Just about every morning I have a yoga practice. Joie, is my yoga partner. Before I lay my mat out on the living room floor, I snuggle her into her blanket on the couch where she proceeds to go into a deep meditative state. Ok, perhaps she is just snoozing like all dogs do. But her sweet, sleepy face puts me into a peaceful state of mind.

Today was the first day I did my practice this week since Monday I had to be up early to be on the set of the movie “The Surface” for Joie’s small part in a family scene. Tuesday I slept in as all the excitement of the day had me pretty tired.

As I moved through my yoga practice today, I was reminded again of how precious life is. Yoga, and having Joie nearby, tend to do that to me.  The experience of being a part of something big in terms of knowing Joie will be in a movie depicting family life with a dog in a wheelchair, though brief it will be on screen, had me feeling so grateful.

When Frankie became paralyzed in 2006 and I learned about dog wheelchairs, little did I know how passionate I’d become in trying to help educate others of the ways in which we can help disabled dogs live a quality life.  It is still at the forefront of mind and likely will always be. The fact that Frankie then led me to knowing deep in my heart that I’d want another disabled Dachshund, and I adopted Joie after Frankie’s passing, really brought home my purpose and joy of my love in caring for these special dogs. Being a part of the movie even though she is only shown very briefly, I hope, will bring the message out in a bigger way that I’ve always been passionate about.

As I moved through more of my yoga practice I came down into the center of my heart and what makes a meaningful life to me. What is my big picture?  As I listened to the birds chirping outside and heard Joie breathing softly, and Kylie snoring by the front door in the kitchen,  I felt overcome with gratitude. Monday was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I feel blessed to have been a part of that.  But each and everyday with Joie, as well as Kylie, and the life I’ve created with John is so precious to me.

The hustle and bustle of being on a movie set was exciting to watch in action, though the energy that all takes had me knowing I could never do that on a daily basis.  So as I’ve been reflecting back the last few days I feel honored to have been a part of something many others don’t get the chance to. But I also feel honored to know and feel the center of my heart and what is most meaningful to me, which is my home, my family, and the simple moments of life. Doing yoga and having dogs always helps me keep the big picture of  what I want for myself  in check.