Sit Down. Stay Down There.

Wednesday night, a few of us decided that we needed to eat "real food" and so after 5:00 yoga class and a quick shower, we went down to one of the hotel restaurants where they have counter service. This is about the fastest way to get restaurant food here in the hotel and time is at such a premium with our schedule here, so the faster, the better. The restaurant was busy and packed with tourists and many yogis as well. We sat at the counter and were joined by two lovely Austrailian women, also here participating in teacher training. After I asked the obligatory Crocodile Hunter questions (I have no shame...I loved Steve), we had a lovely chat about how we are doing so far. We ordered our food and then chatted some more. It was so nice to sit and laugh and chat. And chat. And chat...and....okay...now we've all gotten to know each other and we really are looking forward to eating some food. Where could the food be?

We are hungry.

More chatting.

We started watching the corner of the counter where the waitress would appear from out of nowhere with trays of food. She would continually bypass us. We sat and watched the corner. Just sitting.

Watching.

Looking at the food on the trays and talking about it.

Watching.

Waiting for our food.

Watching that corner.

Our revelation at this moment???

"This is what your DOG must feel like when he's waiting for you to feed him!!"

Second revelation?

"In fact...I think that what we are experiencing right now during this teacher training is VERY much like what a dog must feel like during his lifetime!"

Third revelation?

"So, are we, in fact...DOGS?"

After a few hearty laughs, we continued to bring our world-apart brains together in order to make comparisons as to how we are "dogs" here. Not in such a bad way.

Okay, some of it is bad, but not all of it...you have to find the humor or you'll never make it through.

Let me expand upon the whole dog theory.

I don't know about those of you who are reading this...well, actually I DO know about a lot of you who are reading this and I know how your dogs are treated and as a matter of fact, in my next life, I wouldn't mind returning AS your dog...but that is another blog post. So, I don't know about "some" of you who are reading this, but our personal dogs at home are pretty much treated like royalty, so if you think about it, being a "dog" isn't always a bad thing.

It's just a little restricting.

Example...you don't have a lot of control. You have to listen to your person/people and be a good obedient dog in order to have a happy life (avoiding flying rolled-up newspapers and the like). You do what your told to do, when you are told to do it, you eat when food is provided for you at the appointed time and place, you stay on a strict schedule and have appointed potty breaks, you pretty much stay in one location and you get to go out for "walks" on the weekends if you are lucky and if your person has time. There are other "dogs" that you can relate to and play with in a contained location. Sometimes you even live with another dog. You don't get to choose your companion because your person chose for you. You just have to learn to get along with each other. There are some breeds that you don't really care for, some of them are biters, some are barkers, some are hyper, some just plain mean, and some are relaxed and mellow. Sometimes you like to play together. Other times you want to just be left alone (and don't disturb me or I'll bite you without warning!)

Even some of the directions we tell the students in order that they position themselves correctly in a particular yoga posture lend themselves to the tone of command one uses when training a dog. "Sit Down...Stay Down There!" That's in Eagle pose. Sort of dog like directions. How many times have you told your dog to sit and stay?

See?

I have a mental picture in my mind of our dog Angus, who is now 13 years old. He's a wire-haired dachshund and was our first "baby." He has self-esteem issues, poor thing, and as a result, he does not play well with others, persons and canines alike. Well, back in the days when he was a young puppy and both Mark and I were working all day, I used to drop him off at the doggy daycare (I know, I know...just go with it) a few times a week. When I would pull up to pick him up at the end of the day, he would be all alone, sitting in the corner of the fence closest to the parking lot. And he would be just looking.

Looking and waiting.

Sitting and waiting.

For me to come and pick him up.

"Was he like this all day?" I would ask the trainers when I arrived at 4:00 to get him. And, of course, they would say that he was not...but I know he pretty much that he was. Just sitting and waiting for me.

So, sometimes I feel just like him. Either sitting and waiting for my food to arrive. Or looking off into the distance and the near future for when MY family will come to pick me up. If I am a good dog, I am rewarded with a good day. Either way, it's not so bad to live a dog's life.

At least not for a little while.

I do look forward to being a human again. Eventually. One day. In the future.