Gratitude and Flying Dogs
From Gita:
Got a major case of the grumpy pants? Today, I'll share my best tip to shift your mood! That, and my dog takes flight at the end of the video. Make sure you watch until the end, there are a few doggie bloopers, too! Filming with dogs is always an adventure!
From Jessica
Growing up, I remember saying “I’m bored….” And my mom would always respond with: “Go for a walk.” I resented that. I wanted her to say something more along the lines of let’s go shopping or something equally rewarding. The notion of walking didn’t seem like a reward until I had children of my own.
In survival mode with small children, strapping them into the stroller and going for a walk is as rewarding as it gets sometimes. Once out into the open air and released from the confines of home and endless chores and tasks, walking helps relieve tension and is good for a stressed out body! Mom is relaxed, so the children relax and enjoy the world around them. I remember my second daughter was a very colicky baby, and we walked at least twice a day. She would fall asleep in the stroller and when we got back, I would bring the stroller into the house and let her continue her nap. That gave me alone time with Jaylin, to play or read a book together to help us ease into the demands of another child. The walk would relax us so our alone time was maximized as we truly enjoyed that special time. I would not have survived those days without that stroller. It was my lifeline.
As my children grow up, walks look differently, as they are not all strapped into the stroller. This makes our walks a little more stressful, because we have to worry about safety and everyone staying together. I miss the days of the stroller! The benefit of them being out of the stroller is that they can now experience the natural relaxation of walking that comes from the rhythmic movements of putting one foot in front of the other in nature. To deal with the stress of safety concerns, we enjoy our walks most when we are submersed in nature, such as at the beach and on trails in the woods. This immersion is almost poetic, in a Robert Frost kind of way, because there are no material things to relate to. Emotions and all of the mind stuff that causes so much chaos is silenced in the surroundings of nature and all that just is. These types of walks happen less often, but are most enjoyed because of that escape from reality that is felt where worries and thoughts and safety concerns and all that hold us back are temporarily forgotten.