Two friends of mine said goodbye to their 16-year-old dog last week.

Emma, a golden lab, arrived sometime after Kevin and Sue met but before they married. She shed blond hair the way the sun shines: prolifically and without pause. She was the most stubborn dog in Ontario, if not all of Canada. Three weeks before her exit, she was still bashing her head into any closed door that she wanted open, and she wanted all closed doors open.

She was a beloved friend and family member, something that non-animal people sometimes find hard to understand and animal people understand fully.

Rosie, my dog, and I joined Kevin and Sue and Sophie (Emma's little sister) at the cottage this weekend. Everywhere you look, Emma looks back. Her hair is everywhere, naturally. She was a voracious morning eater. Crazy lab, used to drive us mad. Now, early morning feels empty. Someone should be tearing through a huge bowl of kibble at the speed of sound.

Sophie is lonely, and knows something has changed. Even Rosie gets up every morning and sniffs her way around the beach, looking for Emma.

If you've been through it, you know this story.

We spent long, dusky evenings over good meals and wine, talking about how wonderful she was, and how hard it is to believe she's gone from here.

And twice a day, we rolled out yoga mats and flung our bodies and hearts into vigorous practice. It was the best answer, ever, to grief.

We worked hard, we chanted with full voices, we sank during Savasana into everything there was to feel.

You know how it is with yoga. You move your beautiful body and all kinds of feelings move through your body. Some you're expecting, some you're not. It's wonderful to be with people you love so that the unexpected feelings can have their say without embarrassment or regret.

This week I'm grateful for yoga's power to help us move through grief.

And I'll bet you have gazillions of stories on this one. I'd love to hear.

Thanks to yoga for being a part of celebrating Emma's fine, fine life. Thanks to you for being here, and for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.