How walking my dog is the best form of mindfulness

I want to take a moment for all of the pets out there that are always by our side when we need them. We have our dog Holly for 9 years (don’t think it, she’s in great health and is going to live another 10 years). When I say she has taken care of me so much over the years, I am not lying.

She sat beside me on the couch when my back went when I was pregnant and stayed there for the rest of my pregnancy. She stayed in our room with me when our little boy had colic cries all night long and now when I’m busy with work and feeling stressed, she will come into my office and literally sit at my feet until I take a moment to rub her but it’s really a moment for me, to take a breath. She knows me so well.

So when I take her for a walk, I always go at her pace. She wants to stop and sniff everything. It’s not a dog’s pace, it’s a snail’s pace. But she deserves the time and space to sniff everything on her little walks, this is her time and the beauty of it is once again, she is helping me. She is slowing me down, I mellow, I walk at her pace, I take notice of people walking by, the birds singing, the trees, whatever is n my site. I get time to reflect.. my own time for mindfulness. We can learn so much from animals. We just have to open our eyes to it.