A little over a year ago me and my son decided to adopt a dog from the local Humane Society. We looked for several days and just when we were about to give up we found our beautiful dog Lu Lu. When we first brought her home she was very skittish and shy. I do not think that she even barked for the first month we had her. When she saw my husband she would really coward in fear.
After a month or so Lu Lu started to warm up to our family. She learned to stay away from our other cranky dog Griff and we finally heard Lu Lu's high pitched shrill bark.
We also discovered that Lu Lu was a yogi! One morning when I was letting Lu Lu out of her kennel she did downward facing dog. Now I have seen dogs do that pose before, all my dogs do that pose. What was amazing is that she also did upward facing dog! She was even on the tops of her back feet, stretching forward, leading with her heart, and leaned her head back. I was absolutely amazed. It was perfect form.
It made me wonder if some ancient yogi had a dog as a companion and noticed his dog doing downward dog and upward dog. Maybe he would wake up in the morning and his dog would greet him like my dogs do, with a downward facing dog and then, like Lu Lu, with an upward facing dog. Yogi's are known for being quite observant and probably decided to attempt the move for himself so that he could understand what the dog was feeling. Maybe he was trying to figure out why his companion did the pose every morning. Maybe the yogi just figured it would feel good for him too. Who knows.
That was when I realized that so many poses are named after things in nature and the truly first yoga guru is nature. Mountain, cat, cow, tree, pigeon, and many more are the first yoga teachers. Now as I do a pose that is named after something in nature I try to think about how it might make me feel like the animal, plant or rock formation.
After a month or so Lu Lu started to warm up to our family. She learned to stay away from our other cranky dog Griff and we finally heard Lu Lu's high pitched shrill bark.
We also discovered that Lu Lu was a yogi! One morning when I was letting Lu Lu out of her kennel she did downward facing dog. Now I have seen dogs do that pose before, all my dogs do that pose. What was amazing is that she also did upward facing dog! She was even on the tops of her back feet, stretching forward, leading with her heart, and leaned her head back. I was absolutely amazed. It was perfect form.
It made me wonder if some ancient yogi had a dog as a companion and noticed his dog doing downward dog and upward dog. Maybe he would wake up in the morning and his dog would greet him like my dogs do, with a downward facing dog and then, like Lu Lu, with an upward facing dog. Yogi's are known for being quite observant and probably decided to attempt the move for himself so that he could understand what the dog was feeling. Maybe he was trying to figure out why his companion did the pose every morning. Maybe the yogi just figured it would feel good for him too. Who knows.
That was when I realized that so many poses are named after things in nature and the truly first yoga guru is nature. Mountain, cat, cow, tree, pigeon, and many more are the first yoga teachers. Now as I do a pose that is named after something in nature I try to think about how it might make me feel like the animal, plant or rock formation.
Can you see yourself taking the shape of things in nature when you are doing yoga?
