A beautiful mashup.

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of our newsletter! Today, I want to give a little context around why we created Dogs & Mindfulness.

For most of my life I was focused on education and a career. I built an orthodontic practice where I worked with amazing people and had wonderful patients. And, it came at a high cost. I worked all the time, prioritized my practice above all else, and missed out on a whole lot of life. Add in some significant struggles with OCD that demanded much more time of me….I was burnt out and exhausted. Not just on my career…but on life. I was finding it harder and harder to find hope that I could create a better path for myself, a path that would be fulfilling and restorative. I was disenchanted.

I started practicing yoga over 15 years ago. And, I really took some deep dives into the philosophy and wisdom of the tradition. Although it wasn’t until the last several years that I really took on a deeper study of mindfulness meditation, my yoga practice always had meditation and self inquiry components. I, like so many, found it very hard to sit still and be with my thoughts and emotions. The beauty of working all the time was that I could run from the uncomfortable thoughts and emotions that had been chasing me my entire life. In fact, I’m still quite skilled at running from some hard things.

Though I have credentials for teaching yoga as well as mindfulness meditation, I pursued both of those studies for personal insight and growth. I always felt a deeper connection to God, the Universe, my Higher Power when I was on my mat whether moving through asana practice or sitting still. Yoga and meditation were the practices that resourced me enough to be able to continue to face the demands of how I was living and working. I desperately wanted to evolve into a better version of myself. I longed to feel lighter and be able to embrace simplicity in life with child-like joy.

I did choose 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. I didn’t take a year for my “Eat, Pray, Love” journey. Oh no, I’m now well into my 5th year and no more sure of anything than I was before. Though…more quiet times have blessed me with deeper insights on Self and who I want to be as a human. For example, I know that I want people to leave an interaction with me feeling seen and valued. You know when you get home after running a 30 minute errand and your dog has been waiting for you ALL that time and can NOT wait to do circles around you, say hi to you, love on you, offer his belly to you…?? Ok, maybe not quite like that...but, still, I want to do my best to honor the human in front of me.

I have always loved animals. I truly believe they are gifts from God, our Universe, our Higher Power…offering us unconditional love and profound wisdom. I find so much joy connecting with them, embracing them, loving them, receiving love from them. And, then enters Blue. Blue is our spoiled rotten, energetic, FUNNY, loving, wise, goldendoodle. His personality is HUGE, and his favorite game in life is “come chase me” with whatever he has stolen at that moment…laundry, a remote control, glasses, shampoo/conditioner, Kleenex, napkins, slippers…the list is infinite.

Recently I had the privilege of attending a Creative Living Retreat with Elizabeth Gilbert. During one of the sessions she spoke about enchantment and curiosity and how they fit well together. She asked us to write a letter to ourselves from our Enchantment. It started with: “I am your Enchantment and this is what I want to tell you…”. Each sentence started with “I love…”.

A few things I wrote: “I love Blue and how he teaches me about living life fully and in the moment.” “I love when Blue smells good.” “I love when Blue smells like a stink-opotamus.” Also on my list…“I love words”.

My enchantment list goes on and on about all kinds of things I love. And when we were finished, Elizabeth asked us to look at the list. And she asked…“what if this list contains your marching orders for the rest of your life”?

My Enchantment wrote to me what I have felt for so long. Blue teaches me about what it means to mindfully live in the present and to really live life fully. I learn from him every day. In simple and mostly silly moments of the day. Even as I was sitting down to write this newsletter a simple little lesson on mindfulness happened…

Blue likes to sleep in. I’m not joking. He is the first one to bed and the last one up in the morning. He lives in “I’m all in” mode during the day and embraces EVERYTHING! It’s no wonder he soaks up his sleep time just as much!

I’m often up before Blue. And one of my favorite times of the day is when Blue comes to find me once he manages to get out of bed. I hear him clacking through the house with energy and excitement. I stay very still and quiet so that he has to use his sniffer to find me. When he discovers me, he gets a BIG smile on his face. YEP, he raises his lip and smiles!

He runs over to me and nose dives into the carpet. His butt goes up to the sky as he invites as many butt scratches as I will give him. I naturally break into a song of some sort…“I’ve got a big booty and I cannot lie, sometimes I like to put it up high. I’m a bit silly but my mama doesn’t mind…she loves the way I play all the time…”. What grown woman even admits to this?!

Occasionally Blue pops up to see if I have a Kleenex or napkin around that he can take and run off with, and then he promptly nose dives back to the carpet. And the fun goes on for several minutes. Blue is embracing his morning wake up routine. And, I am in the present moment soaking in all of the love, excitement and morning wishes he will give me. It is lovely.

Blue consistently takes me out of my thoughts, my fears, my worries, my obsessions, my compulsions, my hurts. He invites me to be in this moment with him. Then this moment. Then this moment. Blue guides me as I aim to find more and more moments where I can cultivate mindfulness.

We created our Dogs & Mindfulness Newsletter as our offering and devotion on this simple but beautiful connection. We envision a heartfelt, fun..and sometimes a bit serious…weekly newsletter that offers simple little stories and reflections about living mindfully.

Poet, Jack Gilbert wrote: “We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” I most surely delight in the simplicity that occurs in single moments and in the gladness of hanging out with Blue. And, we delight in messiness, not perfectionism.

That feels like a good stopping point for our first edition. And, Blue is inviting me to play…

Until our paths cross again we wish you the best!