Blog Dis
Purring as soothing therapy
2025-01-16
You'll find as I post that plenty of my ramblings will run off at the mouth on the subject of consciousness. I'm perennially on the look out for source-material to stimulate my creative mind, to this end.
I digested a small book review of Daniel J. Siegel's, The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well Being. The article speaks about the traditional spiritualists and their beliefs that meditation and relaxation bring a greater sense of peace to our minds. Through meditation and spirituality, we're able to go deeper and look within ourselves, to block out the distractions of the outside world, to focus our thoughts and thinking patterns in more constructive ways, thereby leading to greater happiness and compassion. These are wonderful attributes to attain and I would venture to suggest that everyone would happily accept this end result, if only it were that easy. 😂
Trouble is many of my friends tell me that meditation doesn't come easy to them. Worse, they can't shut their brains off at all, much less arrive at a centre of peace in order to open the gates to this world of serenity. We are the culmination of our actions, thoughts and desires. We surround ourselves with things and people and moving objects. The world is in a constant state of movement and endless hyper-activity. No easy task, this meditating and reflecting on our life, what is good, what is bad, what needs to be fixed.
Years back, I attended a meditation seminar at St. Paul's University in Ottawa with a friend which lasted for two hours. The class was sponsored by a German spiritual group that originated from a German healer who died in the 1950s. It was a non-taxing two hours of sit upright, plant your feet on the floor, rest your arms on your legs, palms up, don't cross your legs or arms, close your eyes, and empty your mind. Don't think about breathing patterns. Don't think about your body aches or what your lover said to you that upset you. Just don't think. Persist with this line of non-thinking, and with regular practice your body will naturally fall into a rhythm of welcoming the non-activity. I went home, and as the weeks went by, I fell into a routine, whereby I was able to exercise these techniques once a day. On the good days when I could slip into my non-thinking mode, within minutes my head would bob and I'd nearly fall asleep, sitting upright. Then I'd emerge out of my restful wakefulness feeling relaxed. Don't ask me if I was more in tune with my inner self or my mind. I just felt better, that's all.
Then it dawned on me. At this stage in my life, I was living with two little heartbeats, who had lived for 14 and 16 years respectively;, two kitties, who were the picture perfect of relaxation. These two free-loaders never lost sleep over bills or fretted about work issues or family or relationship dramas. They simply rolled over and went to sleep for eighteen hours, the lucky buggers. When one or both would fall asleep on my lap, their purr machines were turned on, and as every minute passed, their purring revved up. New age spiritualists attest to the beneficial effects of purring and how it helps to reduce blood pressure and the like. I noticed myself that purring would ease my mind because the sensation of someone feeling so good being near me was enough to calm me. I desisted my useless and needless need to worry, which is a disease I suffer from, and instead, I focused on my creative mind to turn out a new phrase. I learned that if my feelings are relaxed and in a state of peace, then it naturally follows that my brain and body were willing to come along for the ride.
I can't recommend purring as a soothing therapy for everyone. For some, it's riding their horse that brings them back to the even plains of feeling grounded. And for others, it's walking their dog(s) or talking to their plants... or dare I say, eating pasta or chocolate. Not all methods of meditation are tried and true and will work for everyone. I only occasionally meditate some days sitting upright, the way I used to, because now I make it a point of meditating when I first wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. I try to fill my mind with positive notions, to prepare myself for the day to come, knowing there will be bumps along the way.
But if you want to mediate, try this simple method: be still. Sit quietly and allow your imagination and body to gravitate to peace. One technique or another will eventually speak to you and, failing this, download a purring APP and add it to your smartphone. Or better yet, you can run to your nearest humane society and adopt a wee kitty. Soon that furry little heartbeat will be purring away on your lap and the world will not seem such a desolate place after all.
This image represents a waveform and spectrogram of a domestic cat purring.
I digested a small book review of Daniel J. Siegel's, The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well Being. The article speaks about the traditional spiritualists and their beliefs that meditation and relaxation bring a greater sense of peace to our minds. Through meditation and spirituality, we're able to go deeper and look within ourselves, to block out the distractions of the outside world, to focus our thoughts and thinking patterns in more constructive ways, thereby leading to greater happiness and compassion. These are wonderful attributes to attain and I would venture to suggest that everyone would happily accept this end result, if only it were that easy. 😂
Trouble is many of my friends tell me that meditation doesn't come easy to them. Worse, they can't shut their brains off at all, much less arrive at a centre of peace in order to open the gates to this world of serenity. We are the culmination of our actions, thoughts and desires. We surround ourselves with things and people and moving objects. The world is in a constant state of movement and endless hyper-activity. No easy task, this meditating and reflecting on our life, what is good, what is bad, what needs to be fixed.
Years back, I attended a meditation seminar at St. Paul's University in Ottawa with a friend which lasted for two hours. The class was sponsored by a German spiritual group that originated from a German healer who died in the 1950s. It was a non-taxing two hours of sit upright, plant your feet on the floor, rest your arms on your legs, palms up, don't cross your legs or arms, close your eyes, and empty your mind. Don't think about breathing patterns. Don't think about your body aches or what your lover said to you that upset you. Just don't think. Persist with this line of non-thinking, and with regular practice your body will naturally fall into a rhythm of welcoming the non-activity. I went home, and as the weeks went by, I fell into a routine, whereby I was able to exercise these techniques once a day. On the good days when I could slip into my non-thinking mode, within minutes my head would bob and I'd nearly fall asleep, sitting upright. Then I'd emerge out of my restful wakefulness feeling relaxed. Don't ask me if I was more in tune with my inner self or my mind. I just felt better, that's all.
Then it dawned on me. At this stage in my life, I was living with two little heartbeats, who had lived for 14 and 16 years respectively;, two kitties, who were the picture perfect of relaxation. These two free-loaders never lost sleep over bills or fretted about work issues or family or relationship dramas. They simply rolled over and went to sleep for eighteen hours, the lucky buggers. When one or both would fall asleep on my lap, their purr machines were turned on, and as every minute passed, their purring revved up. New age spiritualists attest to the beneficial effects of purring and how it helps to reduce blood pressure and the like. I noticed myself that purring would ease my mind because the sensation of someone feeling so good being near me was enough to calm me. I desisted my useless and needless need to worry, which is a disease I suffer from, and instead, I focused on my creative mind to turn out a new phrase. I learned that if my feelings are relaxed and in a state of peace, then it naturally follows that my brain and body were willing to come along for the ride.
I can't recommend purring as a soothing therapy for everyone. For some, it's riding their horse that brings them back to the even plains of feeling grounded. And for others, it's walking their dog(s) or talking to their plants... or dare I say, eating pasta or chocolate. Not all methods of meditation are tried and true and will work for everyone. I only occasionally meditate some days sitting upright, the way I used to, because now I make it a point of meditating when I first wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. I try to fill my mind with positive notions, to prepare myself for the day to come, knowing there will be bumps along the way.
But if you want to mediate, try this simple method: be still. Sit quietly and allow your imagination and body to gravitate to peace. One technique or another will eventually speak to you and, failing this, download a purring APP and add it to your smartphone. Or better yet, you can run to your nearest humane society and adopt a wee kitty. Soon that furry little heartbeat will be purring away on your lap and the world will not seem such a desolate place after all.
This image represents a waveform and spectrogram of a domestic cat purring.
