Page 183 - Total War on PTSD

CHAPTER 12 - DOGA Suzi Teitelman
Source (all images): Chapter Author
I started DOGA in NYC after 9/11. I was living in New York, and a lot of things changed after that. One of the things I wanted to finally have my own dog. I didn't want to share a dog with a boyfriend or to take care of someone else's dog. I wanted my own dog...a dog to love as my child. I was and still am an actor, but when you are an actor in New York, you may get a job and have to leave at the last minute, so having a dog made that impossible. But I was ready to settle down and to make my dream happen of finally having my own dog. So when my dog Coali, a black Cocker Spaniel, who was born a couple days after 9/11, came into my life, he came to me to teach DOGA to the world through me.
I was already a Yoga teacher...that was my settled life choice. I was still doing some acting, but I was teaching Yoga full time. I was also the Yoga Director at Crunch Fitness. When I got Coali, he wouldn't leave me or my Yoga mat. Because of this I started to add him into my Yoga poses.
I did this when I was at home, when I was teaching private lessons, and even snuck him into my classes at Crunch...and we started doing Yoga together. It wasn't the same without him. We
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