Hello and welcome!
I'm so glad you're here.
I like to imagine that somewhere in your day,
There's at least one walk with your dog.
Maybe a quick loop around the block,
Maybe a longer wander through the woods,
Maybe something in between.
In this talk,
I would like to explore how those daily walks can become small pockets of mindfulness,
And how your dog can be your partner in that,
Or even your teacher.
I would like to start with a story,
Though.
Something that happened to me a while back,
And that inspired this talk.
We had had weeks of rain where I live in the Netherlands.
A kind of weather that feels endless.
The sky a flat grey,
The streets wet and dull,
The air heavy.
Every walk felt a little bit like a chore.
Coat on,
Hood up,
Head down,
And get outside.
And then finally there was one of those days that feels like a gift.
I stepped into the woods with my dogs,
And it was as if someone had totally changed the world overnight.
It was autumn,
And the leaves were still on the trees,
And now they seemed on fire.
Golds,
Deep reds,
Rusty brown,
And all lit up by clear,
Bright sunshine.
The path was dappled with light.
Every little movement of the leaves changed the pattern.
The air was crisp and cool against my face,
And had that particular autumn smell.
A mix of earth and leaves,
And a hint of approaching cold.
And my dogs were in their element.
Noses down,
Tails up,
Moving from scent to scent,
As if they were reading the morning paper.
It was glorious.
And on that walk I saw three other people walking their dogs,
And all three had their eyes on their phone.
Head bent,
Gaze locked on the small screen in their hand,
While their dog was doing his own thing.
They were so focused on whatever was happening in that little rectangle,
That they did not look up.
Not at the trees,
Not at the light,
Not at their dogs.
And it made me so sad.
Here we were,
In this rare,
Beautiful moment,
After weeks of grey skies,
And they were missing it.
The colours,
The fresh air,
The simple joy of the dogs,
Who were clearly delighted to be there.
But I had to admit something to myself.
On other days,
That could have been me.
Probably not by my phone,
But totally by my thoughts.
My mind could be taking me to places far away,
Far from the present moment,
Far from my walk with my dogs.
And maybe that has happened to you too.
While on a walk with your beloved dog,
You get distracted.
Maybe by your phone,
Maybe by your own mind.
Your body is on the path,
Your dog is next to you,
But your attention is somewhere else entirely.
There are so many distractions around,
That it's not always easy to simply be where we are.
But our dogs,
Who are such experts at being present in the moment,
Are right there with us,
Ready to bring us back.
So,
Let us talk about what that could look like.
One place to start could be with your senses.
So,
On your next walk,
You might choose one short stretch,
Where you really,
Deliberately observe what is around you.
What colours can you see?
The sky,
Even if it's grey,
How does that grey look like today?
Are there clouds?
The leaves?
Houses around?
The light on the pavement?
The way your dog's fur looks in this particular light?
And then,
On another stretch,
You might focus on listening.
To your own footsteps,
Your dog's footfall,
Can you hear birds?
Are there sounds of traffic,
Voices,
Is there wind?
And you can do the same with smell.
We will never smell the world the way our dogs do.
But our sense of smell is not as bad as people often make it out to be.
We can still notice the scent of rain,
Of cold air,
Of grass,
Of earth,
Of someone cooking.
And each time you notice that your thoughts have wandered off to work,
To worries,
To your to-do list,
You might gently bring them back to one concrete thing.
The feel of your feet as they touch the ground.
The movement of the leash in your hand.
The sight of your dog's tail.
You do not have to do this for the entire walk.
Even just a few minutes is still a reset and calms your nervous system.
Your dog can be a wonderful guide for this kind of awareness.
Watch what they do when you walk.
They stop to sniff a patch of grass that you would have stepped over without even noticing.
They linger where another dog has passed.
They lift their head when they hear a sound far away.
They pause to look at something that maybe looks perfectly ordinary to you.
For them,
Each walk is full of information.
Who was here?
What happened?
Which animals have passed by?
How the air feels today.
If your dog is older and your walks have naturally become slower,
Seeing them as mindfulness teachers can help shift your mindset.
Instead of thinking,
We hardly get anywhere these days,
You can remind yourself that for them the distance matters less than the experience.
Walking a shorter distance with rich smells and your full presence is worth a lot.
Of course,
Not all walks are idyllic woodland walks.
Sometimes you are on a busy street.
There might be things to navigate.
Bicycles,
Other dogs,
Children,
Traffic.
But even in the middle of all that,
There may be small points of awareness to keep you from getting completely swept away.
You might notice that your jaw is tight and choose to let it soften a little.
You can still say something kind to yourself after you have passed that noisy dog behind a fence.
Something like,
That was a lot and we handled it as best as we could.
Before we close,
I would like to offer you a tiny ritual that you can take into your next walk if you choose.
Just before you open the door,
You pause for a moment with your dog.
You deliberately feel one breath in and one breath out.
You might place a hand on your chest or simply notice your feet on the floor.
And in that moment,
You set a very simple intention for this walk.
Something kind and concrete.
For example,
On this walk,
I will look up at the sky at least once.
Or,
On this walk,
When my mind starts racing,
I will consciously look at my dog.
Living with a dog means you are given many,
Many chances to step outside.
In good weather and in bad,
In good moods and in bad.
When you feel like it and when you do not.
There is no need to turn every walk into a mindful event.
Some walks will just be practical and that is part of life.
But if every now and then,
You can let your dog pull you back into the present,
Into your senses,
Into the simple fact that you are here together on this piece of earth,
That will absolutely change your experience.
Thank you for listening.
And thank you for showing up for your dog in all these everyday moments.
I wish you many,
Many beautiful moments.
Whether on walks or in other places,
Together with your precious dog.
Thank you.
