If you love cats and are feeling the stress from various aspects of your life, you could try to meditate with a few felines, in a new mindfulness with cats video.
Mindfulness is defined as a way of paying attention ad clearly seeing what is happening in our lives. It can apparently help us to live calmer and more positive lives, which in turn can benefit our health. For those that have already tried this practice and struggled, or for those who are reluctant about trying it, a new technique (one involving cats) could be just the thing you need.
Blue Cross, a pet charity, has released the first ever cat meditation video called Karma Kitties. The charity has teamed with mindfulness experts at the Mindfulness Project. It has paired together the usual mindfulness class with soothing sounds of cats, and videos of cute kittens.
The use of the specifically chosen imagery and sounds allows the viewer to relax whilst paying attention to all the different sensations such as the sleeping, playing and happy cats. The video is also talked through by a guide from the Mindfulness Project, making it perfect for everybody – cat lover or not.
The video begins by getting people to pay close attention to the present moment that you are in at that time, making the viewer close their eyes and focus on your body inhaling and exhaling, after about a minute when you should all be completely engaged and blanked out any stresses in life, you can open your eyes and will be treated to a moving image of cute kitties. Blue Cross put forward the video to highlight the unfortunate situations of rescue cats, showing the very distinct connection between our own well-being and that of animals. The video features cats which are some of Blue Cross’s adorable cats and kittens, who desperately need homes.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that cats have a calming effect on humans, with their purring and soft fur often being associated with therapeutic methods, and so combining this with the practice of mindfulness seems like a no-brainer. The video’s aim is to bring a bit of calm and serenity into people’s lives who may be feeling stressed or disconnected from the world, as well as promoting the idea of people adopting rescue cats as it is evident that they can be extremely beneficial – watching the video might encourage some to want a cat or kitten with them at all times.
Almost 5,000 cats and kittens were taken into the care of Blue Cross just last year, the charity hopes the video will benefit homeless cats just as much as it will benefit humans.
Mindfulness has become extremely popular at the moment, and with the popularity of cats already evident in the world and on the internet, combining the two could be the newest craze.
When Karma Kitties was trialled by the Mindfulness Project, cat lovers stated that the video was noticeably calming and relaxing. You can watch the full video below.