Sunday, September 30, 2007

joy



JOY


Ah yes, the pure and simple way our dogs experience joy. Sometimes just from a word or two like: Leash, treat, Daddy's home, and o.k. I'll admit it... the word poopy elicits pure joy from Honey and Gus because it means they get to go outside, and it kinda cracks me up that they love that word so much. So I guess in it's own way the p-word brings me joy too. But I digress. The point is, dogs don't need much to be happy in the moment. They are ready to unleash (pun intended) pure joy at any given moment. A dog knows how to fully embrace joy. What I think we can learn from this is how to bring our intention towards experiencing joy from small things. Once we learn to be sincere in our joy in the small things, the bigger things that will bring us joy will have space to manifest. It doesn't need to be complicated. Move towards living in joy, by practicing joy. Start simply, by taking your dog on a walk and notice the joy they find in this simple task, bask in that joy, experience it for yourself through them. Make it easy like they do, smile, laugh, wag your tail and feel that joy move through you from head to toe and muzzle to paw!


Yoga With Your Dog pose for Joy:


xtra angle tiangle







Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Theme of the Week





Let the beauty we love be what we do.
-Rumi

Friday, September 21, 2007

Dog Week



It was a busy dog week. We did a demo at a dog fair, I did dog massage at a Starbucks event and then we went to a book signing at The W Hotel for a dog book that just came out. Not mine...yet! So I've been talking about Yoga With Your Dog ALOT this week. But I guess I'm not done talking about it yet because I feel the urge to share about what dog yoga is. Here's the thing...other than the health benefits of yoga, it's really about allowing yourself to take the time to just be and breathe. When this happens we are able to still the mind so that we can see with clarity what is really important. When we bring our dogs into our practice we are doing all those things and more. Having our dogs beside us on the yoga mat lets us experience what true connection and unconditional love really is. We begin to experience not only what it feels like to connect with our true, beautiful selves, but what it's like to take that connection and really feel it for another being. When this happens, we can experience a deeper bond with our dogs. Then we are able to take that experience with us into our daily lives and hopefully begin to feel a deeper connection to all living things. There you have it...Yoga With our Dog, short version.
P.S. Check out the article in City Dog Fall 2007, Say OM: Yoga With Your Dog

Friday, September 7, 2007

WWBD or What would Butterscotch do?


A client I just spent time with this morning was telling me about her dog, Butterscotch. We were talking about the spirituality books she had been reading when (naturally) the conversation turned to dogs. She said her dog, Butterscotch was such a pure, loving spirit that whenever something challenging came up instead of asking "What would Jesus do?" You know those bracelets, right? She would ask herself, "What would Butterscotch do?" I adore that image. I've never met Butterscotch, but I can imagine that the wisdom in her bright, black eyes surrounded by her little furry face, surpasses that of many humans. Next time I'm in a pinch I'll ask myself, WWBD? Maybe I'll get just the answer I need.