Many blessings to you and all of your loved ones. May the coming year bring you Joy, Peace, Comfort, and Love.

I love these two pictures! Our friend Angelina took them on the beach near our house. Merry Christmas!

Warm Aloha,

James

Bookmark to:

Maui is used to being the biggest personality - and the smallest “person” - in the room, but last week she got a run for her money. Let me tell you the story.

Molly’s brother Paul and his wife Jess visited us for eight days. We had a beautiful time, and it was fun to get to know each other (they live in Boston, so visits are rare).

Jackson, their baby, is only 14 months old - and Maui didn’t quite know what to make of him.

Here’s a picture of Paul and baby Jackson:

The first night they were here we had dinner and hung out chatting for a while. Molly, of course, was playing with her nephew all night, reconnecting and giggling. He’s very affectionate and sweet. I could see right away that Jackson is a gentle soul and a loving boy.

Maui didn’t quite agree. She barked a LOT that night … I think because she was jealous of her Mom’s time being taken away. Molly picked her up a lot to hug her and reassure her, but Maui was NOT happy.

Jackson, of course, had the exact opposite reaction to Maui. He loved her at first sight. He pointed and said “OOOOOOOO!” (What baby wouldn’t be interested in a white fluffy soft little doggy?)

Well, Molly knows a little about communicating without words to creatures who don’t speak English (like Maui ;-). So she whispered in Jackson’s ear and sent him mental pictures to tell him how he should handle Maui.

She “told” Jackson that Maui is old, a little cranky, and used to getting things her own way. She is very sweet and gentle, and wouldn’t hurt him, ever, but she also would not like to be manhandled or taken by surprise. Since she’s also completely blind, she can’t see him and might get scared if he came up to her suddenly.

Molly “asked” Jackson to go slow with Maui and take her cues about whether to go close or not.

The whole time Molly “talked” to Jackson, he looked from her to Maui with his big brown eyes, which just got rounder and wider as Molly continued.

And he left her alone! After getting to know him, I’m not surprised, though. This kid is S-M-A-R-T.

For the next two days Jackson watched Maui from across the room. He never went near her. When she wasn’t near her food, bed, or toys he would explore them and see what they were all about, and several times he buried his nose in her little bed and “sniffed” … but he left her completely to herself.

Meanwhile, Maui stopped barking and started checking out Jackson. Molly “told” Maui that he was very little and might not be able to be as gentle as she would like, but to bear with him because he was still a puppy.

So they just watched each other.

On the third night, Jackson made contact and won Maui’s heart. Here’s what happened.

Maui was in the kitchen. Jackson was in the living room. He watched her, and then took two “crawls” toward her. Then he sat back on his bottom and just watched her again.

She turned her head toward him.

He took two more “crawls” and then sat again, looking to see what she would do. This time she turned her head away from him. He stayed where he was and waited.

A minute later she turned her head towards him again, and he took a few more crawls, then sat back to watch. She kept her head turned toward him.

They continued to do this - him advancing if she looked at him and staying still if she looked away - until he was sitting right next to her.

Maui stood with her head turned toward him.

He reached out his chubby little hand and put his palm on her back, just resting it gently on her white fluffy fur.

Maui stayed very still.

Then he patted her very softly, running his little hand all the way down to her tail, then putting it gently at the top of her shoulders and running it down to her tail again.

She stayed still and kept her head to him.

After a few pets she waited until his hand came up to her shoulder, then gently turned and licked his fingers. He giggled quietly, and she licked again.

He giggled a little louder, and she licked some more.

Then he broke out in that insane baby giggle, full-throated and deliriously happy … and she licked his fingers and walked away.

He stayed there laughing.

Molly and I had tears in our eyes as we watched.

The gentleness of that interaction - the trust, the love, the curiosity, the respect … was inspiring.

After that Maui and Jackson had an easy relationship. She no longer stayed away. But he stayed extremely kind, gentle, and respectful.

This time of year is when we celebrate innocence and joy - and this was the best example I’d seen in a long time.

May your heart be as curious, open, trusting, respectful, and loving as Jackson’s was.

And may you always have someone to lick your fingers in return.

Bookmark to:

I just had a wonderful visit from my brother-in-law and I want to tell you a story about how his 14-month-old son Jackson won Maui’s heart …

… but that has to wait for tomorrow, because today we have some last-minute Christmas business:

I am really looking forward to meditating live on the phone and internet with Maui and all of you who took advantage of the $5 Holiday Special this Sunday, Christmas Eve Eve.

The energy of a bunch of us dog lovers meditating together and setting our intentions for the holiday will be a truly magical experience.

If you have already ordered your $5 books, you will receive a separate email about how to get to the live webcast (it’s free–and you can listen online, or you can dial in and participate via phone).

If you have not yet ordered your books, the sale is still on. You won’t get your books in time for Christmas Day, but you WILL get invited to Sunday’s live group dog meditation.

Maui wants to meet your dog!

If you order now, you will get your books before the New Year when many people make or renew a commitment to calm down, take better care of themselves and center with a regular meditation practice. (It’s never too late to give that gift.)

Get your copies here:

How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers

Tomorrow I’ll post a message about Jackson and Maui and their sweet little interaction.

(It was hard for Maui to have another little person around at first, but Jackson is a true Dog Whisperer … just like his Aunt Molly

Until then get your copies here:

How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers

Bookmark to:

Sarah, who lives in Sioux City, bought How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers last spring.

She immediately started meditating with her lab/retriever mix, Chuck. (The book is a quick read and you can start meditating right away.)

Sarah was really surprised at the results.

She and Chuck were already close, but their bond got even deeper. Chuck also seemed calmer and more alert (he was elderly) during the day.

Meanwhile, Sarah felt calmer and took things “easier” than she used to. She saw an instant difference in their quality of life as human and dog.

Unfortunately, this summer Chuck passed “over the rainbow bridge” and Sarah was left alone.

Of course, her heart broke.

About a week after Chuck passed, Sarah tried to meditate on her own.

She wanted to get back that feeling of peace and ease she had found in meditation. But it didn’t work as well without Chuck.

Sarah had what might seem like a nutty thought: what if she asked Chuck to meditate with her from the “other” side?

She decided to try it.

She sat down in the same place they always meditated, closed her eyes, and imagined his head on her knee and his body breathing under her hands, just as he had before he passed.

It might surprise you (or maybe it won’t) to hear that she felt Chuck join her in meditation.

She sat for their usual ten minutes, feeling the weight of his head on her knee, his fur under her hands.

But even stronger than the physical sensations (which she admits she could have just been imagining) was her experience of having CHUCK there.

(We all know what it’s like to “feel” our dogs presence. I don’t need to see Maui walk into the room to know she has. Her presence is real and felt with an inner sense, not just my outer ones.)

Tears rolled down Sarah’s cheeks, but they were tears of joy.

Chuck was “with Sarah” as much as he had been in the months before he passed when they started meditating and discovered this new way to bond.

Sarah firmly believes that her beautiful dog is still meditating with her every day, bringing his love and peaceful presence to her life.

In her words, which bring tears to my eyes,

“I would never have known that my bond with Chuck is there whether he is physically present or not, without having learned to meditate with him before he passed.”

This eternal connection to love is the true meaning of this time of year.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, this is the time of year when we all set aside time to remember and celebrate love, peace, joy, harmony, and connection.

Hopefully, setting aside time once per year helps us to remember these things all the way through the rest of the year.

(Just like setting aside time to meditate every day reminds us to find peace in the rest of the day.)

Sarah - and thousands of dog lovers like her - has found a way to bring deep peace, joy, and love to her life through dog meditation. Not just now, but every day, for the rest of her life.

Sarah plans on getting another dog when the time is right. But until then, she’ll continue to meditate with Chuck.

Her story inspired the Remembering Love Memory Journal in our new Remember Love Shop (Molly has been coming up with ideas for tshirts and mugs and all sorts of things for months - I finally told her to go ahead and put them up online).

I’m going to start a journal now for Maui - so I don’t forget a single thing. It’s like a baby book.

Bookmark to:

Last week I sent out a list of people who might like How to Meditate with Your Dog for a holiday gift.

It was incomplete!

You wrote to Crystal and added the following people:

grandson
granddaughter
daughter-in-law
son-in-law

How could I have forgotten?

Anyway, there are still books available for the $5 holiday special - get your $5 copies (up to twenty) at

www.howtomeditatewithyourdog.com

PPS: Molly’s been working all weekend on a really fun project - I’ll tell you more tomorrow.

Bookmark to: