Mozi, the Great Dane, embodies the concepts of MINDFULNESS and MUCHNESS. While he is awkward and clumsy, he is fully comfortable in his own skin and expressing himself to the world as he is, warts and all. At the same time, he is uninhibited in his ability to connect with others, to evoke a “Muchness Moment” and bringing out the Muchness in those he meets. His stories offer life lessons about Muchness.
Mozi the Great Dane became our mascot when our founder, Teri Leigh, was moseying through the woods pondering a name for this body/mind/spirit system. She took pause to meditate under a large tree. While sitting at the base of the tree, she was visited by a rather bouncy and happy great dane. The extra-large dog bounded up to her in his awkward over-sized legs, and sat down right next to her. He was so happy to greet her that she closed her eyes in preparation for a large wet tongue to lap at her face. Instead, he just gently touched his soft black nose to her cheek. She scratched his ear before he leapt over her and sat down on her other side, where he once again, gently touched his nose to her other cheek. As his owners came closer, as he had run way ahead of them to meet Teri, he ran to them and circled them as if to excitedly say, “I met someone really cool over there, come see!” Engrossed in their conversation, they ignored his urging, so he returned to Teri and leapt over her legs several times. As his owners walked further up the path, he tried again to introduce them to his new friend, circling them several times before going back to jump over Teri several times again. As his owners rounded the corner out of sight, they called him. “MOZI! COME!” He touched Teri’s cheek with his nose one more time and disappeared off into the woods.
Because Mozi hopped and leaped and bounded through the woods with a full zest for life, fully honest, authentic, joyful, and present, Teri Leigh decided to adopt his name for her business. A shortened acronym for “More Zest” (Mo-Zi), is the perfect expression of Remembering Your MUCHNESS. To ‘mosey’ is to wander, enjoying the process of the journey without focus on the destination, to live fully in the moment of your walk and talk of life. Mozi, the Great Dane, embodies all the values and teachings of The MOZI Method.