Pets are Talking

Deeply Dreaming Doggies

Early Monday morning, I awoke to a wolf howling in my bedroom. Our dog, Benny, was deeply dreaming and wherever he was, it required a full-on howl at the moon.

It sounded deep and other-worldly "A-roo-roo-roo, a-roo-roo-roo".

In the morning, I asked him what he was dreaming about. He said, he wasn't sure about the howling, but he had been with many friends and they had been running together.

That started me thinking about ritual. Was Benny remembering some ancestral time, a past life, where he and his friends gathered and howled?

Dogs love ritual. They love the little moments that happen every day. The putting down of the food bowl. The morning routine.

Benny comes around my desk at 3 o'clock to the go to the dog park. He waits at the closet for the leashes. He and his sister tear out the door to the car, circling it, until I open the door and they hop in. 

We need ritual too. The simple pleasure of preparing the perfect cup of coffee. Steps in order, each one preparing us for the experience that lies ahead.

Pick a ritual. Make a ritual. Find the little steps that make up a perfect moment. Enjoy the steps. Enjoy the moment.  

Monday Matters: The Value of Barn Chores

In my online animal communication workshop, we've been working on the idea of attunement.

Attunement is when your body, mind and spirit are fully-integrated and working well together. When we are attuned, our energy works well for us. We're better able to handle the negative energy of others. We're more intuitive, in-synch, and hopeful. Things just seem to work out better. 

Because we are a culture that values our big brains, we tend to keep our minds in shape. We use them a lot. We don't use our spirits or our bodies near as much. 

We experience attunement when we use our bodies and spirits together, without a lot of input from the mind. This is why yoga and meditation are good for us. This is why we naturally gravitate towards the healing arts of cooking and gardening and knitting. Things that we can do with our hands without too much thought. 

As I was explaining attunement, Sarah asked, "Is this why I feel so good after barn chores?" 

Yes! Barn chores are perfect. Mucking a stall is a repetitive mind-soothing task, just enough attention is needed to find the horse clods in the shavings. Lots of good smells like hay and grain. 

Do you do an activity that makes ample use of your body and spirit? 

We're going to explore attunement here on Monday Matters and over at my new blog, which I'll be announcing this week.