There are things we know to be true in our own daily lives. We have witnessed what a hug can do to calm and assure another person. The simple act of touching someone gently offers the unspoken message of being present with concern and care, as we are ‘in the moment’ with them at their time of need. So with that in mind, when I read about a class called “Canine 10 Point Wellness Class” being offered in my town at The Yellow House, I had to learn more about it for LEO and myself.

First let me introduce LEO to you...he is my friend, my companion, my courageous brave-heart, my protector, my gentle giant, and my joy. He came to our family as a rescue in 2009 his eyes sightless with cataracts and glaucoma, about 30 pounds underweight, scared of the unknown and yet trusting to the touch. After a year of treatment, under an ophthalmologist’s care in 2010 we had to have LEO’s eyes removed for his continued health and comfort. Not missing a beat, LEO takes walks off leash, runs toward any unusual noise in the woods barking his warning, jumps logs as he comes to them, can be at your side as soon as a food wrapper is crinkled, surfs the dining room table with ease, and is your shadow throughout the day. With patience and kindness he showed us how much he appreciated being rescued into his forever home ...and somehow...he has rescued us.

So when this class was offered I thought what a wonderful opportunity to learn how to connect even more closely with LEO...using only my own hands through the power of touch…and off we went. Not only did we go to the 10 Point Wellness Class but we enjoyed it so much that we went a few weeks later to the class specifically mindful of (whisper please) ‘Senior Dogs’. (There is also a class scheduled for ‘Athletic Dogs’ but LEO isn’t really into high performance and tries to keep his energy levels grounded.)

Our instructor, Jamie Yates-Yee, began by explaining acupressure as a form of Chinese energy work which has its origins over 5000 years ago. Many of us have had acupuncture with needles to help alleviate some pain or to stimulate energy flow to correct imbalances within ourselves. However, acupressure is a non-invasive, holistic approach using the same acu-points and meridians. Through the use of your own thumb or fingertip pressure on certain points along the meridians of your dog’s body you can bring wellness to an area of illness or pain. As Jamie describes, “the main objective is to bring the body’s energy back into balance.”

With hands on learning, while in a small, intimate setting with about 6 other dogs present, Jamie went through the meridian chart explaining as she went the key acupressure points as they relate to particular systems within your dog’s body. She showed us how to apply the pressure to help increase energy at a deficient point in order to release blocked energy that may be causing illness or stress thus returning the body’s energy into balance. There were breakthroughs while we were in the class, for example, Rosie, a little beagle friend of LEO’s, who rarely sits...always standing and or moving. Well...with hands on touch...not only did Rosie sit ...she relaxed and laid down. As far as LEO was concerned, he enjoyed the Bai Hui part of the lesson which benefits and strengthens the hindquarters of any lameness, paralysis or rheumatism as well as help with hip dysplasia and arthritis of the hip joint...all the while...he thought I was just rubbing his hindquarters for the sheer smile on his face!

Acupressure can help:

·         Strengthen the immune system

·         Relieve muscle spasms & joint stiffness

·         Increase blood supply & remove toxins

·         Aid in the recovery from an injury

·         Strengthen muscles, joints & bones

·         Increase energy & relieve pain

·         Reduce fear, anxiety & stress

·         Treat acute & chronic health problems

·         Comfort Senior dogs

Jamie’s goal in the class was to help our dogs return to a well-balanced, harmonious life and to teach us how to maintain the harmony and balance. I want to encourage anyone who has the opportunity to take a class or learn more about this ability we each have within us to connect more closely with our dogs. As the old saying goes..."Give and you shall receive”...well, through this class I have learned your Tatra will respond to your efforts …so… ”Touch and be Touched.”

~Jo-Anne Dominik

I want to thank the kindness of Jamie Yates-Yee, CAA for allowing me to write of our experience in her classes. Her website is httpwww.heavenandearthenergy.com

Many thanks also to the generous staff at The Yellow House, a community center for learning in the town of Palmer, MA. They have provided the photographs taken during the classes, and the impetus to write the article.

"I never thought I would see an African American as president of the United States of America.  I knew it would happen sometime, but never thought I would see it in my lifetime."  Dr. Robert Price closed his thoughtful, compassionate talk, "From Slavery to the White House", with this comment. The notes of "We Shall Overcome" faded away as the audience reflected on the dramatic presentation they had just seen.  Dr Price (Bob)'s greatest achievement had been to personalize a painful topic that is, as members of the audience commented in the lively question and answer session that followed, still quite abstract for people who did not grow up in the South or do not experience racial discrimination on a daily basis. Bob was just about to enter his 10th grade at Little Rock High School in Arkansas in 1956.  He never did, because the Supreme Court made the historic landmark declaration that same year that segregation was illegal.  He describes his 10th grade as a "lost year" because the governors of Little Rock closed the school to avoid having to integrate the students.  This was of course declared illegal; the school was opened a year later and accepted black students for the first time - a convulsive, divisive process. During his lost year, Bob continued his education by doing correspondence courses, but for many black students who did not have the resources, it was the end of formal education.  Many dropped out, never to return to school. Bob completed his 11th and 12th grades at Little Rock and left the South behind to move to New York where he attended Columbia University.

During this moving slide presentation,  Bob showed us the horrors of racial segregation, from the Jim Crow laws which forced blacks and whites to live "separate but equal" lives, to the great landmarks of the Civil Rights movement: Brown vs the Board of Education in 1964, Rosa Parks' infamous incident on the bus which was the start of a formal boycott of public transport, the lunch counter sit-ins, the Selma to Montogmery marches, Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington.  We also saw the dark underside of the times - the bombings by the Ku Klux Klan which killed black children, men and women; the Freedom Travellers' bus set on fire and the travellers, while rescued by state troopers from certain death by fire, were left to face the mob alone; the snarling face of a white student as the first black student entered Little Rock High School; the assassination of Dr. King.  This  story is told from the standpoint of a compassionate observer and participant of the painful and ongoing narrative that is the history of slavery and racial discrimination and how this narrative lives on in the American psyche. It is a tremendous achievement.

Yellow House classes got off to a great start with Spring Birding at the Quabbin Reservoir on Sunday, April 15th. The group was led by John Green, naturalist and photographer, who has an impressive knowledge of birds, wildlife, ecology, and botany. The Quabbin at 7 a.m. is a misty and tantalizing place, already vibrant with birdsong. On the drive up to the Winsor Dam, I was brought to a halt by a group of turkeys, four of the males strutting their stuff in full courting display with fanned tailfeathers, bright red wattles, and puffed-up chests.  It was an imposing sight, though the females seemed less than impressed; they carried on grazing, heads down.  A great start to the day! Six of us met in the parking lot, where John immediately began by identifying several bird calls and pointing out finches, jays, thrushes, the humble sparrow, the great blue heron, and many other birds that filled the trees and sky around the parking lot. Over the next few hours, as the day got warmer and brighter, John led us to several different habitats - the rocky walls of the spillway where we saw a family of ravens on their nest, thickly wooded areas with hermit thrush and vireos, bare open areas unexpectedly hushed, boggy ground covered with skunk cabbage - and talked about the different species we could expect to see in each place. What had, to me, been an undifferentiated wall of background noise began to take on shape and color as John helped us to pick out and identify different bird songs and calls. Gradually, individual sounds emerged and took on their own character as my hearing became more sophisticated.  I was reminded of Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, in which she describes the devastating silence after the common practice of spraying with DDT.  Walking through the Quabbin, the very air vibrating with birdsong, it's hard to imagine what that must have felt like. The culminating point of the day for me was seeing a bald eagle on its nest, right across the reservoir from the Visitors' Center, perfectly visible with the aid of binoculars.  It was the first time I'd ever seen such a thing and it was a magical moment. John is an excellent guide.  He is knowledgeable, low-key, funny, and a font of information about the natural world.  It was one of the most enjoyable days I've had and I'm looking forward to the next trip, on May 5th. Please join us if you can.