhaps it's simply the warmth of a well-loved home, Either way the warmth is a part of the room that just wraps around you gently. There's a sofa wide and deep covered in something soft and gorgeous and on the sofa there are cushions and a blanket that's been folded and left there and the general beautiful disorder of a room where someone actually lives and rests and breathes. You are on that beautiful sofa lying down completely at rest. The room smells of warmth and something faintly herbal, Lavender perhaps or something older and sweeter, Perhaps it's a scent of baking that was going on earlier in the day. The light is low, The curtains are closed, Everything is exactly right. And then quietly you notice movement at the edge of the room, A cat has walked in and perhaps you know this cat, Perhaps it's a cat you have loved or you love right now, A particular face, A particular colour, A particular way of moving that is entirely their own or perhaps this is a cat you have never met before but who feels completely familiar the way some things do in the deep quiet of almost being asleep. Just gently watch how the cat moves. There is no hurry, There has never been any hurry, Not for a cat. Each step is placed with absolute confidence and absolute ease. The cat moves through the room as if the room was made for it, As if every piece of furniture, Every patch of lamplight, Every warm current of air was arranged specifically for this small certain creature. The cat reaches the sofa, Pauses for a moment, One paw raised, It's considering what to do next. And then with that particular decided grace that only cats possess, It jumps up, Lands without a sound, Turns around once, Then twice, That ancient inherited circling and then it begins to settle. Somewhere near your feet or right beside you or if this cat has decided you are worth the honour, It may have curled against your legs or your side. You feel the warmth of it immediately, The small living entirely untroubled warmth. And a smile comes upon your face. And just watch as the cat settles. This is something worth watching. This is one of the most quietly extraordinary things in the world. The cat tucks its paws in beneath its chest, Those neat precise paws folded away as if tidied for the night. Its tail wraps around itself once loosely and then it's still. And now watch the eyes. They're half open still, That particular amber or green or grey catching the firelight. But you see that the lids are growing heavy. The cat isn't fighting this. It's not lying there wondering if it should be asleep yet or whether it has forgotten something or whether tomorrow will be difficult or easy. The cat is simply becoming still. The eyes close and now you notice the breathing. The cat's sides are rising and falling. Slowly, So slowly. Each breath is complete and unhurried. There is no space between them that feels like waiting. Just the natural easy rhythm of a body that has decided entirely and without reservation to rest. And now let your own breathing find that rhythm too. Not by force, Not by counting or measuring. Just notice the cat's breath and let your own begin to match it. Slow, Easy, Complete. And in fact the cat knows something that we most of the time forget. It knows that rest is not something you earn. It's not a reward for finishing everything or solving everything or being enough. Rest is simply what comes next. After the day, After the doing, Rest is the natural state of a body that is allowed to be what it is. And the cat has never once questioned whether it deserves to sleep or not. And just let that thought settle into you now. You deserve this rest. Not because you've earned it, Simply because you're here and it's night and your body like the cat's knows exactly what to do if you'll only let it. And now just listen. As the cat begins to purr. That beautiful sound, That low, Continuous, Entirely contented sound that seems to come from somewhere deeper than the cat's throat, From the cat's whole chest, The whole small body resonating. Now science has a great deal to say about the purr of a cat. That the frequency of it has been shown to promote healing in bone and tissue, To lower blood pressure, To reduce anxiety. That humans who live with cats sleep better, Recover faster, Feel less alone. But you don't need science to tell you what you can already feel. And just take a very big, Wonderful deep breath in here. And breathe out that last bit of tension from the day. The purring moves through you. It's warm and rhythmic and completely without agenda. It asks nothing, It simply is. A small engine of contentment running quietly in the room. And feel it moving through your body now. Through your chest, Your belly, Your legs, Heavy and warm. The cat is purring because it's warm and safe and completely at peace. But you are here with it and the sound reaches you and moves through you. It touches your nervous system, Something ancient and quiet responds. And you just let it. The fire has settled lower now. The room is a bit darker and warmer and quieter than ever. You can feel the weight of the cat completely surrendered. There is something profound about the trust of a sleeping cat. The absolute, Unguarded surrender of a creature that has decided without question that it's safe right there next to you. And you too are safe. The room holds you. The warmth holds you. The quiet purring still barely there, It holds you. There is nothing to do now, Nothing to think. Nothing to solve or remember or prepare. There is only this room and this warmth and this small sleeping creature beside you and the slow and easy rhythm of your own breathing. Let yourself go now, Just like the cat. Warm, Still, Safe. Completely at rest. Sleep now, Dear soul. Sleep now, Dear soul.