Another thoughtful post by massage therapist, Hilary Sohn...
My cat is dying.
As with any beloved pet, it is a difficult thing to know. When the vet said “cancer”, I was sure they could just cut out the tumor, patch her back up, and she’d be good as new. Instead, with great compassion, the vet informed me that this cancer was aggressive and would not respond well to surgery; it could recur with a vengeance within weeks.
It would be unfair to put our cat through such major surgery and pain, just to have the cancer recur so quickly.
“You probably have no more than one to three months with her,” the vet informed me gently.
I wept buckets that night, frustrated by how helpless I felt in trying to fix things for my sweet girl.
My brain chattered endlessly with itself about possible solutions, about what I could DO for her. But, no operation, no medicine, no chemo, no anything could delay the inevitable; my kitty was going to die and I was powerless to prevent it.
I could only bear witness to her decline, and then help her make her transition when the time came to let her go.
I was devastated, my heart broken wide open.
And then, surprisingly, there came a moment, within the depths of my sorrow and helplessness, when the “doing” part of me unraveled. I realized that trying to hold onto her life and control the outcome was like trying to prevent the tide from going out. I could choose to frantically attempt to gather ocean water in my arms, or I could let go, immerse myself in the water and enjoy each precious moment.
Either way, the waters would recede and I would be left on sand wet with the memory of water. There was a welcome relief in not having a decision to make about what to do. There was nothing I could do except witness her life, love her and BE there for her.
Letting go of doing did not mean I loved her any less. In fact, it freed me to be present to her more fully and completely.
We sat in the grass the other morning, my beloved cat sniffing the air, watching the leaves of a maple tree dancing in the summer breeze. For me, it was bittersweet knowing that she would not live to see the leaves drop in their multicolored splendor in the autumn. But as we sat in the sun, I could feel myself being pulled into her world of NOW. She sat in my arms with eyes half-closed, inhaling the scent of every flower and blade of grass, watching butterflies and bees flying in lazy circles, feeling the breeze caressing her fur, and listening to her human friend whispering soothing words in her ear. For her, there were no thoughts of inevitable death, future pain or separation.
There was only this beautiful day, this blissful moment, this now.
I inhaled the air with her and realized how my heartbreak opened me to this sweet experience with her.
I often witness my massage clients caught in the frantic web of “doing”. They come to my table, exhausted and stressed and in pain, trying to orchestrate every moment of their lives, yet feeling powerless in so many areas. They desperately push their pain away and scramble to fill their lives with as many tasks as possible to avoid their suffering. But what if we immerse ourselves into the oceans of our lives, teeming with joy and sorrow alike, and open our hearts to a richer fuller experience of life?
My wish for my clients is that they let go of their “busy-ness”, their “doing-ness”, and allow their hearts to break wide open so that they may feel the sun and rain in their lives and know that it is ALL good.
Enjoy every moment of your precious, precious life.
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"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief."
~ From “On Pain” from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 03:42PM 
Tai Chi (pronounced ti chee), along with its counterpart, Qi Gong (chee kung), is an ideal way to improve physical balance, strengthen core muscle groups, loosen tight ligaments and tendons, as well as improve memory and intellectual focus.
