Dog Meditation: All the Rage in L.A.
See the dog, be the God. So goes the mantra at the Buddhist-Bowwow Institute, where dog owners and their canine companions practice ancient meditation techniques.
SILVER LAKE — Meditation isn't just for people anymore. Now, after thousands of years of companionship, dogs can learn to relieve stress and raise their own consciousness through the age-old process of being still and going inward.
"We talk down to them and yell "Sit!" while we ourselves find it difficult to do just that: Sit and be still." —
Clöe Ghesang, founder, Buddhist-Bowwow Institute
The Buddhist-Bowwow Institute was founded by Clöe Ghesang, a veterinarian who was personally drawn toward Eastern Religion and has traveled throughout India. "Most people believe that dogs are capable of only certain basic tasks. We talk down to them and yell "Sit!" while we ourselves find it difficult to do just that: Sit and be still. So maybe we're really just angry with that restless part of ourselves. With the Institute, however, we finally have a place where dog lovers and dogs can sit side-by-side and do the work together."
SIT, BOYS, SIT: Arjuna, Krishna and Yudishthera were restless at first, but soon relaxed into a trance-like state of being. Since dogs are so good at pure being and unconditional love (as the Institute's theory goes), the people participants are able to feed off the energy that dogs bring to class. And vice versa: The dogs are said to be eager to follow the example that their masters set by being motionless.
In the first class offered, participants do their best to meditate for an hour. Ten-minute segments of sitting are interspersed with five-minute "walking meditations" in which the dogs and people slowly circle the perimeter of the class before returning to their sitting locations.
MEDITATION STUD: This patient poodle, Samsara, brought style and concentration to the group. "It sounds crazy, but it's awesome," says Donovan McKee, who signed up with his Weimaraner. "She's only a couple years old and tends to be a little high-strung, but when she saw all the others sitting and being blissful — well, I heard her utter a faint 'yelp' and I could swear I saw something in her, like… surrender. After that, she followed along and got real calm. And there's been a real positive, residual energy floating around our home now, too. So that's cool."
As to what exactly goes on in the mind of a dog who's meditating, no one could say. "But they've done studies," chimes Ghesang, "where they hook dogs up to wires and test their brains and — sure enough — they're actually able to enter a state of heightened alpha wave generation that's akin to 'wakeful relaxation.'"
"I don't know what that means to you," Ghesang adds, "but that tells me we're all in search of our inner Dogs."
TUNING IN: Two students at the Bowwow Insititute practice their craft.
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