Yogis,
It is with a very heavy heart that I write today. This morning we chose to let Molly, our
amazing yellow lab, go. She would have
been 16 in August…..an incredible feat for a large dog. I would venture, at least a good 2 years
beyond her expiration date.
Every now and then a very special dog comes along. That was Molly. She was an old soul.
She touched more people than some humans I know. You couldn’t help but love her. I can’t count the number of people who have
told me over the years that they never liked dogs until they met her. She knew how to work her way in. Gently but steadily she would work you over
until you softened and let her in. She
knew how to “lean in”.
Molly was always my faithful yoga assistant. Greeting each student as she traveled from
mat to mat, finally settling behind someone to breathe with us. And she was often our role model during
savasana or meditation for that deep rhythmic ocean breath. She watched
me do my own daily practice and loved lying on my mat. She knew how to relax.
But boy was she stubborn!!
When she was done, or didn’t want to do as you were suggesting, she
would sit down – plant those front feet – pull back with her neck and with
strength like bull, let her intentions known.
She knew how to express her needs.
She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. I only heard her growl once in her entire 16
years, and I think that may have been at a sweatshirt that she mistook for some
threatening animal. Her response to
aggression from others was to roll onto her back with her legs up in the
air. She knew how to allow without the
need for struggle.
Her absolute favorite activity was our late afternoon visit
with our next door neighbor Danny. They
had a special bond. In his driveway she
was the queen bee. Not only did she get
her own treats, but every time another dog on the street was brought by, she
got yet another for each one that they got.
Once we all settled in to sit
and talk, she would plant herself right on his shoe. And when it was time to go
home I would tie her to the front railing so she could lie in the grass and
watch for him. Our neighbor called her
the compass dog as her nose always pointed due west. She
definitely knew how to love.
So I grieve. She has
left a very large space that right now feels so empty. But I do know that every death gives room
for new births, and that the space….in its right time….will fill in with other
life affirming spirits.
Late last night as I lay with her and could feel her
struggle, I remembered the words of my teacher Susun Weed. That as women, we give life but we most also
accept the responsibility of giving death.
That is our role. I have never
had to do it before. But as we all sat
around her on the floor in the vet today and heard all of our options, there
was then that pause. And it was clear
that the expectation of everyone in the room, without discussion, was that I
would make the choice. So I did. I gave death.
We know move on our journey to the crown of the head. Our final stop…..but not really. The crown of the head is our place of
enlightenment. And to be awakened….
enlightened…. Is to allow a death of the old in ourselves to experience a birth of the
new. And here we also must embrace
ALL. Not just the light and the joyous, but the dark, the sorrow, and the
difficult. To be with it ALL. To truly feel it ALL.
Finally, one of my soul sisters, Lakshmi, told me recently
that one of the spiritual beliefs is that a well loved dog is preparing for an
incarnation as a human. I love
that. If or when Molly comes back as a
human, we should all hope to have the grace of having her in our circle.
“when it’s time to expire we take off this attire” MC Yogi
I love you Molly,
SARAH
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