I'm lucky enough to live in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego, which is probably THE most dog friendly place in the world. It's not South Park, it's South Bark--which is also the name of the doggie wash store around the corner.

San Diego has several "dog parks" specifically for dogs to run unleashed, followed around by their owners religiously tending to poop patrol.

South Park has several food establishments and even some bars that have dogs-welcome policies. I visited the Whistle Stop Bar with my dog Wookie, sat on a barstool and put Wookie on another. The barkeep came up and asked Wookie, "What'll ya have there, Shorty?"

I'd say 80-90 percent of South Park residents have at least one dog, so as people filter back home from their workplaces, the sidewalks fill up with dogs, leashes and their owners. It's a much more social place than most I've lived in because of the dogs. If nothing else, you can talk about your dogs. I know dog's names when I didn't know the owner's name!

Dogs seem happiest with routine, and I don't know if that's because humans are, or if dogs by themselves are, but the combination of dog + human is a study in routine. Dogs seem to respond to repeated actions. They can remember practically every place there is a good smell, and the exact route to the dog park. I'm impressed with this because I think dogs use different perceptions than we do to arrive at the same information, which is fascinating to me.

Wookie, because of a congenital and chronic eye condition, is mostly blind, and yet she lunges forward, fully the alpha dog, fearlessly and happily tracking down the next smell, almost oblivious to curbs, fences, telephone poles and yard signs--all of which she's run into before I got a chance to steer her clear. The enthusiasm dogs have for the littlest things is an inspiration. Wookie will spend a full minute, or two, carefully sniffing some exotic odor like some sort of wine connisseur, lost in some deep concentration that no manner of distraction can break.

Dogs are also completely in the NOW. If nothing is going on for them, they sleep. If something starts happening, they are fully awake, engaged and loving the action. It's a wonderful model to me about how to live in the present moment. Dogs' enthusiasm for their lives is infectious, too, and I think that's why humans love them so much. The dog's simple responses and unbridled focus seems to somehow bring back those ancient human days when we were simple and wild.

I discovered the ecstatic side to dancing when I was in junior high school in Iowa, oddly enough. It was one of those sanctioned school dances where the boys were on one side, and the girls on the other, and Herman's Hermits played on the stereo. It was also the late 60's and self-expression was given particular weight during that time, and, well, I took full advantage of it. It was the era of "dancing by yourself" which was kind of new back then, although it was still better form to have a partner of the opposite sex dancing by herself along with you.

I discovered that I could make up my own dance--I could move rhythmically, all in my own way and it felt really good. I worked up a sweat and felt more alive. Oddly, after the event, I went back to my regular teenaged life without a second thought about it--until the next dance, of course. I did learn that I could do this where I noticed others were either too shy or not coordinated enough to look like they were, 1. dancing, 2. having a good time. I realized I had an aptitude.

Flash forward to adult life, and here I was dancing full out again at a concert. The music was full blast and fully immersive, and my body just responded. I laughed, I sweated, I felt my heart pounding, I felt so ALIVE. After the concert, I went home, re-entered my mundane life and barely gave it another thought, other to say, "I danced my ass off last night," to those who inquired.

Flash forward to the Whole Being Weekend a couple of weeks ago, and once again--after about a couple of years--I was full-out dancing to Larisa Stow & The Shakti Tribe with an enthusiastic crowd, who circulated around each other creating a sort of group dancing gestalt I experienced as quite profound. Here we were all expressing ourselves to the music and it somehow all came together as though rehearsed.

As I floated back to the RV after the show and dance I wondered why I didn't do that more. Why don't I just dance in my house? Why not just dance outside? It made me feel so good, why not make it a part of my daily routine? I realized I had compartmentalized my dancing experience and set up strict requirements as to what specific circumstances must exist before I do it. I realized how ridiculous that was.

I don't need music to dance. I don't need a concert-level sound system to dance. I don't even need any reason to dance, because dancing is reason in and of itself. After all, Life is a dance, really. We dance among our thoughts, we dance around in rhythms with our cars, our friends, our family, our values, schedules, judgments and pets. And all around us things are dancing: air molecules, trees, dust, noise, and smells. Everything is in motion--everything dances.

So now, I just dance, and it always feels good.

I take PureZyme every day, and have for several years, but I mostly took it for my body type with food. Dr. DicQie Fuller's book, The Healing Power of Enzymes presents one of the first body-type approaches to nutrition in the field. Dr. Fuller noted that the way a body stores fat or not, and where was a signal of certain enzyme needs or chronic deficiencies. By taking a simple survey, a body type can be determined and the deficiency corrected.

When I initially began this enzyme regimen I lost 30 pounds and kept it off, and have continued using the PureZyme with my meals. However, that is not the subject of this particular Vibrant Living Adventure. Instead, it is using PureZyme between meals and/or during fasting.

When PureZyme (a high dose of the enzyme protease) is used between meals or for fasting, the protease enters the blood stream instead of remaining in the digestive tract to digest the food immediately consumed. Protease in the blood stream does two remarkable things: 1. It breaks down bacteria, viruses and other protein-based debris floating around the cardiovascular system, and 2. It reduces inflammation wherever it goes. Inflammation in the body has been found to be caused by undigested particles of food, fauna, and abnormal cells stimulating the immune system into an immune response. It is the primary cause of arthritis, gout, and many other auto-immune disorders.

I bring this up because I had rather overlooked this property of PureZyme and recently applied it to great result.

I decided to start doing intermittent fasting--where I'm basically eating two meals: One, late in the afternoon made up of vegetable juices and/or avocado, or a protein shake and, two, a regular-sized meal before bedtime. This means that from the time I finish the last meal until I begin the late-afternoon meal, I've spent 16-18 hours fasting.

There is a lot of recent scientific study on this mode of eating, but I'm finding it works well for me. By adding in the PureZyme during the fasting period, those nagging aches and pains we usually attribute to "age" subside, and my yoga practice has become much deeper and less painful.

Intermittent fasting in this way de-stresses the liver and kidneys so they can more thoroughly do the work of ridding the body of toxins, plus it increases the natural oxygen level of the body, tending to alkalize it.

Using PureZyme to amplify the fasting effects, amplifies the benefits, too, and is well worth the extra dosages. With food, it is recommended to take 2-3 caps per meal. Using it for fasting, it is recommended to take 3-4 every 3 hours. Check it out!