First Nature and Second Nature

It’s been a long, rough week on the farm.
We had our first death--one of the young pullets, who did not make her way to the coop after sunset. She instead popped over into the dog area of the yard and, in the darkness was attacked by my dog, Missy. Probably mistaken for a rodent.
The next day in broad daylight, Missy found a path out of the dog fence and attacked one of the big chickens, Chloe. Though Missy has never done this before; this was no longer a “mistake.”
Somehow, her nature to attack rodents/intruders shifted gears and awoke a bloodlust in her. She was succumbing uncontrollably to her first nature.

Luckily, she was discovered mid-attack.

The photo above--taken the following day-- is of Chloe and me just after returning from the vet---hopeful and relieved.
Candidly, I expected that we'd need to euthanize her. The injuries were worse than first assessed.

Still, Chloe looked so good otherwise; and if she was willing to fight, then I was willing to give her every possible chance at survival.

Chloe has been with me since she was 3 days old. She is my chocolate egg layer.
Now she is my indoor kitchen companion. She knows that I am helping her. I know that she trusts me.
I love her.

I also love Missy.
My Covid dog.
I don't blame her. I have understanding and compassion for Missy. She was fulfilling her genetic code. She is a terrier mix who spent part of her life as a stray.
It’s okay to go after rodents, but chickens are off-limits?
Because I take responsibility for the animals, it is my job to train Missy to override her instinct—to learn to distinguish between “friend and foe.".
Thus learning to override her "first nature” will form a new habit and make this her "second nature."
In the Katonah Yoga Theory we speak all the time about our "first nature" being our unconscious patterns. Our inheritance, reactions and our gifts with which we come into the world.
"Second nature,” then, is the schooled and trained part of us. Everything we have worked so hard to achieve and to cultivate in ourselves. How we have formed and informed who we are. Our response-ability. In humans, this is enhanced by our larger prefrontal cortex.

Our "third nature,” a.k.a. our stellar nature, is where these two fuse together. This is not only new informed habits and skills; rather our third or stellar nature is having the consciousness and awareness to choose mindfully how we anticipate, participate, respond and react (or even pro-act).
This is the goal of the practice.
Synthesizing our inherent “first nature” gifts with our acquired knowledge and skills to enable us to bring our unique and wonderful work out into the world.

What elements of your first nature have you had to override or need still to override? What second nature skills, consciously cultivated habits and acquired knowledge have reshaped you? Into what—do you imagine— would first and second natures ideally manifest to enable your highest self? To allow you to act mindfully and with equanimity?


Join me as we practice this week to explore our 3 natures in the Katonah Yoga Theory.