Unwind Your Mind Challenge Day 4
Time to Med-Dog-Tate!
Today, we are centering our focus and attention to our dog’s belly. His belly will be your anchor to the present while you’re off in meditation land.
So head to your Zen Den from day one and start to relax you and your dog on their bed or whichever seat you chose. When your dog is lying on his or her side, gently pet your dog from head to tail in long motions.
The only thing we are going to concentrate on is the sensation of the fur in our hands.
Watch this quick meditation intro to see how I do it.
Imagine that you are a rock at the bottom of a river, letting your thoughts gently pass over you as the water passes over the rock. The river doesn’t affect the rock. It doesn’t hurt or make it happy… It just is a part of their relationship in the river together. Without all these parts, there is no river, just as you could not be a human without your thoughts or your breath.
The most important part is that this doesn’t have to be a large amount of time here either. Sitting with your dog, without electronics and without your to-do list is enough to let them know they are a special part of your life, while you’re getting a huge benefit in return!
You WILL have thoughts that come into your mind. That is good! The fact that you can notice you are having a thought IS THE ENTIRE POINT! When you start to train your brain to notice your most subtle mind function (your thoughts) you can start to notice TONS of things in your everyday life that hadn’t been noticed before.
So do not judge your thoughts, or yourself for having them. Meditation isn’t about not having thoughts at all, but learning to notice you are having them. Gently return your awareness to the feeling of the fur in your hand whenever you notice yourself having a thought.
Remember, it’s your brain’s job to think. It’s your job to observe the thinking. By having an anchor, like your dog’s fur, it helps you return from a world of thoughts, to the real world that is happening right this instant.
Do this for as long as you like, but strive for at least 5 minutes.