Raised as a Dog: What Environments Do to Us

What if the problem isn’t you — but the environment you were raised in?

Inspired by the book “The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog,” this episode explores how our surroundings literally shape our nervous system. From childhood homes to adult relationships, the people and places around us can either heal us… or keep us in survival mode.

In this episode of Reflections & Realizations, I break down the neuroscience of safety, trauma-informed psychology, and the subtle but powerful ways our environments teach our bodies how to feel — anxious or calm, safe or on guard, loved or invisible.

I introduce a two-step Realignment Tool, built around nervous system awareness and trauma-informed journaling, to help you spot what your body has been trying to tell you.
This is about scanning your reality with honesty — and shifting, one small step at a time, toward something safer.

🛠️ The Scan & Shift Framework

➤ Step 1: Scan
Tune into your body. Ask:

Do I feel safe here?

Are my shoulders tense? Jaw tight?

Do I leave this space or person feeling drained… or energized?

Your nervous system knows the truth before your mind does.

➤ Step 2: Shift
Once you’ve spotted what’s not serving you:

Can you set a boundary?

Step back from a draining dynamic?

Change how you respond to a known trigger?

Even small changes can help retrain your brain’s sense of safety.

Because your environment doesn’t just influence you — it programs you. And you deserve to live in a space, both internal and external, that makes your body exhale.

With love,
Alveena
Reflections & Realizations

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Thank you for listening. If something in an episode touched you, made you think, or just hit different… I’d love to hear it. Alveena