Many of us love our dogs for the lessons they teach us about living and the ways they make us happy every day. Writer, artist and yoga instructor Edward Vilga calls his chocolate lab, Belle, his guru and describes her as “the happiest and the most self-actualized being I’ve ever met.” Edward has written a number of books stemming from his yoga practice and long experience as a teacher. His most recent book, Upward Dog: Seven Secrets from My Chocolate Lab for Having an Awesome Life focuses on the lessons he has learned from Belle and their time together. Edward & Belle recently moved to San Francisco and are enjoying exploring the Bay.
Bay Woof: What brought you both to San Francisco?
Edward Vilga: Belle fell in love with the beach at Chrissy Field and insisted we move! Well, I’m sort of serious in that we were visiting our great friend long time San Francisco resident, the writer Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (also known as SARK) and we just fell in love with the entire Bay Area. I used to think I needed to be in NYC to have a “serious” career in publishing, but now I realize that in 2012 I can live anywhere — and San Francisco is where I definitely chose to live now. It’s an incredibly writer-friendly city and a dog-friendly one as well, and I think it’s the most beautiful in America by far.
BW: What are your favorite places to go with Belle in San Francisco?
EV: Well, as I say, we are both big fans of Chrissy Field. We try to go almost every day, no matter the weather, since as a labrador Belle is quite passionate about swimming as much as she can. It’s just so beautiful and with the changing skies and light, it’s like a dramatically different walk each time for me and a chance to frolic in the waves chasing sticks for her. Belle is a huge fan of the Laughing Lotus yoga studio where I teach and loves being welcomed to the Kirtans and other big events there.
BW: Tell us about your new book and why you decided to focus on Belle for this project?
EV: Well, it’s probably more Belle’s book than mine, but I will admit to doing most of the typing! I have been simultaneously writing and teaching yoga for the last decade. I started teaching at the Laughing Lotus in New York City where I trained, and now I teach at the Laughing Lotus in San Francisco. The tradition at the Lotus is that one begins each class with a short talk about the month’s spiritual theme. More and more of my talks focused on an anecdote about Belle because for me she was the best example of someone really living and breathing the yoga philosophy.
At first, I was a little hesitant — I didn’t want to be the crazy yoga guy who could only talk about his dog — but what I found is that people were really drawn to what I was sharing about Belle, even those who didn’t have a dog. There was something so universal about it and something so specific about drawing life lessons and wisdom from animals (and I’d like to think I was really speaking from the heart) that these became one of the most popular parts of my classes.
I soon realized there was a real book here, one of short essays about different universal spiritual lessons and concepts, like live in the now, have fun, and letting go, not only about yoga, but also about the Law of Attraction and inspiration Belle gives me.
BW: What is the single biggest lesson Belle has taught you?
EV: That’s such a tough question because she teaches me so much all the time, and like all great teachers do, purely by example. If I had to pick one thing today, I’d have to say it is about living in the now. Belle’s ability to stay in the present and fully appreciate it is something I admire completely. I think that is truly one of the greatest keys to living a full and happy life.
An excerpt from Upward Dog:
LIVE IN THE NOW
Perhaps the hardest thing to do in yoga — or in life — is to stay present. We are continually pulled towards the past and the future, rarely living in the here and now.
Once, just as I decided that the theme of my class was going to be “Staying Present,” I got down on my yoga mat to practice some poses. Belle, however, just wouldn’t leave me alone.
She kept nuzzling me, wanting to share her toys or play one of our games.
“Not now…Not now,” I kept correcting her, growing increasingly agitated.
“Not Now…Not Now,” I repeated automatically, until suddenly I started laughing. How ridiculously ironic that while prepping a class about “Staying Present” all I could do was repeat “Not Now!”
The very first verse of the yoga Sutras — texts that are at least a few thousand years old — reads “Now begins the study of yoga.”
Far more than a rhetorical device like “Once Upon A Time,” this “Now” has important meaning: we’re instructed that the wisdom we need is available to us Right Here and Right Now. The school for getting wise about our lives doesn’t have a Fall or Spring Term; the practice starts at this exact minute (if we let it).
That’s why this Secret — LIVE IN THE NOW — is the foundation of all Belle has to teach us. Not only does the Now contain everything we need…ultimately it’s all we really have.
FETCH
As a pureblooded retriever, Belle – thanks to generations of disciplined breeding – is genetically- programmed to passionately love chasing after things. With her over-the-moon love of Frisbees, balls, and sticks, she expresses a deeply-ingrained part of her DNA that required no real teaching on my part.
What impresses me most, however, is her letting go of her prize.
After she’s captured her trophy, Belle runs right back to me full of pride. Loving the chase and excited about her victory, she must find it counterintuitive to release the triumphant prize immediately after she’s seized it. Even now, if I don’t specifically say “Let Go” she’ll try to initiate a friendly tug of war with me, much like she does with her puppy friends Dwayne and Dingo.
As soon as I say “Let Go,” however, Belle prances up and down, supremely eager for the next round. She is instantly at the ready, running a few feet ahead of me, alternating her gaze by focusing alternately on my throwing arm and the distance before her. Completely eager to bolt and begin her new quest, she somehow knows and accepts that one must “let go” if the game is to continue.
When we lived in Vancouver, we were five minutes away from the dog beach in the heart of the city.
This was Belle’s idea of Nirvana.
And of course, she couldn’t understand why we would ever want to leave the beach. Fully living the
secret HAVE FUN – and since retrieving a Frisbee in the water is for her the ultimate expression of fun
– she never wanted it to end.
Every time we started to walk away, she kept leaping for the Frisbee in my hand. She would look at me
incredulously, more or less asking “Why in God’s name are we stopping?” Although Belle’s forever
rooted in the present, she really did not want to let go of such a peak moment.
I hit upon an easy solution that somehow worked. I simply put the Frisbee in my backpack. As soon as I zipped it up, with the Frisbee out of sight, she accepted we were leaving and took her place by my side.
Belle is smart enough to remember pretty much everything that’s of interest to her. On our walks, she commits to memory every store clerk or other individual who have ever given her a treat. Months later, she will make a beeline towards all remembered sources of food.
Belle certainly didn’t forget about the Frisbee or think it didn’t exist anymore. Having the Frisbee out of sight was merely a clear signal to her that this particular adventure was over. It simply allowed her to “let go” of it in the present moment. In this case, “out of sight” really did equal “out of mind.”
What if we humans had that discipline? How great would it be if all those ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends and financial worries and career concerns could vanish from our thoughts simply by our putting them “out of sight.” So often, however, we’re unwilling to risk releasing what we’re clinging to, essentially ensuring that we stay stuck.
One of my all-time favorite quotes from Winston Churchill is this one: “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
While in Belle’s case, success is really about the ability to transition from one happy romp to another, it’s still pretty much the same point.
Whether one has experienced a success or a failure, letting go is really about the ability to move forward with enthusiasm. It’s an active choice. All we have to do is let the Frisbee rest inside the bag and decide to think about something else. As Belle demonstrates, it’s really about our ability to keep looking at life with joyful expectancy, asking over and over again, “OK, that’s over…What’s next?”
Edward Vilga’s new book Upward Dog: Seven Secrets from My Chocolate Lab for Having an Awesome Life is a free ebook for Bay Woof readers. Go to his website: www.UpwardDogBook.com.
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