How to Live Like Your Cat. Roland Glasser

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      Stress is the bane of our modern societies. How can we fight it? How can we channel it?

      There have been many relaxation practices and techniques developed over the last few decades. It’s not a very good sign, since it means that we are increasingly stressed, and that more of us are getting stressed.

      Always hard at it, always on edge; anxiety builds, insomnia too, leading to physiological effects, such as high blood pressure, then burnout.

      Do we really have to live so badly? How can we change things?

      Observe your cat: is it ever stressed? Rarely. Your cat oozes calm and tranquillity. Your cat sits quietly, muscles relaxed, presenting no physical signs of agitation, its gaze devoid of tension.

      What we sometimes call ‘stress’ in a cat is in fact a heightened vigilance, an alertness to potential danger, to an event that might have disturbed the calm, restful continuum of its everyday existence. A cat pricks up its ears, focuses its gaze, observes and waits. But once the cause of concern has been identified, the cat becomes calm again and lays its head back down after a few seconds.

      Your cat does not cultivate stress once a situation, or danger, has passed, been avoided or dealt with. Your cat seems to let go of whatever was bothering it – disposing of any residual intellectual traces – as if the event had never occurred. That is perhaps your cat’s greatest strength, and one of the keys to its majestic calm.

      Your cat’s life is a structured and contemplative one – with an emphasis on comfort and wellbeing – which nothing must disturb. Cats dislike major changes to their daily routine.

      The only (rare) moments of stress to enter a cat’s life derive from a change to this state. If an interloper enters your cat’s territory, they must be swiftly chased off. If your cat’s kibble is switched for a different, cheaper, less flavoursome variety, then a firm demonstration of displeasure must be made. Likewise, cats will let you know in no uncertain terms that any long and repeated absences on your part do not meet their need for love and attention.

      To maintain your inner calm and peace, identify the source of your stress, deal with the issue thoroughly, then let go of it for good – don’t ruminate or brood – and calm will return.

      Another phenomenon observed in cats, and also noted by veterinarians, is that if a cat is often stressed, the reason frequently lies with their owner.

      Cats are like sponges, they feel everything. They absorb moods, but once a certain level of tension, noise and yelling has been exceeded, they can’t digest it all with their usual total calm.

      If the domestic atmosphere becomes so unbearable that your cat’s wellbeing is at stake, it may well leave the house (if it is able). But whose fault is that? If the price of their tranquillity is to leave, cats will do it. Take note.

       Your Cat Knows How to Assert Itself

      ‘I love them, they are so nice and selfish. Dogs are TOO good and unselfish. They make me feel uncomfortable. But cats are gloriously human’

      L.M. MONTGOMERY, ANNE OF THE ISLAND

      Many of us find it hard to assert ourselves in front of other people, either out of shyness or lack of confidence. We take a step back, we say little, we behave as if other people are intellectually superior, or at least sufficiently sure of themselves to overpower everyone with their presence, their knowledge, often their idiocies if you actually listen to them.

      Who are these ‘other people’? They’re you and me, for we are all somebody’s ‘other’. If other people take up more space than you, it’s because you let them do so. It’s like cupboards: the more you have, the more you fill them.

      Do you find that other people invade your space, sometimes even stepping on your toes before walking all over you?

      Think of your cat. Try stepping on your cat’s paw, just to see their reaction. You’ll hear them, and possibly even feel them as they dig their claws into your calf!

      Stop getting walked all over. ‘Other people’ have no right to assert themselves in this way. They have only the space that you grant them; they have only your level of tolerance. They won’t stop at crushing your foot. They’ll tread you into the dirt, then drown you for good measure!

      There is a real difference between having charisma and a strong personality – like your cat – and crushing people in order to impose yourself.

      Cats take the space that is their due, without crushing their neighbour, but they do not tolerate any encroachment on that space. They assert themselves quietly. They don’t play the tyrant, but neither do they accept a walk-on part.

      Know how to assert yourself calmly, and defend your space at the first attempt at intrusion. You deserve more than a walk-on part!

      FOOD FOR THOUGHT

      ‘I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat’

      EDGAR ALLAN POE

       Your Cat Is Wise

      ‘I have studied philosophers and cats extensively. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior’

      HIPPOLYTE TAINE

      With their attentive attitude – always listening, like some silent psychologist – a cat resembles a Buddhist teacher or an old sage. But it’s maybe more than just an impression. Perhaps we could learn from the way a cat does not exert itself unduly, but sits and contemplates the world.

      As the years pass, and we get older, we all acquire a little wisdom and perspective about the world, life and the eternal verities.

      How many of us have said at some point: ‘I’d like to be twenty again, but knowing everything I know now’? We acquire wisdom with time, whereas cats – who have no school, no books, no great thinkers, no external frame of reference, not even a large amount of years or experiences – possess a kind of innate wisdom, a wisdom of which we glean just a few snippets, and then only with much reflection, discussion, soul-searching and introspection.

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