I’m going to guess that during your typical day you don’t pause very much. Your to-do list has your full attention and then life provides a myriad of other tasks calling for your focus.
It’s a challenge then to notice the many lessons about joy, health, and longevity your day provides. So let me help you out with this challenge 🙂
Recently, I was talking with a friend about our dogs and some of the lessons we learned from observing them. Turns out there were so many lessons about joy, health, and longevity. So, if you’ll “paws” for a moment and read this, I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve learned.
Here are some of the ways we found that our pets accessed JOY:
1–dancing-yes, dogs can dance and wiggle and wag
2–snowballs–leaping and catching
3–running/hiking/walking–they make wonderful fitness partners
4–swimming–depending on breed they’ll often out-swim you
5–jumping–in my dogs young days she could vertical leap many feet off the ground.
5–golf ball hiking–this is a sport I invented. If you want to know the closely guarded secret methods of golf ball hiking, e-mail me 🙂
6–Yoga—downward facing dog is every dog’s favorite, of course. And watch your pet do a spinal twist. Amazing!
7–soccer–many spaces around your house can act as the perfect field.
8–strength training—what dog doesn’t like a good game of tug of war?
From this we can learn the importance of cross training vs. being a sport specific athlete. The coaches and teachers I’ve had over the years have taught me well and I pass those lessons on to you…….we are meant to train across both the physiological and anatomical spectrum.
Get moving, breathing, sweating in as many joyful ways as possible.
Let’s talk nourishment. I’ve noticed that just like dogs who are nourished properly and stay fit and trim, we too need proper nourishment to live a healthy and long life.
How many of us as guardians of our own health have made peace with our own nourishment and intake?
In Yoga the term Mitahara means “appropriate intake of all substances.” Learning what we need vs. what we want, cravings, learning to feel satisfied with less; we are all on this Journey with these questions and I encourage you not to run from these as they come up in your own life.
Embrace them, learn from them and work your way through them…….not over or around or by turning your back on these challenges. As the Golden Retriever part of my friend’s dog would advise , these are your “golden” opportunities to practice self care and grow in self esteem.
Two other lessons I have learned from years of observing dogs are how to stay in the moment and how to practice giving and let the “getting” take care of itself.
We have all seen how animals can be totally focused and stay on task. NOW I am eating, NOW I am chewing on my bone, NOW I am giving you that look that says PLEASE take me with you on your outing.
Now is all that matters.
All day pets flows from one now to the next. No multitasking: no exercising while talking on the phone AND drinking the latte.
Their bow-wow is in the now!
Giving of a dog’s affection, devotion, companionship and joy at just seeing our faces, they continually trust that they will be provided for. My dog could have been named Faith for all the times she patiently waited for me to provide for her needs.
Pets are happy to receive what they need plus a few wants. How many of us can keep from grasping and lunging at our wants after our needs have been satisfied? As humans we are so ready to move on to the next thing that it’s challenging for each of us to feel satisfied.
Well, as you might imagine my friend and I could have gone on and on about dogs……their beauty, grace, intelligence and charm.
I hope you would agree with me that insights about both physical and mental health can be gleaned from these lessons our pets provide.
In closing, I encourage you to sing a song, read or recite a poem, meditate, write in your journal, reconnect with someone, share a positive outlook and ALWAYS find some ways to Paws For A Moment!
And when you are not sure about how to nurture yourself or be in the moment, just ask yourself, “What would Shelli’s dog choose to do?”
shelli
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