Healing Yoga for Pets

Recently, my little family acquired an additional rescue dog from the streets of Los Angeles. (Our first dog is a Pit-bull Terrier that we rescued last September).  Dog number two is named Ozzy, along with our other dog, she is also female and a pit-bull mix of some sort.  Dogs and their issues are as different as each individual human and their issues.  

Upon meeting Ozzy, I could tell that she wants to love and be loved.  She immediately presses her body against legs and adores being petted.  After our initial "hello" to each other, she didn't really move on and go about her business the way that other dogs do.  Duly noted that she was a bit needy on attention. The next day as I was getting to know her more, I realized that Ozzy, like many of us walking on two legs, is confused and has her head all up in the clouds.  Now, this certainly isn't her fault.  We know that she had a home and that she wasn't very attached to it.  She was then found and kept with some nice people for a few weeks.  Because of a work-travel situation, nice people couldn't keep her and this is how she ended up with us.  She has some anxious tics that I decided might be helped with some yoga.  Our little Ozzy needed to be shown love, security, and some grounding to bring her head back out of the clouds.  


First time we tried meditating, I just wanted to bring her some emotional balance.  We did Alternate Nostril Breathing for Perspective and Emotional Balance for about 11 minutes.  For me, I sat on my yoga mat, Ozzy immediately laid right next to me.  For this meditation, the right hand does all the work of blocking each nostril off at either the inhale or exhale.  So, I gently placed my left hand on Ozzy so she could feel the energy as quick as possible.  The whole meditation went well.  She remained pretty calm for the rest of the night.  The next day she showed vast improvement and her nervous tics seemed to be curbed quite a bit.  We did meditation again the next day.  After day 2 of meditation she was no longer following us into each room of our home.  She began to wander a bit on her own.  It is now visibly noticeable that the anxious energy is way down than it was days ago.  She is showing signs of feeling more secure and self-confident!!


Ozzy is pretty good on a leash.  However, at times I find she was pulling too much, especially to keep up with our other dog, Wayne.  SO -- I did the Walking Meditation before the muscles in my hands gave out.  I'm not a very big person and the pit bulls do have so much strength.  I really have to make sure I have the control when I'm walking our big fur babies.  Walking Meditation is simple and can be done whenever you are walking to help focus the brain and regulate the breathing.  It is a grounding meditation to bring your head out of the clouds.  This is what little Ozzy needs!  I was right!!!!  Immediately she calmed, she picked up on the energy that we were creating by reciting the mantra Sa Ta Na Ma.  Her walking got smoother, she was not darting from one side of the sidewalk then the other anymore.  She stopped pulling and we had a pleasant walk together with Wayne and my husband.  Just to prove to myself that this was indeed working, after about 10 minutes, I stopped the mantra and picked up on the conversation I was previously trying to have with my husband.  Almost immediately both of our dogs started pulling and getting all hyper-crazed again.  They aren't out of control, but dog owners know, there's a difference on your own muscles when that leash isn't being tested to the max! The last minutes of the walk were WITH meditation.  Now all walks are with meditation.  Now life is a little smoother.  At least for now.  


Be sure to find a place for meditation in your life.  I believe in the amazing results of Kundalini Yoga and meditation.   

"Improve with each breath. Every negative vibration returns 10 fold."   ~Yogi Bhajan