{"id":212,"date":"2011-01-01T10:15:58","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T10:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html"},"modified":"2011-01-01T10:15:58","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T10:15:58","slug":"take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html","title":{"rendered":"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/DSC_0245.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DSC_0245.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/96\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"mt-image-left\" style=\"float: left;margin: 0 20px 20px 0\" \/><\/a><\/span>I heard a joke on <a href=\"http:\/\/oldjewstellingjokes.com\">Old Jews Telling Jokes<\/a> that is a funny testimony to the power of mindlessness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It goes something like this: A man is stranded on an island with only a dog and a pig. After a long while he become lonely and the pig starts to look attractive. When he approaches the pig to consummate his attraction, the dog bites him on the leg. This happens every time, much to the man&#8217;s frustration. One day, the man sees a log with what looks like a person on it. He swims out and rescues this gorgeous woman; a supermodel who fell off a cruise ship. She&#8217;s grateful for being saved and says, &#8220;If there is ANYTHING I can do &#8230;&#8221; The man says, &#8220;Yeah. Would you mind taking the dog for a walk.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s easy to get caught in limiting mind sets. We get fixated on an idea and cut our selves off from other considerations. We discover our limiting view in hindsight. The fixation affects our ability to perceive what is right in front of us &#8212; the beautiful woman that might otherwise be more gratifying than the pig.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Mindfulness practice helps us to overcome the tendency to be mindless in this way. In part, by slowing things down and giving us room and time to consider other options. It helps us to be less impulsive and reactive and thereby more considerate and deliberate in how we perceive and act. True, mindfulness practice doesn&#8217;t cure us of mindlessness, but my experience shows it diminishes its frequency and intensity.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>So, slow things down and take a good look at what is right in front of you; it may surprise you!<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I heard a joke on Old Jews Telling Jokes that is a funny testimony to the power of mindlessness.&nbsp; It goes something like this: A man is stranded on an island with only a dog and a pig. After a long while he become lonely and the pig starts to look attractive. When he approaches&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","category-recommended"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I heard a joke on Old Jews Telling Jokes that is a funny testimony to the power of mindlessness.&nbsp; It goes something like this: A man is stranded on an island with only a dog and a pig. After a long while he become lonely and the pig starts to look attractive. When he approaches&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-01T10:15:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Arnie Kozak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets - Mindfulness Matters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets - Mindfulness Matters","og_description":"I heard a joke on Old Jews Telling Jokes that is a funny testimony to the power of mindlessness.&nbsp; It goes something like this: A man is stranded on an island with only a dog and a pig. After a long while he become lonely and the pig starts to look attractive. When he approaches&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html","og_site_name":"Mindfulness Matters","article_published_time":"2011-01-01T10:15:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg"}],"author":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html","name":"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets - Mindfulness Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg","datePublished":"2011-01-01T10:15:58+00:00","dateModified":"2011-01-01T10:15:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/DSC_0245-thumb-300x200-20665.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/01\/take-the-dog-for-a-walk-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-limiting-mindsets.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Metaphor Monday :: Take the Dog for a Walk :: How to Avoid Getting Caught in Limiting Mindsets"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/","name":"Mindfulness Matters","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Arnie Kozak","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8","name":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","caption":"Dr. Arnie Kozak"},"description":"Recognized as an innovator in the field of mindfulness-based psychology, Dr. Arnie Kozak is northern New England's leading expert in the field. Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}