Life Lessons from Pets 1: Pause
Animals are not here to be teachers, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from them. They naturally are the way we should be. I hesitate to use the word ‘should’, but in this case I believe it’s important. In many ways I believe that what they offer us is the chance to reconnect to the way we used to be. We are human BEings after all, and we know these things, we’ve just forgotten them.
In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing a series of articles about the wisdom that animals bring to humanity. We’ll dive into a couple lessons I feel are super important for humans working through what we are on this planet. We could all use some more wisdom of the animals.
So here’s to the remembering.
Lesson 1: Take lots of breaks
Who doesn’t want permission to do that? If you’ve ever spent much time around any animal, you’ll notice that they take lots of breaks. Dogs, cats, horses, squirrels, birds, everything. There are many short pauses in their experience of the world.
Play
Pause
Eat
Pause
Drink
Pause
Eat some more
Pause
Play more
Pause
Walk
Pause
Run
Pause
Their activities are interspersed with short periods of time when they simply pause, and do nothing. As a collective, we have been conditioned to believe that sitting still is ‘wasted’ time. Doing nothing is unproductive and should be avoided at all costs. Why, then, would animals spend so much time pausing if it is a useless activity?
Giving ourselves more time and space to pause between activities, or even in the midst of an activity allows us to be more present in the moment, rather than continually jumping from one thing to the next constantly.
It gives us a moment to breathe, and get back into our body
It gives us a chance to listen to our body for information and wisdom.
It allows us to live in a more thoughtful and guided manner.
When we rush, rush, rush, we disconnect from our body, our inner wisdom and barometer. It puts us in a state of tension, which has a cascade effect on our nervous system and prevents our body from receiving information, both physically and energetically.
Your pets (and your family!) will appreciate added pauses in your day. It may feel awkward at first, but quickly it becomes the norm and the body does not want to go back to the old ways of being.
You may find that your pets:
Are more attentive, snuggle more, or offer to connect more
Are more relaxed
Are more willing to cooperate when asked to do things
Are less reactive to things that used to bother them
Get less fixated on things
Where can you add a pause into your day? What ways can you take a brief moment to simply BE, instead of do, do, do? Start with something small, a pause between breakfast and getting the day started, a pause at night before bed, and build on those experiences until pausing becomes a habit and the normal way of being.
