Totem Animals

Last week I started my Couch to 5K training.  My friend Bianca encouraged me to start a whole two weeks before my plan.  I didn’t think I was ready, but I was.  I’m so grateful I started Day One with her by my side.  After we finished our walk/run, we walked another three miles.  Bianca was giving me some tips on my form and she sees a deer.  She was so excited.  She goes on about God sending us this deer as a sign as I start this new journey.  So we both gave thanks.  She then encourages me to remember the moment and that deer during my training.  We named it “Rosemary.”

So today during my cool down walk I see a rabbit.  I immediately think of the deer we saw last week.  I give thanks to Spirit and the rabbit and continue my walk.  I just looked up totem animals and here’s what I learned. The bold print is what I want to remember from these two incidents:

Deer -- Deer is a keen observer, enabled to see well in low lighting and its sensitive hearing allows it to perceive a twig snap in the distance. For the first few days of life a fawn hardly moves, hidden by the color of its coat from predators. Once it can stand, it follows its mother around to learn how to survive. The graceful movement and gentle nature of these creatures show us the innocence of nature.

Deer is a messenger of serenity, can see between shadows and hear what isn't being said.

Deer teaches us to maintain our innocence and gentleness so we can share our open-heartedness with others.


Rabbit -- Rabbits normally live alone in the wild, making their homes by burrowing underground. Rabbits are curious animals who like to explore their surroundings. They live on a few acres of land & become familiar with every square inch. They are territorial creatures who will fight over their piece of land. Their eyes can see in every direction, so they will watch a bird in the air while watching a predator on the ground. When aroused, their ears stand up. All these characteristics combined with their willingness to run away, are what rabbits use to defend themselves against predators.

Rabbit is often connected with fear because they are timid and constantly on guard. Rabbit wants us to learn how to face our fear and know when to defend our space or walk away.

Rabbit shows us that defending ourselves doesn't always involve fighting back. He teaches us to listen carefully to what is going on in our environment so we can accurately use our intuition when in danger.

Pretty cool….