I lay on the hardwood floors of my friends apartment.  Propped up by yoga bolsters and atop woolen, grey blankets, I lay surrounded by a circle of wonderfully amazing women listening to the conversation.

I was feeling sleepy, tired.  It had been a long day, a lot of good stuff, and a full day at that.

I noticed my friends black cat walking around me.  He came over and looked me in the face and then made a move like he was going to walk onto me.  Sure enough, moments later he was pawing my belly with his back two feet still on the floor.  Then he made his whole way up, facing me, and he laid down long ways on my torso.

His body felt heavy and warm, soft and solid.

During the conversation, I began to chime in.  I noticed when I tired to speak louder or laugh loudly, the cat seemed disturbed and almost scared.  So I realized, if I wanted to maintain this very special feeling of this big, black cat laying on my torso, I had to be aware of how loud I was speaking.

When I thought about speaking again, something occurred to me:

This cat was helping me stay inside my body energetically.  Because I couldn’t use a loud voice to speak with the cat on my stomach, I had to speak from my center and not project so much.

I was reminded of a moment earlier in the day, as I finished a workshop, where I was speaking as if from the center of my body all the way up through my mouth.  It felt so good, the words so clear and open as if from the depth of my being.

I will try this more this week: speaking from my center and noticing when I am speaking loudly or projecting more than is needed.

What will you do dear reader?