Naked on the floor

A lot of today was spent having lunch and then watching "A Man Called Otto" with a girlfriend.

And by the way, if you haven't seen "AMCO", I  highly recommend it.  I loved it.  I laughed and I wept; I felt something, which is exactly what I go to the movies for.  Which is why I tire of sci fi, fantasy, CGI battles, etc.  They sometimes offer a sense of excitement, but I don't really feel anything much beyond tension or adrenalin.  Give yourself a treat and see "AMCO".  And take Kleenex.

Anyway, back to Something New.  Lunch and the movie didn't leave enough time for a trip to a museum or a long bus ride, and it was raining all day, so the weather didn't lend itself to a walk in a park or through a neighborhood.  But I was determined to think of something I could do that I haven't done before.

So I lay on the living room floor naked for half an hour.

The idea was to awaken all my senses: to feel the carpet on my back and the air moving on my skin; to hear whatever sounds there were, such a passing plane or car, or the muffled tapping of Sweet Hubby's fingers on his laptop keyboard; to notice when  my thoughts went galloping into the past or future and keep them as much in the present as possible.

I had planned to lie still, and if the kitties came snooping around, I was going to let them explore without reacting or reaching out to them.  But when Bandy kitty's sharp little claw accidently hit, shall we say, a certain sensitive area, I modified my intention to include protecting my sweet bits.

One thing I noticed is how much less tense I am than I was during the 26 years I lived in Los Angeles.  Several times in L.A. (and once in London), I spent an hour floating in an isolation tank (also called a Samadhi tank), and each time, throughout the entire hour, groups of clamped up muscles would release, muscles I hadn't even known I was clenching.  Even floating in body temperature water, I was not able to completely relax.  But today I was aware of how little time it took to mentally run through my body and release any tense places I found.  It was quite delightful and relaxing.