(Your) Energy is Everything
Especially when connecting with animals
When we distill down any part of anything what you are left with is pure energy. Energy is the building block of the universe. We are all, essentially, made of the same stuff. It’s just the intricate patterns that energy gets combined into that create a tree versus a cat.
When we operate from this understanding we are intimately aware that this means that everything is connected. If everything is energy, then everything is connected energetically. This knowledge gives us so much more power than we realize that we have.
Feeling like you are at the mercy of energy is not fun. Unfortunately it’s daily life for most of us. We’ve forgotten our connection to the natural world around us in favor of technology and “things” that give us the answer - our phones, books, internet, other people, systems, and rules. We get caught in the physical world, forgetting that there is so much more information available to us at all times. We look to the answers that we can recognize with our five senses and assume that’s all that we can do.
This view cuts us off from the energetic awareness. But the energy is always there, and it’s always playing a role in our interactions with everything around us, whether we like it or not. This includes how we deal with our animal friends.
Dog won’t stop barking?
Dog won’t settle down and just go poop?
Dog chews your favorite shoes?
Cat is clawing the furniture all the time?
Cat won’t come out when you arrive home?
Horse won’t be caught when you’re ready to go for a ride?
Dog runs away instead of coming when called?
All of these things can be impacted by the energy that we bring to the situation. We, with our energy, can either help to resolve the situation. Or, it can make things worse.
The great news is that once we start to become aware of the energy that we are carrying around with us, it becomes easier and easier to not only manage it - but to use it to connect with our animal friends in a way that benefits us and them.
Step One: Becoming aware of our own energy.
How are we showing up in the world? Are we stressed? Happy? Tense? Not present in the moment? Preoccupied with another situation/time/scenario? Are we even aware that these are the feelings we are experiencing in the moment? None of these things are particularly good or bad (despite the fact that we like to label emotions good vs bad), they just are. Knowing what they are with no judgement is the place to begin.
Step Two: Recognizing that however we are showing up impacts the world around us.
If we are not present, then our animals are likely to be not present. Stressed out us = stressed out pets. The problem comes when we try to hide it, or ignore it, or worse, numb out to the feelings that we are experiencing. Denial is a big cause of behavior issues. It’s ok to be stressed and own it. It’s not ok to be stressed and try to keep covering it up or deny that it is happening all together.
Step Three: Reaching for tools to help manage our energy.
Learning to be grounded, to contain our energy, and own what is ours so that we don’t “leak” all over everyone and everything around us. Being ok being stressed, sad, angry, tired, or whatever other “negative” emotion/feeling that we are experiencing in the moment. Not judging those feelings, and using our own self care tools to take care of ourselves so that we can process those feelings and move on.
Step Four: Being able to not only manage our energy, but help others around us to manage theirs.
In times of stress with an animal (that barking overly exuberant dog!), being able to ground, breathe, and channel the energy so that the dog calms down, or the cat comes out of hiding, or the horse comes to you out of the field. If our energy can negatively affect those around us, then it has the power to positively affect everything around us, too, if we know how to manipulate and manage it.
