Zoomies and Mindfulness.

Hello again! We can’t believe it’s July already!

Just a quick update on the bunny situation….they are still here. When Blue goes out to the yard, the bunnies don’t run, and Blue doesn’t bother them. Everybody is peaceful and friendly and content to coexist…it’s quite beautiful. And so it is.

In this writing, Blue and I will share a bit about what we’ve been up to, and we will reflect on zoomies and mindfulness.

Our morning adventures.

It’s been really hot where we live. Though Blue has little green booties to protect his paws from hot pavement–and might I say he looks ADORABLE in them–we have been limiting most of our outdoor activities to the mornings when the temperature is still reasonable. So, Blue and I have been taking long, morning walks.

Historically, when Blue and I would walk…he would dart off of our path to a bush or a tree or whatever caught his attention. He would go left or right and then left again..with no warning. And, I didn’t like it at all because he would pull me around quite a lot. It made for pretty frustrating walks honestly.

A few months ago, I got Blue an Easy Walk chest harness. It comes in several colors, so naturally he has more than one! The apple green color is my favorite…he looks very handsome! And, I attach a short leash so that I can ask him to stay close to my side.

Just making that switch gave us a little reset. And, it’s been going great! Blue knows that he is supposed to stay in my bubble and not dart side-to-side like he used to. And at the same time, I try to be VERY generous in giving him lots and lots of opportunities to sniff.

I’ll say…“Ok, go sniff”…and he runs over to whichever side he wants and I just follow along.

—To this…he hears me just fine and displays NO hesitation at all!

Then after what feels like an EXORBITANT amount of sniffing, I’ll say “let’s go”..and that is his cue to come back to me so we can resume our walk.

—To this…he may require that I repeat “let’s go” a few more times than ideal…but, he eventually comes back to me.

Why I think Blue is brilliant.

Haha–yep, this is that brilliant bias I wrote about early on. I think most of us are guilty of believing our little Angel is perfect with no flaws and is CLEARLY the most exceptional Being on Earth!

Well, this is the NEW situation…

When we are walking…all of a sudden Blue just STOPS in the middle of our path. I turn back and look at him…his paws are grounded and he is very intentionally NOT moving.

“Dude…what are you doing?!?!”

He makes eye contact with me, and then he looks over to which side of the path he wants to sniff. — Blue stops because he wants to sniff.

The intense standoff begins…

–Do I give in and let him sniff??

–Does he decide on his own that we have been walking for 10 minutes and are still ONLY two blocks from home…so maybe we could keep moving????

–It can be a long process…

–Sometimes I have to give a gentle nudge on his harness until he concedes that it’s not just his walk…and that it IS actually reasonable to keep moving!

So, the boy went from darting all over the place…to now he just stops in total protest if he wants to sniff.

And this is just one of the reasons why I believe Blue is brilliant! And he is SO funny!!

The journey.

Our walks include several subdivisions as well as a few less traveled areas where I can remove his leash. And, on Fridays we visit a food/drink truck in a nearby neighborhood…the citrus iced tea is AMAZING!

We also make it a point to stop by the playground equipment pretty much daily. We have been working on navigating the stairs up to the slide. The goal is to keep our feet and paws on the same steps going both up and down. Blue does GREAT…though occasionally I can sense his subtle frustration at having to go slow–he has been known to throw a little attitude…

—By the way, I clearly can’t relate to ever throwing any attitude…just ask my husband.

Toward the end of the walk…Blue appears to be EXHAUSTED. So, I take him home because surely he is ready for a nap. Hmmm…

When we get back from our walks, immediately Blue wants to go into the backyard and do two things:

1. He wants to grab a toy and run wildly around the yard…in full-on zoomies mode.

2. He wants to cool his belly on the grass.

We will circle back to this discussion—

Time does not correlate to distance.

I have to say that for the length of time we spend on our walks, I would expect to see a very impressive amount of steps counted in my health app. But, given the EXCESSIVE amount of sniffing one of us has to do…I often feel the need to make up some steps on my own later in the day.

Well…one afternoon last week I was feeling agitated.

I couldn’t identify what my issue was.

I couldn’t work it out in my head.

And, I was unable to settle.

But then, I had this urge that I wanted to sweat. Truly - I just wanted to sweat. And if you’ve been in a hot yoga class with me…you know I can sweat! Well, that day I was in the mood for some more steps. So I went out to the treadmill in our HOT garage, put my earphones in and blasted some music.

I’ve been on a Keith Urban kick lately–and one of the songs I have been playing on repeat is “Don’t Want To” by Jelly Roll featuring Keith Urban.

It’s a song about addiction…AND, I think addiction can apply to so many things in life.

So, I was walking with intention and singing with my earphones in…I’m sure I sounded great!

—Occasionally I had the thought that I hoped my neighbors had their windows closed…I think they may already have concerns about the crazy, dog-lady next door!

I finished after 2, interval programs of incline walking having finally worked out some of my anxious energy. OCD is no joke—and sometimes I just try to beat it out…

Polished lenses.

When I did my first yoga teacher training, I studied under Rolf Gates. During one of our calls together we were discussing the relationship–or lack of relationship–between religion and yoga.

Rolf told me that yoga helps to polish the lenses of my glasses.

And, once those lenses are polished I could apply that clarity toward any endeavor…that could be studying religion or practicing piano or whatever else I wanted to turn my attention to.

Over the years I have discovered that practicing mindfulness—the awareness of what is present here and now—is like polishing my lenses as well. It helps me move thru my day with more clarity and calm. And, with less reactivity.

The teacher is always in front of me.

What is so cool—I observe Blue polishing his lenses every day. His zoomies happen. And then he lies in the grass.

—He closes his eyes.

—He opens his mouth.

—He tips his chin up to the sky.

—He observes.

—He cultivates an awareness of what is present here and now.

And, just like Blue…sometimes I have to work thru my zoomies before I can begin to practice mindfulness…

—Last week after my treadmill session…Blue and I sat together. We just hung out for a bit, both of us just observing.

To be clear…working thru zoomies for me isn’t always a treadmill session or an intense yoga practice. Sometimes it’s just smelling the fresh air. Or some gentle stretching. Or taking a little time to enjoy my tea.

Blue and I would love to know if you have something that helps you work thru your zoomies! You can post a comment or message us.

A bit of gratitude.

We want to give a big shout out to one of Blue’s classmates, Koda, and his mom. Koda is 3 years old, and a 42 pound little CUTIE! He is black with a white stripe on his chest. He is a darling mixture of American Pit Bull, Mountain Cur and Treeing Walker Coonhound.

Koda became a pound rescue after he was surrendered for chasing a cat…YEP, he chased a cat.

The beautiful part of the story–he landed a home with his mom who LOVES him. The two of them hang out together all the time–and they make a great team! Koda is SO brilliant and eager to learn.

Last week, I was talking with Koda’s mom and she mentioned the idea of playing fireworks on a speaker to help desensitize our dogs before all of the Independence Day celebrations. So, for two days we played fireworks in our house—slowly turning up the volume.

On the night of July 4th…my little family took a car ride with our windows down and Blue’s head hanging out the window. He listened to the fireworks, watched the fireworks and smelled the fireworks. He was SO much more at ease with the loud noises than what he was last year.

We are very grateful to Koda and his mom for giving us a reminder that we could work to desensitize our boy from the scary noises!

We will close with a quote:

“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Until we write again,

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