In Sit, Stay, Grow counsellor Angelika von Sanden invites readers to face life’s challenges with the support of our furry friends, using the ‘the daily dog walk as a time’ to draw us into an opportunity for meaningful contemplation.
Key Points:
- This is a book to gently journey with if you’re ready to work.
- If you appreciate reflecting in nature, and on the way your pets can have an impact on your approach to life, this could be a helpful book for you.
- I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.
First things first, Sit, Stay, Grow is not a book for the faint-hearted.
And you’ll get the most from it if animals, but especially dogs, hold a special place in your heart.
This is a book to gently journey with if you’re ready to work.
This is a book to gently journey with if you’re ready to work.
At just over 170 pages Sit, Stay, Grow is easy to digest even if you’re not an avid reader… however, it’s not to be read in one sitting.
The suggestion is to read a chapter every few days, a week, or a month and take some time to walk through it at the pace that suits you best.
Sit, Stay, Grow is a beautifully illustrated ‘self-help’ style read, which encourages us to consider dogs (… but I would say our pets in general) and their quality as therapists – using the time we set aside taking your pet for a walk, to take a thought for a walk as well.
Sit, Stay, Grow while helpful, fun, joyful and lighthearted – especially if you’re a dog lover – will sneak up on you and have you considering and working on deep areas of your life.
As such, it does come with a trigger warning; “if reading or attempting an exercise does trigger you”, Angelika encourages, “stop immediately, put both feet firmly on the ground, exhale slowly and inhale in three ‘sobs’”.
Early in the book Angelika shares one of her favourite German expressions, “Den inneren Schwienehun überwinden” which roughly translates to ‘to overcome the inner dog, which looks like a pig’.
An encouragement to do something that seems hard, knowing that tackling this challenge is about what is truly important to you.
This sentiment sets the tone for the readers journey through the book, and the practical ‘taking an idea for a walk’ that comes at the end of each chapter.
If you appreciate reflecting in nature, and on the way your pets can have an impact on your approach to life, this could be a helpful book for you.
Pushing us to overcome the tendency to remain passive and shy away from putting in the hard work and doing what matters.
If you appreciate reflecting in nature, and on the way your pets can have an impact on your approach to life, this could be a helpful book for you.
As someone who delights in animals of all varieties, I think this is a beautiful way to draw people into the deep places of our hearts and work on areas we may not want to… so I’ll give it 3.5 / 5 stars
Feature image: all photos supplied and used with permission
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