New Shoes

Last night in yoga class my instructor encouraged us to approach our practice like we were wearing a new pair of shoes.

Huh? I love shoes but what do they have to do with yoga?

"New shoes are rarely comfortable the first time you wear them," she explained. “It takes wearing them over & over before they feel just right.” She suggested using this approach on our mat—doing something a little uncomfortable: a new pose, stretch or something completely different than what we usually do.

I took her advice. I did something different in crane pose, jumped back to downward-facing dog instead of stepping back; I worked on my gaze in airplane and jumped higher and stronger in dancing monkey. None of this felt comfortable in the slightest when I was doing it, but once I had time to reflect on what I accomplished, it was empowering.

Why is this so relevant to me? Because I am the queen of finding what's comfortable & sticking with it. There are countless times I wore the same old shoes. I knew how they fit and what to expect so why should I put on a different pair? I am certain there are things I’ve missed because I didn't try the new shoes.

As class ended, our instructor praised us for practicing with our new shoes. Her challenge as we were leaving? To wear those same new shoes in our life off our mat.

Sounds like the perfect idea. What girl doesn't like a new pair of shoes?

Remembering Bo

Bo joined our family 11 years ago as an eight- week-old puppy. Sophie, our female Lab was two the time and certainly needed a friend, I decided. Bo was wild, had great puppy breath and loved to bark at Sophie and the cats (who were old and cranky and frequently swatted him). Sophie quickly let Bo know who was boss and all was well in our house. They were the best of friends.

Over the years Bo had countless visits to the Braum’s drive thru for ice cream, swims at various lakes, walks through the neighborhood, naps in the sunshine and many other experiences that prove it is great to be an animal at my house. When Max came along, Bo was the first to give him a big sloppy kiss (which my grandmother assured me would immediately make Max sick—it didn’t).

Bo’s escapades of raiding the pantry are known far and wide and I still don’t know if it was Bo or Ben the Cat who could open the door but my money was on Bo. He could eat a box of Krispy Kreme donuts in less than 30 seconds. Bo loved shoes and caused me great stress when he decided to chew up a pair I borrowed from my friend Heidi. I cried to the shoe repairman and he made them look like new. And who could forget the bouncy ball incident. A 25-cent ball from a vending machine cost me $1300 in vet bills. But Bo was worth every penny.

Before Thanksgiving I noticed Bo wasn’t himself. I knew he was sick but I didn’t want to hear it. I just kept thinking he would get better. When I finally had the courage to take him in he was diagnosed with kidney failure. I knew it would eventually take his life but I hoped for later rather than sooner. IV fluids and a special diet helped him bounce back until just after Christmas. On New Year’s Eve when he stopped eating, I knew he was telling me that it was time. Sunday afternoon, I put him on the bed with me and we took a nap. He put his head on my pillow and I rubbed his stomach and told him what a bright light he had been in our life. That night at bedtime, I found Sophie on his bed with him (see photo above). She was saying goodbye. Monday morning before he went to the vet, I sat next to his bed and stroked his head. I put his leash on him and he made one last visit to his favorite tree…he was struggling to get there and it broke my heart.

So on a blue blanket in waiting room one at Nichols Hills Vet Clinic, I held Bo as he quietly went to sleep. In a crazy way, I had a sense of peace that everything was OK because the words of my wise 8 year old rang in my head: “We have had a good life with Bo and now he’s going to be with God, Mom and Dog Heaven is amazing. I bet he can eat all the Krispy Kreme’s he wants!”

Eat up, sweet Bo.