Media Room
Our online media room contains complete and up-to-date information on How to Meditate with Your Dog for members of the working media. If you would like additional information or would like to schedule an interview with James Jacobson, please contact us.
print articles
Alternative Medicine, October 2005 - Download PDF
Season Magazine, Fall 2005 - Download PDF
Bark Magazine, Fall 2005 - Download PDF
Maui Weekly, July 21, 2005 - Download PDF
Montreal Mirror - Download PDF
videos
Interview - WGN Chicago
October 2005
Pet Expo - WLS Chicago
October 2005
press releases
How to Meditate with Your Dog - News Release
Segment Suggestions - Press Release
Questions & Answers - Press Release
Author Biography - Press Release
articles by the authors
James Jacobson and Kristine Chandler Madera have authored a number of articles that publications and websites may re-print if they are reproduced in their entirety including bio and resource box information. If you have questions about using these articles—or would like a custom one for your publication — please contact us.
- Bow Wow Bliss: Five Ways to Meditate with Your Dog
- Golden Years: Nine Ways a Dog Boosts Your Health
- Canine MD: Six Ways Your Dog Can Save Your Heart
- Active Compassion in Times of Crisis: How Your Dog Can Help
- Canine MD: Eight Ways a Dog Improves Your Child’s Well-Being
- Even Dogs Get the Holiday Blues: Meditation Can Help
book synopsis
Dogs are natural meditators. So it makes sense that they make the best meditation gurus. “Dogs embody non-judgment and unconditional love—traits many people think of when they envision a spiritually attuned being (page 33).”
In How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers, James Jacobson and his dog, Maui, unleash this meditation magic. Pack leader and dog, sitting together, is the basis for Jacobson’s non-dogmatic approach to meditation. “Without conscious effort, my breath and Maui’s synchronize. I focus on the synch of our breathing, and it helps take me deeper into the meditation (page 19).”
Jacobson’s simple method is based on sound meditation principles. “A meditation master once said that if all we do during meditation is to repeat this cycle: observe thoughts, release them, and re-focus—then we are meditating (pages 20-21).” Jacobson’s twist is showing people how to use their love for their dogs as the foundation for a regular meditation practice.
Meditating with a dog is the ultimate in body/mind/spirit multitasking. “There is no downside to meditation. The time we devote to it we make up for exponentially in the clarity and peace that it brings to the rest of our day (page XVII).” We all make time for our dogs. When we set aside part of that time to meditate with them, we bond in a way that we just can’t do with another game of fetch.
Mediation transforms lives, both human and canine. Dogs that were hyper become calmer, and dogs that were already laid back become even more peaceful. Meditation is good for pack leaders, too. Stress relief, better focus, improved intuition, and more, come naturally with a regular meditation practice. This is key to a smoother dog/human relationship, because “A peaceful pack leader tends to have a calmer, more amiable dog (page 5).”
The book comes with a free CD offer to help people get started.
Any dog can meditate, as can any human. “If we watch our dogs and absorb some of their innate doggy nature, we can become meditators, too (page 14).”
quotes from the book
Here are some quotations from the book How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction the Meditation for Dog Lovers
“Meditation helps us become more objective, and, as a result, more compassionate.” (Page XII)
“One of the sweetest gifts is that meditation shows us how to savor the present moment—the only moment we have.” (Page XII)
“There is no down side to meditation. The time we devote to it, we make up for exponentially in the clarity and peace that it brings to the rest of our day.” (Page XXVII)
“Mediating with our dogs is one of the most caring things we can do for them. It’s a terrific way to bond, and it’s good for their health and well-being.” (Page 3)
“Meditation helps us pack leaders relax. A peaceful pack leader tends to have a calmer, more amiable dog.” (Page 5)
“In the first minutes of meditation, stress begins to abate—we feel more serene, our minds clear, and we begin to relax.” (Page 6)
“Each person’s [meditation] experience is unique because meditation is about being, not doing.” (Page 7)
“The people who think that mediating with a dog is crazy are probably the same ones who specify that their leftover restaurant food should be placed in a ‘people’ bag rather than a ‘doggy’ bag.” (Page 11)
“…if all we do during meditation is to repeat this cycle: observe thoughts, release them, and refocus—then we are meditating.” (Page 21)
“As we meditate with our dogs, our two breathing patterns come into synch, both our heartbeats slow, our nervous systems come into rhythm.” (Page 31)
“Dogs are natural meditators…Dogs embody non-judgment and unconditional love—traits many people think of when they think of a spiritually attuned being.” (Page 14 & 33)
“If you have a dog, then you have a meditation guru…To unleash it, all you need to do is set your intention, believe, connect with your dog, and ask her to teach you.” (Page 34)
“The most immediate effect of [meditation] is relaxation. Our heart rates decrease, our blood pressures drop, our anxieties ease. All this can happen after just a few minutes of meditation.” (Page 84)
“Studies have shown that meditation can lower blood pressure and heart rate, decrease stress hormones, increase endorphins, and relieve pain.” (Page 85)
“Dogs can show us how to be better attuned to the rhythms of life: sleeping when we are tired, eating when we are hungry, playing when the opportunity arises or the mood strikes.” (Pages 145-6)
“From dogs we learn to take nothing personally, to hold no grudges. We learn to be quick to forgive and slow to growl.” (Page 146)
“Becoming more dog can give us a whole new leash on life.” (Page 146)
How to Meditate with Your Dog takes “the mystique out of the process of meditation—without losing meditation’s inherent mystery.” (Page 155)