We were doing yoga on the lawn. It isn’t too much to say that we were being spoiled by the hot summer days and a generous neighbor with a fantastic backyard. It felt luxurious even if the rest of the day did not feel that way.
Lawn yoga is a source of great joy to birds, squirrels and cats in the neighborhood too. Today, it was the crows and blue jays who provided us with entertainment. Or at least they provided us with as much entertainment as we provided them. I could almost see the crow’s smirk at our crow pose and pigeon pose.
The Bird’s Eye View
The blue jays were more vociferous in their appreciation, or maybe it was their fight for the tallest bough in the trees. They both seemed territorial for the perch, and I wondered not for the first time, how it must be to fly and select a tree upon which to alight and take in the world.
If ever there was a meditative pursuit there’s one. I would love to flit and perch on a tree, taking in the sights of my fellow beings doing yoga on the grass below.
The cats, crows and blue jays seem to have understood the essence of living far better than we did, however, and for the whole hour, that we stretched and pulled our muscles, they did their own set of stretching their wings and paws with ease, a smile in their easy postures, and a certain earnest interest in the abilities of human-beings.
The cats are an especially discerning audience. They seem to raise one eye if you get the cat pose wrong, and show you how to do the down-dog pose without trying.
Strangely Un-extraordinary Creatures
It had been an interesting, if somewhat tiring day. I was up to my neck with deadlines, and I felt a certain helpless anxiety pervading the system, as I headed out to do my yoga. After an hour of stretching this-and-that, and more importantly watching my fellow creatures stretch this-and-that, I was filled with amusement, and strangely a sense of hope.
After all, if we could find a way to muddle along on this planet, when our capabilities are not extraordinary compared to our fellow creatures, we could figure out deadlines couldn’t we?
Yoga itself, I mused as I made my way back to my duties, was a result of human-kind trying their best to fit into the natural world around them. It is an art to remind us that we are more than our task-lists, accomplishments, and capabilities, and no more than simple breathing creatures who must learn to use their bodies to the best of our abilities and settle into the world around us.
The cat brushed against my legs – a rare act of acknowledgement, as it usually acted like it was the queen, and I was a peasant hoping for a favor. I bent down to pat her, and she allowed me to do so. I must’ve done my cat pose well today.
