I’ve been writing about mental health for a while now and I’ve been fostering dogs for a few years.  I also love to meditate or just slow down and appreciate the moment.  Not in any one way, but drawing on lots of methods to feel more intuitive and access more clarity.

One day, I realized that those three things go together.  Dogs are naturals at living in the present moment and much better than most people at putting negative experiences behind them.  But, like all of us, many have anxiety, feel sadness and some are so high energy that they have trouble focusing.  For me, enlightenment is a little awakening, where we experience the world directly, a moment of joy without words or preconceptions.  It comes in precious bursts, then we go back to our daily life.  As the Zen proverb says, “after enlightenment, the laundry.”

My oldest son has lived with mental health challenges since elementary school and raising him has taught me lots of strategies to promote emotional health.  Never expected I’d use those strategies to help rescued dogs but it has been invaluable!

Do you like dog stories?  Let me tell you some.  Along the way you’ll see how it all fits together.