pet appreciation week! thank you miss lila!

i don't think there is anyway i could fully express how thankful i am to miss lila. hat little fur baby has truly saved my soul in so many ways. she is the one who i snuggled with after matt's death... she missed her papa just as much as i missed him. she let me drag her all around god's green earth to find happiness and never stopped smiling. now here we are in SoCal and both her and i don't think life could get much better at this point. as i stroll her around OB, i constantly hear, "that dog is smiling" or "that is the happiest dog in the world". my heart melts every single time.

one of the reasons i am so thankful for miss li is her ability to get me out and moving especially enjoying nature. i suffer severely from something known as doggy momma guilt. now let's be clear, i think lila has one of the BEST doggie lives there is.... i work from home and a five minute walk to the beach. yet everyday, i try to get her out on at least one doggie adventure and feel bad if i don't. it doesn't always happen but i sure as heck try. in honor of pet appreciation week, below are some of the adventures lila and i embark on frequently. i also included a "Get Fit Like Fido" workout courtesy of DogVacay, if you need some more structured ideas. lila and i don't have much of a formal plan we just follow our hearts and luckily due to the always 70 and sunny SD weather we can partake year round!

Yoga

i practice pretty much every morning whether it be prepping for a class or doing my own thing. i usually do this first thing in the morn in my yoga office or on the beach. lila always joins too! she isn't an early riser but usually hops out of bed when she hears me unroll my mat and sits on her pillow to meditate along with me. if we head to the beach she usually sits next to me as i asana on my beach towel or depending on the time of year and amount of lifeguards, she heads out for a bird chase. lila is always practicing her downward dog and truth be told, she's got me beat in that pose.

Running

recently i trained for a half of a half marathon. lila often went on runs with me. she definitely slowed down my time with sniffing and pooping but she loved coming out with me so much i let it slide. in chicago, she also trained with me on the lake michigan path. here we have so many amazing options for runs... often we do a quick two mile down to dog beach where she can run free or we head up to sunset cliffs for a four miler. when we get back she lays near me panting away as i roll away my aches and pains on a foam roller. she has even made some debuts like at the below when me, matt, and our families organized a team, Matt's Marchers, for the Path to Progress to benefit the ABTA. 

Hiking

this has been something we have been able to get into since moving here although we did the occasional hike back in dayton... there weren't a lot of options in the city. lila loves to hike and runs up these SoCal mountains with the greatest of ease. she will hike up five miles then down and finish looking at you saying, "what's next". she even knows when i get out my gear that we are headed out for a climb. i guess she can smell the plasticy water leaking from my camelback a mile away. 

these are just a few of our very favorite exercise routines but even a quick walk to grab a coffee with lila can change the entire outlook of my day especially since i am cooped up in my house all day working from home. although i am pretty good about exercising typically, lila helped me immensely during my early days of grief. a full workout wasn't possible but a quick walk around the block was and it got my endorphins flowing. so thankful for this pup in my life i don't know how i would have gotten through the past couple of years without here. be sure to checkout the doggy workout plan below! 

namaste

Melissa