Why subscribe?
Hello, and welcome!
I am Nikki, and Blue is my goldendoodle. We created Dogs & Mindfulness to reflect on what dogs can teach us about living in the moment. Blue shows me—through simple, silly, everyday moments—how to step out of my head and into my life.
What you’ll find here: Heartfelt (and often funny) stories about Blue and me navigating life together, with gentle invitations to practice mindfulness. We publish occasional newsletters—no pressure, just presence.
This is a little bit about our story…
I spent years as an orthodontist building a practice. I worked all the time and missed out on a lot of life. Add in some significant struggles with OCD that demanded even more of me, and I was burnt out and exhausted—not just in my career but in life itself. I was finding it harder and harder to believe I could create a better path for myself, one that would be fulfilling and restorative. I was disenchanted.
Yoga and mindfulness meditation became my lifeline—practices that helped me find connection to something bigger and gave me the strength to keep going. Though I have credentials for teaching both yoga and mindfulness meditation, I pursued those studies for personal insight and growth. Yoga and meditation gave me the strength and quiet I needed to face the demands of how I was living.
Eventually, I chose to make a huge life shift. I left my practice, moved across the country, and gave up the only identity I really knew. I wanted to see if I could experience life in a different way.
Then came Blue. This spoiled, energetic, hilarious goldendoodle who steals everything (remotes, shampoo bottles, slippers—you name it) and whose favorite game is “catch me if you can.”
Blue teaches me what it means to mindfully live in the present moment. He pulls me out of my thoughts, my fears, my worries, my obsessions, my compulsion, my hurts. He invites me into this moment. Then this moment. Then this moment.
That’s what this newsletter is—an invitation to be present with us.
Subscribe to join us on this journey.
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