I love when this happens.
As I was doing my yoga practice today, which yes, I should be concentrating on my poses, I got lost in thinking about what I wanted to share today for this weekly dog wisdom series.
What lesson or piece of wisdom of dog did I want to share? As I glanced down at Gidget lying in her bed, I smiled. Each dog I’ve had, in some way, shape, or form has been a mirror for me—reflecting parts of myself back of issues or areas I need to work on, improve, or heal.
That was it! I’d share this message today, dogs as mirrors for us that help us to understand ourselves better.
After I was done with my yoga practice I heard my inner voice urging me to pick a Grace card. I shuffled the deck and decided on picking a card somewhere in the middle. You’ll never believe which card I chose. Okay, maybe you will. It was mirror! There you have it – an absolute confirmation.
That confirmation led me to the thought of a book I read a little over a year ago called, My Animal, My Self by animal communicator, Marta Williams. If you’ve not read the book, I highly recommend it. I took it down off my book shelf to revisit some of the spots I had earmarked.
In the book Marta talks about how we are deeply and inextricably connected – that dogs (and animals) pick up on our emotions, physical, mental and spiritual levels.
I have come to deeply believe this as it has been the case for me with each one of my dogs. So much so that when something is not right with one of my dogs, I will also think about myself and what may be off balance in my own life.
I love this paragraph in Marta’s book about animals helping us on our path and stories she shares of people and their animals:
It is clear to me from these stories that the animals involved were leading their humans down the intuitive path. That this path of your heart, the path from which your inner voice speaks. It can be really hard to follow that path. It means you have to pay attention to what you truly need, not everyone else’s needs. You have to listen to your own counsel even with it is contrary to whatever everyone else is telling you. This is one of the hardest things to do in life. Is it any surprise that our animals are right there helping us learn how?
Reading and typing this just now brings tears to my eyes. Partly of joy, but partly because of agreeing, that yes, following your own path can feel so hard and sometimes lonely. But I’ve also experienced such a liberation with it too.
For that, I keep going and try to heed my own advice to others to pause often, to listen to my heart, and let it guide me. And when I falter or lose my way, I turn to the dogs in my life, who are beautiful mirrors to what my soul truly needs and wants.
How has your dog or animal friend been a mirror in your life? Leave a comment below.
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This is part of a weekly series of lessons I’ve learned from my dogs, and/or something I feel they are trying to teach us. I welcome your thoughts on any of the lessons or teachings that resonate with you.
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