5 yoga tricks your dog is trying to teach you.

Meet Cooper.

Dogs are great at yoga – masterful, even – and we stand to learn a lot from them, if we'd just slow down and take a look. Sure, no one's going to toss us a treat when we get these right...but there are still rewards to reap.

•  Stretch. While we're stumbling for coffee, Cooper shifts his hips back into a beautiful adho mukha svanasana, or (yes, you guessed it) downward facing dog. Lengthening the spine. Warming up the legs. No caffeine required.

Cooper's not the only one in downward dog. Photo from illuminateyoga.com.au

• Appreciate what you have. No one's saying you have to wag your tail, but, after a few years together, it's easy to toss out a half-baked greeting when a significant other walks through the door after a long day. Not dogs, though. They'll run across the wood floor, skid across the tile and jump around with springs in their feet. Er, paws.
• Be in the moment. When Cooper's playing with his rope, he's all there. When he's on a walk, he's all there. When he's getting a bath, he's all there (though, on that last one, I'll admit: he's not happy about it). 
• Drop the envy. Learn to live well with what you have and who you are. Find contentment and purpose in what you offer the world.  
• Live fully. There's a lot to be said for turning 100, but sometimes longevity is all we see. Dogs, on the other hand? They're busy making the most of time. Of now. Make the most of yours too – even if that means settling in for a nap.