A meditation about Dogs

Part of my animal communication practice involves meditation, managing my energy, self-reflection, and looking inward. Yesterday I was doing a meditation to connect with the spirit of Dog, not one dog, not all dogs, but the spirit or soul that ties them all together.

I settled in with some deep breaths and asked to connect. I was met with a bright form of light carrying all the colors associated with dogs: shades of brown, yellow, amber, red, black, gray, and white. I felt so much love that my whole body began to vibrate with it.

I sat with that energy for a while before asking my question: What is the lesson that dogs are here to teach humans, the lesson that advances the growth of our souls?

Scenes began to unfold. Dogs walking alongside people who were clearly pampered and loved. Dogs abandoned on the street, where some people passed with cruelty and others stopped with kindness. A single person sitting alone in the dark, a dog the only warm thing beside them. I witnessed love, neglect, tenderness, and abuse, the whole spectrum of what passes between humans and dogs.

Then a single word arrived: opportunity.

And with it, everything came together. Dogs are here to give humanity the opportunity to be kind, to reach out with love. These are the actions that grow our souls toward wholeness.

At the soul level, dogs offer themselves to us as pure, unconditional love. They love deeply, and they also trigger us, with their needs, their messes, their demands on our patience. This isn't to make us angry. It's to give us the opportunity to reach into our hearts, again and again, and choose kindness anyway. To love them. To nurture them.

Our dog Honey Bear came to us scared and broken, with no confidence to speak of. She is a diva now. She gave us that opportunity, and we took it, one small moment of kindness at a time.

Dogs are not the only path for this kind of soul growth. But they are one of the most willing teachers.

We are given so many opportunities in life to practice kindness, to grow and evolve. Showing kindness in the face of difficulty is one of the greatest challenges. And one of the greatest rewards.