What Would Lucky Do? | Shelli Stein

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Hello friends, and welcome to this month’s newsletter,

Last week my dog Lucky passed away. She was 16 years and 8
months old and died peacefully at home.

Back in 2006 I wrote this newsletter about learning from
Lucky. I’m sending it out again with a few changes. It still feels
relevant. I’m reminded once again that it’s important for us all to make
our lives NOT about the number of years but about the QUALITY of those
years. And you know what I think……..finding joy in movement is
essential to a high quality life.

Here’s the letter…. ENJOY!

This month is my dog Lucky’s 14th birthday. Weeks ago
while we were on a walk I started to think of all the joyinmovement
lessons I had learned from her over the years, as well as lessons about
health and longevity. If you ask me to name people I admire and learn
from the most, the first “person” I’d think of was Lucky. So, if you’ll
“paws” for a moment and read this, I’d like to share with you some
what I’ve learned.

Here are some of Lucky’s ways to have joyinmovement:

1–dancing–I lead, she follows.

2–snowballs–leaping
and catching.

3–running/hiking/walking–she
only recently decreased her mileage, though she is still good to go for a
solid 2 miles.

4–swimming–she is a Labrador, afterall.

5–jumping–in
her younger days she could vertical leap many feet off the ground.

5–golf ball
hiking–this is a sport we invented. If you want to know the closely
guarded secret methods of golf ball hiking, e-mail Lucky.

6–Yoga—downward
facing dog is her favorite, of course. I marvel at her spinal twists.

7–soccer–our
living room (which at one point had no furniture in it) was the perfect
field. Beckham studied under Lucky.

8–strength
training—tug of war is her specialty.

From this we can learn the importance of cross
training vs. being a sport specific athlete. 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. As Lucky’s guardian, I have
always maintained a hard line with her—-NO people food. Of course
there was the time she ate 15 falafel which were left in the car with
her while I ran into the grocery store. Her yoga practice came in handy
as she spent hours in wind removing pose later that evening. That’s
another story altogether! I truly feel that my attention to what she
takes in as food aids in giving her healthy years. And I do mean
healthy. Not sick or injured a day in her life. She has maintained a
fit and trim body all 14 years.

Now I must admit that I do tell my students and clients
“NO dog food” and that seems to work pretty well. Really though, 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 Lucky 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
Lucky 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 and all day Lucky flows from
one now to the next. No multitasking: no exercising while talking on
the cell phone AND drinking the latte. Her bow-wow is in the now!

Giving of her affection,
devotion, companionship and joy at just seeing my face, she continually
trusts that she will be provided for. She could have been named Faith
for all the times she patiently waited for me to provide for her needs.
She is happy to receive what she needs plus a few of her 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 I could go on and on about
Lucky dog……her beauty, grace, intelligence and charm. Many times
while out on the trails I have overheard people say to their own dogs,
“Fido,why can’t you be more like that dog [meaning Lucky]?”

I hope you would agree with me that insights about both
physical and mental health can be gleaned from these lessons from Lucky.

In closing, I encourage you to say a prayer, sing a song,
read or recite a poem, meditate, write in your journal, reconnect with
someone, share a positive outlook and ALWAYS find some Joyinmovement.

And when you are not sure about how to nurture yourself
or be in the moment, just ask yourself, “What would Lucky do?”

Yours in health,

shelli