The cat was sleeping peacefully on the stone porch of the house when Apollinaria opened the door to go to school. Apollinaria loved watching cats; it taught her a lot. The cat began to stretch first. She stretched her front paws as far forward as possible and even extended her claws. At the same time, the cat's back bent into an arc, leaning back, in the opposite direction from the movement of the front paws. So, the entire back of the cat, from the tail to the toes, was stretched. “Why do cats do this?” thought Apollinaria, “Perhaps I need to try to do the same to understand.”
Apollinaria stopped on the porch. Birds sang around her. She raised her arms as high as possible above her head and slowly lowered them behind her back, as if they were wings. At the same time, she felt the movement of blood through the vessels inside her arms and along her back. Warmth appeared in her hands and even in her head. “The neck is connected to the arms, and this is how the head receives blood when the arms move,” Appolinaria suggested. "The blood comes to the brain and nourishes it. This means that the eyes will see better and the ears will hear better."
Apollinaria turned her head slowly to the left, then to the right, stretching her neck as far as possible. It was nice. “The muscles wake up and warm up,” Apollinaria noted.
Then she made a movement, as if about to take a step with her foot, but in reality she simply extended her foot from the high porch as far as possible, first one, then the other. She moved her right leg to the side, stretching the muscles and feeling the warmth and revitalization spreading through her leg and down her back.
Then Apollinaria made smooth movements with her shoulders and arched at the waist. It was nice. She understood why cats stretch out before they go somewhere.
At this time, the cat was slowly walking along the garden path, her eyes were making the same slow, lazy movements. She closed and opened her eyes as if she was still not awake. “Perhaps the cat warms the muscles of the eyes just like all other muscles in order to see better,” thought Apollinaria.
The cat walked through the garden with a beautiful gait, and clarity, some speed and sharpness already appeared in her movements. Cats are hunters, and now she was ready for a new day's play.
“Okay,” thought Apollinaria, “I will learn from cats the smoothness of movements. They move beautifully and gracefully. Beautiful comes from beautiful, and healthy comes from healthy. If you make beautiful and healthy movements, starting the day, the whole day can continue to be beautiful and great!"