Yogis,
I know, I know…..you are probably tired of hearing the saga
of my life with Phoebe. But she is my
guru right now. Yes, my dog is my guru.
Gurus come in and out of our lives. Often they are in human form, but just as
often the Universe presents them to us in some other shape. An animal, an injury, a life changing event,
a change of circumstance or an illness. One moment they are not in our lives and the
next they bump into us, even sometimes knocking us down, as we travel our path.
Oh, hello there! They are all our gurus….when we are ready to
learn. There is a saying – when the
student is ready the teacher will come.
The definition of the word guru is “a spiritual teacher” or “remover
of darkness”. They guide us to see more
clearly. Shaking us out of our
comfortably numb state so we can see the world differently. They bring clarity and vision.
So right now, my dog is my guru….
She has been in my life for 6 months now. Over and over as I walk her and we see other
dogs, we approach them. And each time it
is with not so great results. Hmmmm…..perhaps
my view of how this should work isn’t in tune with her view? I am known for my patience, but life was
throwing me a curve ball and my patience was beginning to thin.
But then, out of the blue a friend sent me a newsletter from
a dog trainer which explained that not every dog wants to meet every other dog that
happens to pass its path in a nose to nose, closely confined manner. Just as we may not want to enter the private
space and essentially hug (and sniff the butt of) each individual we encounter
on our walk through the city. That made
sense. That parallel walking was a much
better, safer and less threatening way to greet. So I decided to give it a go!
As neighbors walk by I yell out to ask if we can “parallel walk”
with them, and after about 15 seconds of snarling and yanking, Phoebe settles
into a natural gait. Being given the opportunity to smell the dog and get to
knows its movements at a close but safe distance, allows her to warm up to the
idea of hanging out together. Dogs are
pack animals and are naturally drawn to moving forward as a group. I just hadn’t “seen” it that way.
But even strangers are not safe from my training regimen. On
Thursday as I ran her at 6 am an unsuspecting woman was walking a small fluffy
dog (which is always a problem) so I yelled ahead with what sounded somewhat
like a request for permission, but in reality was a “here I come!” warning as
we got up next to them. As the dogs barked and snarled I kept assuring
her that it would stop soon and hopefully before the entire neighborhood was
awakened. Which it did. A block later she turned toward her home and I
yelled a thank you her way. Poor thing….she
probably hadn’t even had a cup of coffee yet.
This parallel walking, although not perfect yet, holds much more promise
than my earlier plan. I am having to
view the world from Phoebe’s perspective, and not my own. Clarity.
A new perspective.
I am so attuned now to her energy. The vibrations I feel through the leash when
she tenses and the way she loosens her lips and begins to breathe just a little
heavier when something begins to scare her.
The way her ears go so far up on her head when she is upset that it
looks like she is trying to gather them in a ponytail, and how when they hang
low I know we are both in a good place.
She, as my guru, isn’t allowing me to live life in a
robotic, same old, way. When I
become complacent, she reminds me that my work isn’t over. Uncomfortable for sure, but I am beginning to
feel growth in areas I typically shy away from.
Who or what is your guru right now? What is shaking you out of your comfort
zone? Can you step back to see what
teachings it has for you?
My guess is that something coming my way in the future will
require these newly polished skills. So
thank you Phoebe! And thank you Universe…..
My dog is my guru,
SARAH
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