Pack Wellness

26/08/2021

Everything this. ❤

Movement & mindfulness classes, both in-person and on Zoom, resuming for Fall after Labor Day!

22/07/2021

“Y’all, having sled dogs has been so good for my body image. And not because mushing is a joy-filled, physical outdoor activity, although that’s true. It’s actually something much simpler than that.

I grew up learning that all bodies are different. Okay, yeah, that’s true. Whatever. All bodies are different. I get it.

And then I started caring for sled dogs. and I feed and train and massage them, teach them as puppies and ease them into retirement. We get to know each dog so well. And once we started doing this, do you know what became EXTREMELY OBVIOUS?

Get this: All bodies are different.

But I don’t mean this in some flip way. I mean it in a bone-deep, beautiful, complicated way.

All of the dogs’ bodies are so different.

Some of them eat thousands of calories a day and are still complete stringbeans. They eat literally three times as much food as everyone else.

Some of them can eat, like, a tablespoon of kibble, and the next day they need a bigger harness. They’re easy keepers; their bodies naturally want to be bigger. Which is good! Easy keepers make great sled dogs.

Some of them can start training in September and are immediately ready for long runs. Some of them need to ease into training slowly. They need gentler workouts—and more training sessions—before they can keep up with the rest of the team.

Some of them want to run 1000 miles. Some of them feel their best during shorter, faster runs. And, occasionally, some of them aren’t that into running at all.

Some of them have disabilities. Some of them were born with bodies that make everything harder for them, and they need extra care and understanding to really shine.

The point is, THEIR BODIES ARE SO DIFFERENT. But the differences aren’t good or bad. They just are. We don’t love Talese more or less because he’s skinny, or Colbert because he’s a chonkster. The idea makes no sense. It’s absurd.

And, like, my body is like that too. It has its own set points, its own levels. So does yours. The dogs’ bodies aren’t up to them, just like ours aren’t. There’s no value judgment. They are what they are.

And every single one is magnificent.
The end.” ~

03/07/2021

4th of July fireworks are an issue and an inflection point at the heart of what Pack Wellness is all about—a place where wellness for humans, our communities, our animals, our wildlife, and our environment intersect.

Many people think fireworks are “harmless fun” and an “important tradition”, but hundreds of peer-reviewed studies about the physical, psychological, existential, and ecological impact of fireworks say otherwise. As the daughter of a Vietnam veteran with complex PTSD, fireworks were never part of our family traditions—not even watching them on TV. We had sparklers and noisemakers and party crackers, but never fireworks. For good reason, as anyone who’s read The Body Keeps The Score will know—many civilians have PTSD, too.

Over the last decade, as I’ve gotten more and more involved in animal welfare and social justice work, the issue of working to ban or at least move to silent fireworks has become increasingly important. More pets go missing on 4th of July (and New Year’s Eve) than the rest of the year combined, which is a biannual nightmare for those pet owners and for the shelter and search & rescue volunteers tasked with trying to find & reunite them with said owners. Not to mention all the rescue volunteers, foster families, adopters, dog trainers, dog boarding teams, vet techs & veterinarians who get zero sleep the entire holiday weekend and never get to enjoy it themselves because they’re holed up in closets with traumatized pets, administering holistic & western medicine and calming wraps, attempting to drown out the loud bangs with soothing white noise or classical music, hearts breaking watching our beloved animals suffer. In Rome over New Year’s Eve 2020, hundreds of starlings that sought shelter in a leafy neighborhood literally dropped dead of fright from fireworks, bumping into each other in a panic and having heart attacks. Every wildlife refuge around the world can share similar stories from several other species that die from fireworks fright, as well—or bolt and abandon their nests.

And as the climate crisis marches on—as evidenced by the heat wave facing the Pacific Northwest this week—fireworks are always a disaster in the making, from starting wildfires to the smoke and pollution they create that pours through the windows of marginalized & lower income communities without central AC—many of whom, especially in our BIPOC communities, already have a complicated relationship with the history of July 4th.

Mental health professionals also argue that in our post-pandemic world of frayed nervous systems after a year of literal global existential crisis for the entire human race and the resulting trauma, that excess stimuli like fireworks are the last thing any of us need. Not to mention the annual spike in hand and face injuries caused by fireworks that will tax our already exhausted health care workers & hospitals.

So, if you’re still reading this, please just SAY NO TO FIREWORKS. Embrace sparklers. Find other ways to experience wonder and awe and celebrate with your beloveds. So that we can all finally one day celebrate, together, in a world without the fear of trauma for your “harmless fun”.

Graphics courtesy of The Forever Dog

23/05/2021

As we begin to process the past year and a half, let’s not forget our pets’ nervous systems in this expansion & contraction healing phase.

Dogs, and children—all of our mammalian dependents—match their heart rates & nervous systems to ours. They can become anxious & disregulated because we’re anxious & disregulated. They sense & feel out our body language, heart rate & breathing to check their own neuroception, a term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges in to describe how our subconscious mind processes feelings of safety in any situation.

Two major recent studies from research prove that not only has the pandemic had a deep impact with potential long-term effects on our nervous systems & behaviors, but it has deeply impacted stress levels & behaviors in our pets, too. Anyone who has read knows that stress that we don’t literally move through can get stored in the body as trauma—our bodies AND our pets’ bodies. This is something I’m deeply invested in personally, professionally, and as a longtime animal welfare advocate/rescuer, and one of the reasons pre-COVID that I started laying the foundation for what Pack Wellness is becoming.

We’ve created a world (especially in capitalistic America) that depends on us acting as humans in captivity, as my teacher says, working all the time with very little connection to nature & the natural world, rewarding those mammals with the highest “tolerances” & “resilience” for constant stressors & spikes in adrenaline & burnout, and making us feel guilty for taking time to rest, digest & integrate our experiences. Our homes & offices are unhealthy places for us, and where we go so do our pets. We have work to do to heal each other, in so many ways, but embodiment practices like yoga & Ayurveda & give us powerful tools to yoke together to bond & heal our packs & communities.

Come find out where to start tonight at 6:30pm CST in our weekly Zen Den Yin Yoga class on Zoom, link in bio. Free if you need, always donation based. 50% of all donations through mid-June are going to 🐶🕯🧘🏻‍♀️✨

20/05/2021

Happy to who are my reasons why, my favorite teachers & teaching assistants, the inspiration behind & my professors of connecting to the wisdom of my human animal. Join us at 6:30 CST tonight for a very special donation-based Zen Den Yin Yoga class—or for any of our 4 weekly Zoom classes through June—to help us raise much-needed funds for Pixie & Jack’s rescue, ✨🧘🏻‍♀️🐶

http://PackWellness.Eventbrite.com

18/05/2021

Finally buckled down and created Eventbrite class sign-up listings! Now you can book our remaining Spring Zoom classes (twice-weekly Yin and twice-weekly Slow Flow) ahead of time, through the link below or the Sign Up button on our main Facebook profile page. Hope to see you on our mats!

http://packwellness.eventbrite.com/

17/05/2021

Last night, in closing Yin class, I offered up a meditation honoring the Hindu goddess Akhilandesvari, the goddess of “never not broken.”

While I was reviewing my sequence before class, I was flipping through Yin Magic by Sarah Robinson Sentia Yoga & landed on a passage about Akhilanda, rider of the wild flowing river of change & tamer of crocodiles, whose power lies in being pulled apart & coming back together, over & over again—a metaphor for embodiment & resilience & the life changing magic of vulnerability. I found empowerment & hope in learning about Akhilanda again during this strange time of repeated expansion & contraction as we try to learn how to human again, how to rejoin the world while honoring the growth & lessons of the past year plus as well as honoring our nervous systems & their needs. I hoped it would also land with others as a reminder that we are strong, resilient beings who can do hard things.

After class, we also discussed our collective need to pay homage to & offer our endless gratitude & support to the people of India always but especially right now, for this beautiful lineage & the healing practices of yoga from which we benefit. One of my own teachers, Ferny Barcelo, has put together a wonderful list of resources (listed in comments) if you also feel moved & called to give back in cultural appreciation & seva or service. I’ve also put a link in the comments to a bit more about Akhilandesvari.

16/05/2021

Received this yoga magnetic poetry yesterday from a neighbor in my Buy Nothing Group, felt like playing around. 📖✨

My whole pack is feeling the effects of the waxing crescent moon right now—a great time every cycle to set intentions & make your hopes & desires known to the world. It’s also a good time to reset habits & rituals for the month ahead, including making the time & space for self-care. For me, a writer & journalist & yogi of 20 years before I became a yoga teacher, that’s also literally & metaphorically meant finding my words again.

Come find deep stretching & the expansive joy of stillness, making the time & creating the space to integrate your week, thoughts, emotions into words & intentions, private or public, tonight before the week starts afresh. Zen Den Yin Yoga tonight at 6:30pm CST on Zoom {link in comments}. PJs and pets always welcome. All you need is a rolled up blanket or bath towel & a comfortable floor space to stretch out. Free or donation based, whatever you need right now. Venmo is 🧘🏻‍♀️🐶💤

20/04/2021

Many of us find our way to yoga because we are hypermobile — what used to be called “double jointed”. Our bendiness can feel like a superpower, but can also lead to serious injury and chronic pain over time. Did you know that our companion animals can have hypermobility, too?

Horses, dogs, cats, and more. I really enjoyed this podcast episode with Dr. Abby McIlroy, a veterinarian from Tufts University who researches hypermobility in animals —including the extreme form of genetic hypermobility known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (which runs in my family). So much food for thought here.

On today's episode, Nia Clark and Kerry interview Dr. Abby McElroy, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine about EDS in many different animals. Dr. McElroy has an EDS-like syndrome herself and her work focuse

07/04/2021

So sorry everyone, no noon class today - I'm headed back to bed with oak pollen allergies. 🤧 If you'd like me to DM you a link to a previously recorded Intro to Yoga for Dog People flow, LMK! Sending much love, eucalyptus steam showers, and EFT tapping for lymphatic drainage to anyone also struggling with the dark side of spring blooms (and “is it COVID or is it just allergies?” anxiety.)

If your puppers are also sneezing from the pollen, a dropper full of the flower essence tincture Rescue Remedy can help soothe and relax the throat, kind of like canine cough syrup. (It’s been a go-to in our kit for “reverse sneezing” for years.)

And hey, at least we can still enjoy looking at Mama Nature's beauty from indoors, right? If you haven't watched the short documentary Dancing With the Birds on Netflix yet, do - it's delightful. My live oaks are trying to kill me but they’re also full of blue jays and morning doves and cardinals right now, which is lovely to watch through the windows.

For me, not the dogs. 🦜😂