Why Cats Don't Slouch
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Have you every wondered why cats and other animals don't slouch?
What is it about slouching that is so human?
Here are a few thoughts on this topic as I try to take a photo of Seymour using my laptop. I thought he might write this email for me, but he had no interest as you can see by his facial expression above...
...which brings us to...
Why Cats Don't Slouch
Reason # 1: Cats have no interest in computers.
Or at least not for the reasons we do. They do seem to like to sit on keyboards when humans are wasting potential cuddling time typing away on them.
Seriously though. Cats genuninly don't seem to want to do things that get them all in their heads!
One of the reasons that people get stuck in a slump is that we get involved in intellectual pursuits while totally ignoring their bodies...which are still along for the ride and get unconsiously tied up in habit! This usually starts in classrooms and continues in offices.
Reason #2: A cat's body isn't built for slouching.
Any four-legged animal has all of it's anatomy behind it's eyes. It sees where it wants to go and it's head, neck, and the rest of it's body follow it's eyes without a glitch.
When humans are sitting or standing, most of our bodies are under our eyes and it's very easy for the eyes to pull our heads and/or necks ahead of us at the expense of the the shoulders, torso, and legs.
Think about how you might move forward to walk if you were in a rush or if you're struggling with something on your computer. You'd probably feel your face push forward, leaving the rest of the body trailing slightly behind.
This is physically what happens when we "get ahead of ourselves".
The cat doesn't have to stay upright while it looks and moves forward. It just follows it's eyes.
Reason #3: Generally a cat will get stressed only when it senses danger.
Seymour can be a bit overreactive to loud sounds, but I've never seen him look stressed because a web page was loading too slowly or because he had an appointment to get to and the bus was stuck in traffic.
There's something called a startle response, which is seen in both humans and four-legged creatures. It involves pulling the head back and down and pushing the neck slightly forward. It typically feels like simply pushing the face forward, but is actually more complex.
To get a quick sense of what I mean, think about what you'd do if you thought someone was going to pop a balloon. You might do something similar when your email won't load or you're struggling to see something on your phone.
This movement creates a lot of tension in the body, restricts breathing, and ultimately leads to slumped or tense shoulders...very useful in order to remain still and undetected if there's a predator in the area, but humans get in to this state for all sorts of reasons such as:
iphone is glitching
Can't find keys
Kids are making noise
No milk in the fridge
Work deadline in 2 hours
Someone said something that you disagreed with and you should have said something back (thoughts turning around in head).
This startle response can become a way of life, not simply a recation to something unpleasant. I can become just what your body does when you start to walk, talk, read, or lift something and it has a huge impact on your posture...and some poeple are stuck in it all the time.
Unless you manage to find some Polyjuice Potion (Harry Potter reference), you will likely retain your human mind and form.
That said, your presence in your body, reactions, and general state of tension is what you can have quite a bit of influence over. Many people are unaware of this because they have only tried to fix these issues on the surface.
In my classes, we look at the root cause and work on improving you body awareness so that you can create new habits.
It can be really fun and eye-opening! These changes can help you feel more relaxed, calm, confident, and allow you to project confidence.
Want to learn more? Click here to learn more about my classes for women. Click here to read more about classes for everyone.
