How I Won the Nervous System Trifecta- Walking, Meditation and The Love of an Animal

When I was growing up, my grandfather Charlie loved horses and he and my grandmother liked to dress up for an afternoon at the racetrack. During a Sunday dinner I heard him say that he had “won the trifecta” and I asked him what that meant. He explained that the trifecta was a bet in which he predicted the first three finishers in a race in the correct order. I loved my grandparents and I enjoy replaying my memories of our time together.

This article explores three ways my nervous system changed after I adopted my dog, spent more time walking outdoors and modified my meditation practice. I hadn’t bet on these benefits, but I feel like I won a health trifecta during a global pandemic.

When the lockdowns began in Los Angeles, one of my greatest concerns was being isolated from my yoga community, friends, and family. I’m an extrovert with the soul of an introvert, which means I feel energized when I spend time with other people, and I also require my solitude. Zoom meetings helped me stay connected but I really missed being with people in person.

In October of 2020, about six months into the Pandemic, after months of searching (that is another story), I adopted my dog, Davis; I did not anticipate the many ways that being a dog momma would impact my nervous system. Shortly after his arrival, my heart cracked open with love for this rescue puppy, even during his most stubborn moments.

My energetic dog requires three walks a day, and although my feet ached, I realized I felt more settled and relaxed. As a lifelong runner, I have experience with the “runner’s high” that comes about ten minutes into a run, when the endorphins kick in, but I underestimated the benefits of daily walking. The increase in my exercise was my first win. An investigation (Choi et al., 2019) conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School confirmed that higher levels of physical activity and lower risk of depression go hand-in-hand. "On average, doing more physical activity appears to protect against developing depression,” Choi said in a statement. “Any activity appears to be better than none; our rough calculations suggest that replacing sitting with 15 minutes of a heart-pumping activity like running, or with an hour of moderately vigorous activity (like my dog walks), is enough to produce the average increase in accelerometer data that was linked to a lower depression risk.”

I walk my dog three times a day and each walk lasts between 30-45 minutes, with the morning walk being our longest. I noticed that once Davis was trained our walks became a time of reflection and play, and my pandemic grumpiness began to dissolve. My sense of isolation decreased as I met other dog owners on my walks. I like some of these dog owners better than others, and am not a big fan of people who allow their dogs to lunge toward us on retractable leashes.

After our walks, Davis returns to his bed where he snores peacefully until the mailman comes. Sometimes he gets up for water or a stretch and will stop by my desk for some affection. I notice his smell, the feeling of his soft fur and the look in his eyes when he wants my attention. In a 2001 study, Karen Allen, Barbara E. Shykoff, and Joseph L. Izzo Jr. found that increased social support through pet ownership lowers blood pressure response to mental stress; Davis’ mere presence lowers my blood pressure. My second win was increased social support.

The third aspect of my trifecta came through altering my meditation practice. In 1987, I learned a basic Insight Meditation practice, following my breath and coming back to my breath if I felt distracted. This practice served me well until 2019, when I found myself growing bored with meditation. A friend mentioned her TM practice, and although I was skeptical at first, I eventually decided to try it. Transcendental Meditation (also known as TM) is a mantra-based meditation practice that was developed in the 1950s. Students are taught to meditate twice a day for 20 minutes. I’ve been practicing for three months now, and I continue to feel calm with an improved capacity to observe my thoughts and feelings without being overtaken by them. I notice that I laugh more often and sometimes sing to Davis during our walks. I’m rarely able to practice twice a day, but once a day has made all the difference.

I encourage all my clients to walk or try some form of exercise that gets them outside and moving. Not everyone can own a pet, but for those who do, I suggest they notice and savor the impact on their senses. I recommend meditation to some of my clients and like to help them create a practice that works for them. I’m very grateful for the many gifts I’ve received during these last two challenging years and the positive impact on my nervous system. I’m thinking about trying pickleball next!

My Adventures in Meditation

By now you might have heard about the many benefits of practicing meditation. I don’t know about you but my mind begins to snap shut as soon as someone tells me that something is good for me (especially when it comes to lima beans).  So I won’t tell you why meditation is good for you, instead I will share some of my own experience with meditation and some tips for starting your own meditation practice.  I hope to dispel some of the myths that I had to overcome when I began practicing.

In the late 80s I was living in Boston, attending graduate school and waitressing in Kenmore square.  I was pretty anxious during that time, I had trouble sleeping and most of the time my shoulders were tense and inching closer to my ears.  A friend introduced me to George Mumford, a meditation teacher and sports therapist.  George spent 5 seasons with Phil Jackson, (legendary coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls) helping professional basketball players practice mindfulness on the court.

George suggested that meditation might help reduce my anxiety. When I first began meditating I really did not like it.  In fact, I hated it.  I would sit down to meditate and the thoughts in my head would get really loud.   It seemed that meditation was making things worse not better; I called George often, sometimes late at night.  I would complain that I did not have a blank mind.  Myth # 1- Nowhere is written that successful meditators have blank minds; I am not sure where this rumor started but it is just not true.  As I continued to struggle, George would say kind, practical things like “Just direct your attention to your breath”.  I would go back to my practice, determined to get it right this time.  Sometimes I found it helpful to count my breath, other times I would silently repeat “breathe in love, breathe out fear”.

Sometimes I could not sit still and I would choose to practice walking meditation.  Myth #2- Meditation must be practiced in a seated cross-legged position, even if you are a runner with tight hamstrings.  George taught me how to practice walking mindfully; paying attention to the sensations in my body, especially my feet as they touched the ground.  I practiced moving slowly with focus, (luckily there were no cell phones in those days) breathing and noticing sensations in my body as I walked.

Eventually I developed a daily 20 minute practice.  I like to practice in the morning, sometimes I practice in the middle of the day if I am running late.  If I have had a stressful day, I might practice again for a few minutes before bed. Myth 3- Meditation must be practiced in the morning and Myth 4-Meditation must be practiced for at least an hour for it to be effective.   I have experimented with longer and shorter time periods throughout the years and have found that 20 minutes feels right for me. Some people prefer a longer period of time. One of my friends who is the mother of a small child, likes to practice at night while she sits in a rocking chair near her daughter’s bed watching her fall asleep.

I would describe my practice as Insight Based meditation, focusing on the sensations in my body and thoughts in my mind.  When I find myself getting attached to any particular sensation (for example-itchy nose) I simply come back to my breath.  If I am sitting and I start thinking “What’s for dinner” I simply come back to my breath.   There is a funny meditation teacher in Venice, California who asks his thoughts to have seat on the couch and says “I’ll get to you later”.  When I worked in technology I would often think about my coworkers and how they irritated me, I would acknowledge the irritation and then direct them to have a seat on the couch. Sometimes my couch would be packed with so many people that some of them had to sit on the floor.

My meditation practice extends throughout my day into mindfulness.  The way I differentiate between the two terms is that meditation happens at a specific time that I set aside each day for practice. Mindfulness means carrying my meditation practice into my daily affairs; it is about my commitment to slowing down and being aware, trying to respond mindfully as opposed to reacting.  Each day is different.  Sometimes I meditate, start my car and ease into my day.  Other times it is clear that everyone in Los Angeles needs to take driving lessons and that I am the only person who knows how to operate a car. Those are the days I try and practice Thich Nhat Hanh’s red light meditation.  Red light meditation consists of stopping at the red traffic light and relaxing your tight grip on the wheel. The next step is to take a breath and softly smile.  It does not have to be a huge grin, just a gentle smile and a few relaxing breaths. 

Myth #5- Meditation is no fun. Meditation is an “individual adventure” (these are Bill Wilson’s words, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous).  I encourage you to make it work for you.  Some days I practice sitting meditation, other days washing dishes meditation, making soup meditation, the list goes on.   Whatever you choose to do just have fun with it, just don’t forget to breathe.  I incorporate meditation and mindfulness into my work with my clients; helping them to develop their own unique ways of being present in the world and using that presence to enhance their experience in therapy.

The Power of Paying Attention

In this article about focus, the well-known author Daniel Goleman describes our capacity for paying attention as a “mental muscle”.  He goes on to explain that meditation and mindfulness can sharpen our ability to focus.  The need to multitask and be “productive” can rob us of the experience of enjoying each moment.  People who have experienced developmental trauma sometimes live their lives as a problem to be solved.  This approach is more about enduring life rather than enjoying it. If we practice mindfulness, a simple task like loading the dishwasher can become more enjoyable. It’s as simple as noticing your breath as you place each plate into the rack.

Focus: The Power of Paying Attention