September 20, 2023 • 34 mins
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Animal communication sounds fun until you start to consider what your animal might say or want or not want or how their input might change your life together!
In this episode of Let's Talk to Animals podcast, animal intuitive Shannon Cutts shares four of the biggest reasons some pet parents remain unwilling or at least fearful of giving their pets a voice.
Can you relate? This episode can help!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to let's Talk to Animals, the podcast for all
species.
My name is Shannon Cutts.
I'm an animal intuitive andsensitive and a Reiki master
practitioner for pets and theirpeople.
I'm also an animalcommunication teacher and mentor
and guide and coach andcheerleader.
This podcast truly was inspiredby my own inner species family.
(00:33):
I am, first and foremost, a petparent myself.
I'm a mama to a six month oldcockatiel named Petal, two year
old box turtle named Io, afterJupiter's moon of fire and ice,
I am mama to a nine year oldred-footed tortoise named Malty
and Auntie to a standard wirehair doxin named Flash Gordon.
(00:56):
So got lots going on all thetime and they really have
inspired this ongoingconversation that all species
can enjoy together.
So today I thought I'd tackle atopic that honestly kept me
from fully diving in, fromjumping in with both feet to
(01:18):
inner species conversation as mynew normal, my reality.
When I first started with animalcommunication, I was a client.
I was an eager participant fromthe point of view of believing
that this was a gift that othersgot, certain special humans got
(01:41):
.
I just thought it was somethingthat you either either were
born with or you weren't bornwith.
And if you weren't born with it, then the only way to be a part
was to hire somebody who hadbeen born with it and ask them
to help you talk with youranimal family.
And so that is what I did, andthose first few sessions for me
as a client, as a pet parent whowanted to talk with their
(02:04):
animals and needed some help todo that I remember them being as
kind of harrowing, like areally gripping thriller.
Like I was scared.
I didn't know what my animalswere going to say, I wasn't sure
of the right questions to ask.
I agonized over you know.
I spent hours like journalingwhat are the best questions and
(02:26):
trying to group all my questionsinto categories and realizing I
can't ask 400 questions in ahalf hour session and just
getting really stressed outabout it.
And I remember preparing foreach session and being so
careful to make sure I hadabsolutely the right space and
having all the questions aboutwhat do my animals need to be
(02:47):
there?
Did they need to be present?
Do they need to be awake?
Do they need to be alive?
Just feeling like there were somany boundaries and
restrictions.
Like I thought, okay, well, Ican talk with my animals that
are here, but I can't talk withmy animals, that have passed
into spirit, and so I just had alot to learn.
I was really nervous and I alsoremember feeling really hopeful
(03:10):
, really hoping that I hadpicked the right animal
communicator.
Really hopeful that I would beable to make sense of the
information and that I'd be ableto make use of it.
Really afraid of what myanimals might say about me or
(03:31):
about their daily life with meor about how they were feeling
and doing.
Looking back now I can see thatwhen we only care a little about
something, we usually typicallyonly invest a little in our
experience of that something,whatever it may be.
But when we care a lot, wetypically we tend to invest all
(03:58):
of ourselves or as much as weare aware as possible to invest
in something.
So it affected me really deeplyand that is why I take it so
seriously.
The role that I play as aprofessional animal communicator
in these interspecies, families, lives.
(04:19):
It's significant, it takes,it's a huge act of courage,
first of all, to invite guidance, invite feedback into the heart
of your family life.
It's just a huge act of courage.
It's a commitment.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour time.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour energy.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour finances.
(04:40):
It's a commitment in terms ofthe bigger picture of how animal
communication, how theseconversations, may alter or
transform your inner speciesfamily life.
And so, looking back, I see allof this was at work for me when
(05:01):
I was in the shoes of my clientstoday, and so I thought I would
share four of the bigreservations that I had that I
have seen reflected in my ownpet parent clients.
Maybe you'll find that one orsome or all of these four
reasons are reasons that you canidentify with as well, and
(05:27):
maybe that will open up a newdoor for you.
The very first reason that I amchoosing to highlight today
because it was the biggest onefor me, and even when I first
started learning animalcommunication professionally, it
continued to dog my heels andit was probably the number one
(05:47):
reason why I was so stressed outbefore each one of the animal
communication sessions that Iwould have with my own inner
species family, and that wasthat I was afraid my pets would
be mad at me.
I was afraid that my petswouldn't think I was a good pet
parent, and I was afraid that mypets would have feedback for me
(06:09):
, that they would tell me theywish that they could go live
with someone else, or that theyjust wish that I was better at
my job.
You know, I would ask thesequestions like, are you happy
with your habitat, or do youlike your toys, or do you like
your food, or are you gettingenough water or enough exercise?
(06:31):
And I would wait and wait andwait with bated breath, like, oh
my God, what are they going tosay?
And I remember avoiding askingquestions like do you love me,
even though it was like the onequestion I wanted to know the
most.
Do you love me?
Do you love me the way that Ilove you?
(06:51):
Do you know how much I love you?
Because I was so afraid thatthey would say no.
So it was like that questionthat I wanted to ask but I
wouldn't, because I was soafraid that the worst would
happen and they would say no.
Or they would say no, I don'tfeel loved by you.
Or they would say no, I don'tlove you.
And I've come to feel deep downin my gut that this is a major
(07:16):
inhibitor for many pet parentsto even seek out animal
communication or ask for ananimal communication session at
all, what if they say that awfulthing?
That would just break my heart.
Now I can share with you.
Out of hundreds of animalcommunication sessions Now I
have not had a single animaltell me anything that hasn't
(07:40):
been generously sprinkled withunconditional love.
So I have yet to see a petparent client of mine broadsided
or shamed or humiliated orembarrassed or heartbroken over
something that their animal hassaid.
Because even if that animal hassomething that's a little
(08:01):
difficult to hear, the animalseems to know just the right way
to deliver the information sothat their pet parent can hear
it with an open mind and, mostimportantly, an open heart of
where the information can bereceived and used.
Because, of course, why havethese conversations if we end up
(08:24):
triggered or traumatized and wecan't make use of the
information?
I have also come to thoroughlyand utterly feel that this same
fear holds a lot of humananimals back from having
conversations with each other.
I know I've allowed it to holdme back.
It's not like we just pop outof the womb and we know how, and
(08:44):
our animals can teach us how tohave these conversations.
We can learn from their example.
When we invite animalcommunication into our lives and
we start having these maybemore raw and honest and open and
sometimes very challengingconversations and we talk about
(09:08):
behavior problems or diet issuesor end of life transitions or
illness and injury and all ofthese other things that are
really kind of at the core ofwhat help us to grow but can be
very difficult to go through,and we see how our animals are
able to naturally flow throughthese conversations and handle
(09:29):
them with so much tact anddiplomacy and truly honest,
unconditional empathy and love.
We start learning how to do itfor ourselves, and this is going
to be a point I'm going to keepcoming back to over and over
and over again.
When I asked the animals, when Iasked the companion animals of
this world, what does the wordpet mean to you?
(09:52):
Why do we use this word todescribe you?
They said it's because we'reyour partner, your empathic
friend and your teacher, and sowhen you invite animal
communication into your life,you're inviting your partner,
your empathic friend and yourteacher to guide you away from
existing and into living, tohelp you evolve, and our animals
(10:14):
know how to exist in thisabundant place that we as human
animals are just only slowlystarting to become aware even
exist, let alone.
How do I get there and then howdo I stay?
So that's reason number one.
I am afraid of what my pet isgoing to say.
(10:35):
I am afraid that my animal isgoing to say that they don't
love me, that they don't feelloved by me, that they don't
want to be with me, whatever,fill in the blanks that your big
fear is, and if you can thinkof a question that you really do
want to ask your animal but youdon't ask it, then that's
probably the key to whateveryour big fear is.
(10:56):
For me it was.
I'm afraid my animals are goingto say that they don't love me,
that they don't want to be withme, and that I'm not doing a
good job as a pet parent, and Ilet that keep me away from
animal communication forsometime.
And if you're watching thevideo version of this podcast
episode, you can actually see melike my hand is just like on my
(11:17):
chest, kind of pressing on mybreastbone right now, because
there's so much emotion in that.
So what is the second big, big,big big, what I call the
elephant in the room reason whysome pet parents just can't seem
to give animal communicationthe green light?
And what I've found is that, infact, I didn't find the answer
(11:43):
to this question until I startedstudying animal communication,
kind of with an eye towardsbecoming a professional
practitioner myself, and it'sthis fear that we've got too
many choices.
I've interviewed somecommunicators for let's talk to
animals, especially in seasonsone and two oh, come here, my
(12:06):
little nasty baby, if you'rehearing the sweet, sweet sound.
More so cute.
For seasons one, two and threeof let's talk to animals, I've
interviewed some communicatorswho they were practicing 20 or
30 years ago, back at a timebefore the internet was really a
(12:29):
thing, before there was so muchfree access to information,
well before animal communicationas a discipline was even common
knowledge.
Back in those days when theywere practicing, there weren't
that many choices, and even ifthere were lots and lots of
people, it wasn't really an easyway to access the database so
(12:51):
you could see all your choices,and so if you were lucky enough
to have an openness to animalcommunication and have a
communicator in your local area,then you could have an
experience, but otherwise itmight not have even crossed your
radar, which is another reasonwhy I feel like there are so
many people coming to animalcommunication now wanting to
(13:12):
experience it, wanting to learnit themselves, because the
awareness has so vastly expandedand we are now so much more
aware of so many possibilities.
But it's also presented theproblem that many pet parents
kind of feel overwhelmed.
You go online, you type ananimal communicator into your
browser and you're like, oh mygod, there's so many people who
(13:36):
do I pick?
How do I pick?
How do I know I've picked theright one?
And that overwhelm can be areally big thing.
One of the pieces of advice Ishare a lot is just find
somebody who's had an experiencewith the communicator you're
considering and just read thereviews.
(13:57):
I invite my clients to sharetestimonials.
I have some video testimonials.
I have several writtentestimonials.
I have done feature blog postsfor several of the interspecies
families I've worked with.
So if you're new to animalcommunication and you're
considering working with me, youcan kind of get a feel for my
(14:17):
style and you can kind of get asense of whether or not you
resonate with me and would liketo invite me to talk with your
pet family.
One of the things that has beenvery instrumental for me as a
communicator on my journey isrecognizing that once you say
(14:38):
yes to animal communication andyou say yes to your pet
transitioning into a role thatmaybe you've not seen them in
before as your partner, as yourempathic friend, as your teacher
, your leader, even your guideand your mentor.
This is an invitation to startreactivating your own inbuilt
(14:58):
intuitive system.
Everything that you experience,whether it's choosing an animal
communicator for the first time, whether it's choosing a
teacher to study with, whetherit's choosing how you want to
structure your own animalcommunication practice as a
professional, wherever you findyourself along the journey,
along the pathway, it's just onemore lesson in how do I let my
(15:21):
intuition lead me, how do I tunein inside to feel what feels
right, to see the signs, tolearn how to follow the signals
of my energy.
Ps, when you shift your pointof reference to asking your
(15:41):
intuition to lead you to theright animal communicator for
you, you get so much more thanjust and I use that with air
quotes than just a facilitatedinner species conversation with
your pet family.
You get an inner confirmation.
You start building your innerfiling system of all of the
(16:02):
different documented momentswhen your intuition has led you
with great accuracy to the bestexperience for you.
The more and more experiencesyou add, the more and more you
begin to trust yourself, totrust your inner intuition.
Think of it this way and justnotice the signs.
Don't allow your mind to go.
(16:23):
Well, I've got to look at 50websites or I've got to read
through everybody in thisdirectory of communicators.
Notice what is right in frontof you.
You can, even if you're someonewho recognizes light teams or
guardian angels or spirit guidesand helpers, you can even ask,
(16:43):
just ask inside.
Quite simply, please guide me,please help me, please show me
the right communicator for ourfamily.
And then notice, be very aware.
When you pray a prayer or youask a question like that, you
want to become instantly veryaware and notice what happens
next.
Chances are it will happenquite quickly and before you
(17:03):
know it, you will find that youhave a session scheduled and you
do have your first experienceof animal communication
scheduled and on the books.
And if that is happening foryou, whether you choose me or
you choose another communicator,I would love to hear how it
goes for you.
So please do reach out to me inthe comments or drop me an
email at shannon atanimallovelanguagescom.
(17:25):
That's the second reason andhopefully, as you drop into your
intuition, it's not what is theworst that could happen.
Oh God, I'll pick the wrongperson.
What is the best that couldhappen?
You'll find the perfect person.
I'm just going to invite myinner GPS to effortlessly and
fluidly guide me to the rightcommunicator at the right moment
(17:47):
for our precious interspeciesfamily, and let that be your
true north as you walk throughthis process.
The third reservation hesitationor limitation or big fear
factor reason why I found thatsome people just do not seem
willing to invite animalcommunication into their lives
(18:09):
is because it seems like itcontradicts or is at odds with,
on some level, some other kindof inbuilt belief system or
value system, or maybe thebelief or value system of other
human animals that they areclose to, maybe a partner or a
friend or a spouse or a boss ora colleague or a family member.
(18:33):
And so it's kind of like thismoment where you're being asked
to choose your identity all overagain.
Well, am I going to go withthis thing that is really
intriguing to me and somethingthat I really want to experience
?
And if it does change my lifethe way I suspect or anticipate
it might, then what is theripple effect going to feel like
(18:54):
?
How did the greaterstratosphere of the rest of my
life and my other relationshipand with who I am in this world.
That's valid because we don'thave time for every battle.
Whenever we invite a newexperience into our world,
especially if it's one that'sreally going to be
transformative, potentially formaybe something that's a real
(19:17):
deep heart or soul desire, maybea bucket list desire in our
life, or just something that wejust want to do it, but we can't
explain even to ourselves whyit's a safe bet that it may
upset somebody else in ourgreater sphere of influence or
our network.
Often that's what happensbecause we're on a journey of
(19:39):
expansion, we're on a journey ofevolution, we're on a journey
of transformation and noteverybody wants to take that
journey, especially for those ofus who are kind of more
naturally attuned to our empathychannel.
We all have empathy, but someof us just aren't aware of it,
those of us that really careabout the well-being and the
(20:00):
comfort and the connections thatwe have with others in our life
and by others I mean otherhuman animals.
Yeah, we care what they think,we care how the choices we make
might impact them.
But that can be a slipperyslope because first and foremost
we go back to that old clicheabout putting your oxygen mask
(20:21):
on first.
The truth is, if we don't serveour own highest good maybe not
right away, but eventually itwill drag everyone down with us
If we say no to our highestevolution, to our highest soul
path possibility in life, maybenot right away, but at some
(20:42):
point along the way we dim ourown light and that puts a damper
on how brightly anyone in oursphere of influence is able or
willing to shine.
I hope that makes sense, maybenot on a thinking level, but
maybe on a feeling level.
So, while it is a valid concernyes, that maybe you have
(21:03):
beliefs or you have familymembers you have beliefs about
what is who and what isn't, whatis possible and what isn't,
what is reality and what isfiction or science fiction, what
is safe or advisable and whatis dangerous or off limits.
However, you weigh the choicesand the chances that those
(21:28):
choices ask you to take orinvite you to take.
At the end of it all,underneath it all, you have to
go back to what you feel.
Or at least, if you want tobreak through the stalemate and
decide what to do and feel yourway forward, you need to kind of
dive down underneath the waves,sink down underneath the waves
and out of your head and intoyour gut, into your heart, and
(21:51):
feel Is this still something Iwant to do, even though I don't
know exactly what the rippleeffect is going to be.
I don't know how it mightimpact me today, tomorrow, into
the future.
You don't have to know.
And here's the other importantthing to remember.
You don't have to let anyoneelse know.
You don't have to tell anyoneelse.
(22:13):
You can just do this for you.
We are allowed to do thingsjust for ourselves.
It doesn't feel like itsometimes, but we have the full
right to have our ownexperiences in this life, and if
you're not ready to share thatwith anyone else, then so be it.
In a weird way, I havediscovered over the years that
(22:34):
the beliefs and the assumptionsinside me that I don't challenge
produce a lot more fear in me.
There are a lot more fearfactor-ish than the beliefs and
the assumptions that I reallyput to the test.
The more I become willing tosay I don't know, let's just see
.
I become curious.
I start to wonder.
(22:54):
I go exploring, I go see formyself, instead of taking
somebody else's word for it,even my own, the less power
those assumptions or those oldbeliefs have over me.
Maybe I'll find out thatthey're right, maybe I'll find
out that they don't hold waterat all, but either way I'll find
out for myself.
(23:15):
So that's how I've brokenthrough that limitation, that
hesitation that I had in termsof inviting animal communication
into my life.
The fourth and the finalreservation or limitation or
hesitation that people tend toencounter with animal
communication.
It's the reason I've come tofeel why so many pet parents
(23:39):
will admit to having deepburning questions for their
animals but won't schedule asession, won't open up and have
that conversation with theiranimal, is because they're
afraid that something's going tocome up, whether it's an unmet
need or desire, or whether it'sa difference of opinion, some
(24:00):
kind of stalemate or argumentthat is not going to be able to
be resolved.
And here are two really commonexamples.
One is my animal is going towant something that I can't give
or that I don't want, and theother is my animal is not going
to want something that I reallywant.
I'm going to give you anexample from my own history of
(24:21):
working with animalcommunicators, before I became a
professional animalcommunicator, when my tortoise,
my red foot tortoise malty wasabout four.
She got bigger and so I upgradedher to have a much larger
outdoor enclosure that she couldgo and play in during the day
and stay outside and at nightwhen the temperatures are warm.
(24:43):
I had just moved her into thisoutdoor enclosure and she had
been used to living with me fulltime inside.
So I asked the animalcommunicator we were working
with the time to give me to askher how she liked her new
habitat and let me know ifeverything was to her liking.
And of course I was supernervous about this.
Who go back to reason numberone and my animal is going to
(25:03):
say she doesn't like me, shedoesn't like what I'm providing,
she wishes she could livesomewhere else with someone else
.
So I was super nervous and whatmalty said was I do like my new
habitat, I do like beingoutdoors and get to see what was
out there and get to identifythe sounds I'm hearing and I get
to feel more like a wildtortoise.
But I really want to swimmingpools and you might think I'd
(25:26):
put tortoise tortoises don'tswim.
Well, she had these shallowwaiting pools where she could
drink and this might be too muchinformation, but tortoises and
turtles typically will go go tothe bathroom in their water.
So she was basically kind ofasking for it.
She wanted one pool to like,drink and swim and then another
pool for toilet andunfortunately, due to her size,
(25:51):
the size of the habitat that Ihad constructed for her and all
the different things that neededto be in there, especially
because tortoises are primarilyterrestrial species, if I had
added a second bathing, waiting,toileting pool, I might as well
have just given her an aquariuminstead of a terrarium.
There wasn't enough room for it, so I had to ask the animal
(26:13):
communicator to tell Malty thatit wasn't possible.
But I also said it's notpossible right now.
I shared why and I said I'mwriting it down on the wish list
for the future.
Well, now she's almost 10.
She lives in a huge, spaciousyard and she has two full-size
bathing pools, one smallerdrinking pool and a whole mud
(26:37):
wallow that I fill up with watertwice a day.
So we checked that one off thewish list with flying colors.
So again, when we're approachingthese conversations we have to
consider it might be a no, itmight be a yes, it might be a
maybe, it might be a not.
Right now.
It's just like havingconversations with our own
(26:57):
species.
We ask how can we meet in themiddle?
We look at finding that thehighest and best possible
outcome in this moment in timefor all.
We human animals tend to callthat compromise.
We call it negotiation andcompromise, and the same holds
true with our non-human animalfamily members.
(27:18):
When I first asked my soul bird,pearl, what he thought of the
two shelled beings that wereliving in our family and I kind
of knew he was a little bitannoyed about the fact that I
had added both turtles withoutasking him first and he said to
the communicator I know that mymom loves them, but I don't
(27:40):
understand why they're slimy andstinky and they don't have any
feathers.
And was that hard for me tohear yes?
Did I instinctively alreadyexpect him to say that?
Yes, you might be listening tothat going.
That wasn't very compassionateor empathic, but the thing is,
(28:01):
is it absolutely fit with what Iwas already sensing to be true?
And in truth it was a relief tohave it confirmed because it
gave me the opportunity to sayto Pearl I'm sorry.
It also gave me the chance toexplain that both turtles and my
(28:21):
second turtle, my rescued boxturtle Bruce, in particular,
needed a home.
They didn't have a home beforethey came to live with us and
when Pearl heard that,everything shifted for us.
So we just were having thisrather challenging, emotional,
open and honest conversation andhe actually said they didn't
(28:44):
have a home.
Well then, of course they muststay here and everything shifted
.
So our survival system is goingto ask that fear factor question
what's the worst can happen?
And then imagine that we staystuck there and we don't survive
the experience and is it goingto allow us to see past that to
(29:04):
all the possibilities that openup for us personally and for our
whole family?
When we have, we go thereanyway, we have that
conversation anyway.
We ask the off limits question,we ask the fear factor question
, we invite the feedback thatmaybe we're fearing and dreading
but also kind of secretlyexpecting and maybe even hoping
(29:25):
for, because we know thatthere's a breakthrough for all
of us hidden inside it.
And if you live in the South,you know about the New Orleans
Mardi Gras King Cake where theyhide like the baby in there and
whoever finds it is supposed toget good luck.
That's kind of what we'relooking at here.
So, yes, sometimes our animalswill have requests that we can't
fulfill.
(29:45):
Sometimes they'll say thingsthat we are afraid that they
might say or would kind of wishthat they wouldn't.
Maybe we will discover that,like me, I didn't ask Pearl what
he thought of adding the twoturtles to our family because I
was afraid that he wouldn't wantit.
Well, guess what?
(30:05):
I was also secretly kind ofaware that he wouldn't want it.
I already kind of knew that andI wanted it anyway.
So, instead of just having thatconversation and finding an
open and honest way of movingforward and compromising, if I
had just led with that well,this turtle doesn't have a home,
he's hungry, he's scared, he'slonely Would it be okay if he
(30:26):
stays with us?
It would have saved actuallysaved a lot of potential
heartache and a lot of stressand anxiety, not just before and
during the decision that I made, but after the fact of trying
to acclimate, and Pearl was justso jealous and jealous and
everything just eased after weactually had the conversation.
And so all I'm trying to sharehere is just don't let that hold
(30:48):
you back from having theseimportant, impactful
conversations with your pets,because there's always a way to
talk it out, there's always away to work through it.
That's what the love is therefor.
It's the glue that keeps us in.
It keeps us more committed toeach other than we are, to the
(31:10):
short-term thing that we don'twant or that we want, that we
think is so vitally important.
When you start to take a lookat these conversations these
interspecies conversations moreas an opportunity to learn, to
stretch, to grow, to evolve, totransform, then to get what you
want or avoid what you don'twant, that's where you find the
(31:30):
magic.
If you've enjoyed this episodeof let's Talk to Animals podcast
, if you found value in ithopefully, if you found a nugget
, something that has beensupportive for you and your pet
family, please do like,subscribe, share it with
somebody else who loves animals,who lives their life with
(31:52):
animals, who lives their lifefor animals, to care for animals
in our natural world.
Please do share it about andlet others know.
It really does keep our littlepodcast alive, growing and
thriving here in the greaterpodcastosphere, you can find us
atletstalktoanimalsbuzzsproutcom.
You can also find us atanimallovelinguagescom backslash
(32:15):
podcast and you can find allfour seasons.
If you have a request for ashow guest or a topic you'd like
me to cover, please do let meknow Again.
You can reach me, shannon, atanimallovelinguagescom or at
Buzzsprout.
I always love to hear from you.
I look forward to welcoming youback in two weeks for a fresh
(32:36):
new episode, and I'm sending youand your pet family all my love
.
Okay, bye for now.
Welcome to let's Talk to Animals, the podcast for all
species.
My name is Shannon Cutts.
I'm an animal intuitive andsensitive and a Reiki master
practitioner for pets and theirpeople.
I'm also an animalcommunication teacher and mentor
and guide and coach andcheerleader.
This podcast truly was inspiredby my own inner species family.
(00:33):
I am, first and foremost, a petparent myself.
I'm a mama to a six month oldcockatiel named Petal, two year
old box turtle named Io, afterJupiter's moon of fire and ice,
I am mama to a nine year oldred-footed tortoise named Malty
and Auntie to a standard wirehair doxin named Flash Gordon.
(00:56):
So got lots going on all thetime and they really have
inspired this ongoingconversation that all species
can enjoy together.
So today I thought I'd tackle atopic that honestly kept me
from fully diving in, fromjumping in with both feet to
(01:18):
inner species conversation as mynew normal, my reality.
When I first started with animalcommunication, I was a client.
I was an eager participant fromthe point of view of believing
that this was a gift that othersgot, certain special humans got
(01:41):
.
I just thought it was somethingthat you either either were
born with or you weren't bornwith.
And if you weren't born with it, then the only way to be a part
was to hire somebody who hadbeen born with it and ask them
to help you talk with youranimal family.
And so that is what I did, andthose first few sessions for me
as a client, as a pet parent whowanted to talk with their
(02:04):
animals and needed some help todo that I remember them being as
kind of harrowing, like areally gripping thriller.
Like I was scared.
I didn't know what my animalswere going to say, I wasn't sure
of the right questions to ask.
I agonized over you know.
I spent hours like journalingwhat are the best questions and
(02:26):
trying to group all my questionsinto categories and realizing I
can't ask 400 questions in ahalf hour session and just
getting really stressed outabout it.
And I remember preparing foreach session and being so
careful to make sure I hadabsolutely the right space and
having all the questions aboutwhat do my animals need to be
(02:47):
there?
Did they need to be present?
Do they need to be awake?
Do they need to be alive?
Just feeling like there were somany boundaries and
restrictions.
Like I thought, okay, well, Ican talk with my animals that
are here, but I can't talk withmy animals, that have passed
into spirit, and so I just had alot to learn.
I was really nervous and I alsoremember feeling really hopeful
(03:10):
, really hoping that I hadpicked the right animal
communicator.
Really hopeful that I would beable to make sense of the
information and that I'd be ableto make use of it.
Really afraid of what myanimals might say about me or
(03:31):
about their daily life with meor about how they were feeling
and doing.
Looking back now I can see thatwhen we only care a little about
something, we usually typicallyonly invest a little in our
experience of that something,whatever it may be.
But when we care a lot, wetypically we tend to invest all
(03:58):
of ourselves or as much as weare aware as possible to invest
in something.
So it affected me really deeplyand that is why I take it so
seriously.
The role that I play as aprofessional animal communicator
in these interspecies, families, lives.
(04:19):
It's significant, it takes,it's a huge act of courage,
first of all, to invite guidance, invite feedback into the heart
of your family life.
It's just a huge act of courage.
It's a commitment.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour time.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour energy.
It's a commitment in terms ofyour finances.
(04:40):
It's a commitment in terms ofthe bigger picture of how animal
communication, how theseconversations, may alter or
transform your inner speciesfamily life.
And so, looking back, I see allof this was at work for me when
(05:01):
I was in the shoes of my clientstoday, and so I thought I would
share four of the bigreservations that I had that I
have seen reflected in my ownpet parent clients.
Maybe you'll find that one orsome or all of these four
reasons are reasons that you canidentify with as well, and
(05:27):
maybe that will open up a newdoor for you.
The very first reason that I amchoosing to highlight today
because it was the biggest onefor me, and even when I first
started learning animalcommunication professionally, it
continued to dog my heels andit was probably the number one
(05:47):
reason why I was so stressed outbefore each one of the animal
communication sessions that Iwould have with my own inner
species family, and that wasthat I was afraid my pets would
be mad at me.
I was afraid that my petswouldn't think I was a good pet
parent, and I was afraid that mypets would have feedback for me
(06:09):
, that they would tell me theywish that they could go live
with someone else, or that theyjust wish that I was better at
my job.
You know, I would ask thesequestions like, are you happy
with your habitat, or do youlike your toys, or do you like
your food, or are you gettingenough water or enough exercise?
(06:31):
And I would wait and wait andwait with bated breath, like, oh
my God, what are they going tosay?
And I remember avoiding askingquestions like do you love me,
even though it was like the onequestion I wanted to know the
most.
Do you love me?
Do you love me the way that Ilove you?
(06:51):
Do you know how much I love you?
Because I was so afraid thatthey would say no.
So it was like that questionthat I wanted to ask but I
wouldn't, because I was soafraid that the worst would
happen and they would say no.
Or they would say no, I don'tfeel loved by you.
Or they would say no, I don'tlove you.
And I've come to feel deep downin my gut that this is a major
(07:16):
inhibitor for many pet parentsto even seek out animal
communication or ask for ananimal communication session at
all, what if they say that awfulthing?
That would just break my heart.
Now I can share with you.
Out of hundreds of animalcommunication sessions Now I
have not had a single animaltell me anything that hasn't
(07:40):
been generously sprinkled withunconditional love.
So I have yet to see a petparent client of mine broadsided
or shamed or humiliated orembarrassed or heartbroken over
something that their animal hassaid.
Because even if that animal hassomething that's a little
(08:01):
difficult to hear, the animalseems to know just the right way
to deliver the information sothat their pet parent can hear
it with an open mind and, mostimportantly, an open heart of
where the information can bereceived and used.
Because, of course, why havethese conversations if we end up
(08:24):
triggered or traumatized and wecan't make use of the
information?
I have also come to thoroughlyand utterly feel that this same
fear holds a lot of humananimals back from having
conversations with each other.
I know I've allowed it to holdme back.
It's not like we just pop outof the womb and we know how, and
(08:44):
our animals can teach us how tohave these conversations.
We can learn from their example.
When we invite animalcommunication into our lives and
we start having these maybemore raw and honest and open and
sometimes very challengingconversations and we talk about
(09:08):
behavior problems or diet issuesor end of life transitions or
illness and injury and all ofthese other things that are
really kind of at the core ofwhat help us to grow but can be
very difficult to go through,and we see how our animals are
able to naturally flow throughthese conversations and handle
(09:29):
them with so much tact anddiplomacy and truly honest,
unconditional empathy and love.
We start learning how to do itfor ourselves, and this is going
to be a point I'm going to keepcoming back to over and over
and over again.
When I asked the animals, when Iasked the companion animals of
this world, what does the wordpet mean to you?
(09:52):
Why do we use this word todescribe you?
They said it's because we'reyour partner, your empathic
friend and your teacher, and sowhen you invite animal
communication into your life,you're inviting your partner,
your empathic friend and yourteacher to guide you away from
existing and into living, tohelp you evolve, and our animals
(10:14):
know how to exist in thisabundant place that we as human
animals are just only slowlystarting to become aware even
exist, let alone.
How do I get there and then howdo I stay?
So that's reason number one.
I am afraid of what my pet isgoing to say.
(10:35):
I am afraid that my animal isgoing to say that they don't
love me, that they don't feelloved by me, that they don't
want to be with me, whatever,fill in the blanks that your big
fear is, and if you can thinkof a question that you really do
want to ask your animal but youdon't ask it, then that's
probably the key to whateveryour big fear is.
(10:56):
For me it was.
I'm afraid my animals are goingto say that they don't love me,
that they don't want to be withme, and that I'm not doing a
good job as a pet parent, and Ilet that keep me away from
animal communication forsometime.
And if you're watching thevideo version of this podcast
episode, you can actually see melike my hand is just like on my
(11:17):
chest, kind of pressing on mybreastbone right now, because
there's so much emotion in that.
So what is the second big, big,big big, what I call the
elephant in the room reason whysome pet parents just can't seem
to give animal communicationthe green light?
And what I've found is that, infact, I didn't find the answer
(11:43):
to this question until I startedstudying animal communication,
kind of with an eye towardsbecoming a professional
practitioner myself, and it'sthis fear that we've got too
many choices.
I've interviewed somecommunicators for let's talk to
animals, especially in seasonsone and two oh, come here, my
(12:06):
little nasty baby, if you'rehearing the sweet, sweet sound.
More so cute.
For seasons one, two and threeof let's talk to animals, I've
interviewed some communicatorswho they were practicing 20 or
30 years ago, back at a timebefore the internet was really a
(12:29):
thing, before there was so muchfree access to information,
well before animal communicationas a discipline was even common
knowledge.
Back in those days when theywere practicing, there weren't
that many choices, and even ifthere were lots and lots of
people, it wasn't really an easyway to access the database so
(12:51):
you could see all your choices,and so if you were lucky enough
to have an openness to animalcommunication and have a
communicator in your local area,then you could have an
experience, but otherwise itmight not have even crossed your
radar, which is another reasonwhy I feel like there are so
many people coming to animalcommunication now wanting to
(13:12):
experience it, wanting to learnit themselves, because the
awareness has so vastly expandedand we are now so much more
aware of so many possibilities.
But it's also presented theproblem that many pet parents
kind of feel overwhelmed.
You go online, you type ananimal communicator into your
browser and you're like, oh mygod, there's so many people who
(13:36):
do I pick?
How do I pick?
How do I know I've picked theright one?
And that overwhelm can be areally big thing.
One of the pieces of advice Ishare a lot is just find
somebody who's had an experiencewith the communicator you're
considering and just read thereviews.
(13:57):
I invite my clients to sharetestimonials.
I have some video testimonials.
I have several writtentestimonials.
I have done feature blog postsfor several of the interspecies
families I've worked with.
So if you're new to animalcommunication and you're
considering working with me, youcan kind of get a feel for my
(14:17):
style and you can kind of get asense of whether or not you
resonate with me and would liketo invite me to talk with your
pet family.
One of the things that has beenvery instrumental for me as a
communicator on my journey isrecognizing that once you say
(14:38):
yes to animal communication andyou say yes to your pet
transitioning into a role thatmaybe you've not seen them in
before as your partner, as yourempathic friend, as your teacher
, your leader, even your guideand your mentor.
This is an invitation to startreactivating your own inbuilt
(14:58):
intuitive system.
Everything that you experience,whether it's choosing an animal
communicator for the first time, whether it's choosing a
teacher to study with, whetherit's choosing how you want to
structure your own animalcommunication practice as a
professional, wherever you findyourself along the journey,
along the pathway, it's just onemore lesson in how do I let my
(15:21):
intuition lead me, how do I tunein inside to feel what feels
right, to see the signs, tolearn how to follow the signals
of my energy.
Ps, when you shift your pointof reference to asking your
(15:41):
intuition to lead you to theright animal communicator for
you, you get so much more thanjust and I use that with air
quotes than just a facilitatedinner species conversation with
your pet family.
You get an inner confirmation.
You start building your innerfiling system of all of the
(16:02):
different documented momentswhen your intuition has led you
with great accuracy to the bestexperience for you.
The more and more experiencesyou add, the more and more you
begin to trust yourself, totrust your inner intuition.
Think of it this way and justnotice the signs.
Don't allow your mind to go.
(16:23):
Well, I've got to look at 50websites or I've got to read
through everybody in thisdirectory of communicators.
Notice what is right in frontof you.
You can, even if you're someonewho recognizes light teams or
guardian angels or spirit guidesand helpers, you can even ask,
(16:43):
just ask inside.
Quite simply, please guide me,please help me, please show me
the right communicator for ourfamily.
And then notice, be very aware.
When you pray a prayer or youask a question like that, you
want to become instantly veryaware and notice what happens
next.
Chances are it will happenquite quickly and before you
(17:03):
know it, you will find that youhave a session scheduled and you
do have your first experienceof animal communication
scheduled and on the books.
And if that is happening foryou, whether you choose me or
you choose another communicator,I would love to hear how it
goes for you.
So please do reach out to me inthe comments or drop me an
email at shannon atanimallovelanguagescom.
(17:25):
That's the second reason andhopefully, as you drop into your
intuition, it's not what is theworst that could happen.
Oh God, I'll pick the wrongperson.
What is the best that couldhappen?
You'll find the perfect person.
I'm just going to invite myinner GPS to effortlessly and
fluidly guide me to the rightcommunicator at the right moment
(17:47):
for our precious interspeciesfamily, and let that be your
true north as you walk throughthis process.
The third reservation hesitationor limitation or big fear
factor reason why I found thatsome people just do not seem
willing to invite animalcommunication into their lives
(18:09):
is because it seems like itcontradicts or is at odds with,
on some level, some other kindof inbuilt belief system or
value system, or maybe thebelief or value system of other
human animals that they areclose to, maybe a partner or a
friend or a spouse or a boss ora colleague or a family member.
(18:33):
And so it's kind of like thismoment where you're being asked
to choose your identity all overagain.
Well, am I going to go withthis thing that is really
intriguing to me and somethingthat I really want to experience
?
And if it does change my lifethe way I suspect or anticipate
it might, then what is theripple effect going to feel like
(18:54):
?
How did the greaterstratosphere of the rest of my
life and my other relationshipand with who I am in this world.
That's valid because we don'thave time for every battle.
Whenever we invite a newexperience into our world,
especially if it's one that'sreally going to be
transformative, potentially formaybe something that's a real
(19:17):
deep heart or soul desire, maybea bucket list desire in our
life, or just something that wejust want to do it, but we can't
explain even to ourselves whyit's a safe bet that it may
upset somebody else in ourgreater sphere of influence or
our network.
Often that's what happensbecause we're on a journey of
(19:39):
expansion, we're on a journey ofevolution, we're on a journey
of transformation and noteverybody wants to take that
journey, especially for those ofus who are kind of more
naturally attuned to our empathychannel.
We all have empathy, but someof us just aren't aware of it,
those of us that really careabout the well-being and the
(20:00):
comfort and the connections thatwe have with others in our life
and by others I mean otherhuman animals.
Yeah, we care what they think,we care how the choices we make
might impact them.
But that can be a slipperyslope because first and foremost
we go back to that old clicheabout putting your oxygen mask
(20:21):
on first.
The truth is, if we don't serveour own highest good maybe not
right away, but eventually itwill drag everyone down with us
If we say no to our highestevolution, to our highest soul
path possibility in life, maybenot right away, but at some
(20:42):
point along the way we dim ourown light and that puts a damper
on how brightly anyone in oursphere of influence is able or
willing to shine.
I hope that makes sense, maybenot on a thinking level, but
maybe on a feeling level.
So, while it is a valid concernyes, that maybe you have
(21:03):
beliefs or you have familymembers you have beliefs about
what is who and what isn't, whatis possible and what isn't,
what is reality and what isfiction or science fiction, what
is safe or advisable and whatis dangerous or off limits.
However, you weigh the choicesand the chances that those
(21:28):
choices ask you to take orinvite you to take.
At the end of it all,underneath it all, you have to
go back to what you feel.
Or at least, if you want tobreak through the stalemate and
decide what to do and feel yourway forward, you need to kind of
dive down underneath the waves,sink down underneath the waves
and out of your head and intoyour gut, into your heart, and
(21:51):
feel Is this still something Iwant to do, even though I don't
know exactly what the rippleeffect is going to be.
I don't know how it mightimpact me today, tomorrow, into
the future.
You don't have to know.
And here's the other importantthing to remember.
You don't have to let anyoneelse know.
You don't have to tell anyoneelse.
(22:13):
You can just do this for you.
We are allowed to do thingsjust for ourselves.
It doesn't feel like itsometimes, but we have the full
right to have our ownexperiences in this life, and if
you're not ready to share thatwith anyone else, then so be it.
In a weird way, I havediscovered over the years that
(22:34):
the beliefs and the assumptionsinside me that I don't challenge
produce a lot more fear in me.
There are a lot more fearfactor-ish than the beliefs and
the assumptions that I reallyput to the test.
The more I become willing tosay I don't know, let's just see
.
I become curious.
I start to wonder.
(22:54):
I go exploring, I go see formyself, instead of taking
somebody else's word for it,even my own, the less power
those assumptions or those oldbeliefs have over me.
Maybe I'll find out thatthey're right, maybe I'll find
out that they don't hold waterat all, but either way I'll find
out for myself.
(23:15):
So that's how I've brokenthrough that limitation, that
hesitation that I had in termsof inviting animal communication
into my life.
The fourth and the finalreservation or limitation or
hesitation that people tend toencounter with animal
communication.
It's the reason I've come tofeel why so many pet parents
(23:39):
will admit to having deepburning questions for their
animals but won't schedule asession, won't open up and have
that conversation with theiranimal, is because they're
afraid that something's going tocome up, whether it's an unmet
need or desire, or whether it'sa difference of opinion, some
(24:00):
kind of stalemate or argumentthat is not going to be able to
be resolved.
And here are two really commonexamples.
One is my animal is going towant something that I can't give
or that I don't want, and theother is my animal is not going
to want something that I reallywant.
I'm going to give you anexample from my own history of
(24:21):
working with animalcommunicators, before I became a
professional animalcommunicator, when my tortoise,
my red foot tortoise malty wasabout four.
She got bigger and so I upgradedher to have a much larger
outdoor enclosure that she couldgo and play in during the day
and stay outside and at nightwhen the temperatures are warm.
(24:43):
I had just moved her into thisoutdoor enclosure and she had
been used to living with me fulltime inside.
So I asked the animalcommunicator we were working
with the time to give me to askher how she liked her new
habitat and let me know ifeverything was to her liking.
And of course I was supernervous about this.
Who go back to reason numberone and my animal is going to
(25:03):
say she doesn't like me, shedoesn't like what I'm providing,
she wishes she could livesomewhere else with someone else
.
So I was super nervous and whatmalty said was I do like my new
habitat, I do like beingoutdoors and get to see what was
out there and get to identifythe sounds I'm hearing and I get
to feel more like a wildtortoise.
But I really want to swimmingpools and you might think I'd
(25:26):
put tortoise tortoises don'tswim.
Well, she had these shallowwaiting pools where she could
drink and this might be too muchinformation, but tortoises and
turtles typically will go go tothe bathroom in their water.
So she was basically kind ofasking for it.
She wanted one pool to like,drink and swim and then another
pool for toilet andunfortunately, due to her size,
(25:51):
the size of the habitat that Ihad constructed for her and all
the different things that neededto be in there, especially
because tortoises are primarilyterrestrial species, if I had
added a second bathing, waiting,toileting pool, I might as well
have just given her an aquariuminstead of a terrarium.
There wasn't enough room for it, so I had to ask the animal
(26:13):
communicator to tell Malty thatit wasn't possible.
But I also said it's notpossible right now.
I shared why and I said I'mwriting it down on the wish list
for the future.
Well, now she's almost 10.
She lives in a huge, spaciousyard and she has two full-size
bathing pools, one smallerdrinking pool and a whole mud
(26:37):
wallow that I fill up with watertwice a day.
So we checked that one off thewish list with flying colors.
So again, when we're approachingthese conversations we have to
consider it might be a no, itmight be a yes, it might be a
maybe, it might be a not.
Right now.
It's just like havingconversations with our own
(26:57):
species.
We ask how can we meet in themiddle?
We look at finding that thehighest and best possible
outcome in this moment in timefor all.
We human animals tend to callthat compromise.
We call it negotiation andcompromise, and the same holds
true with our non-human animalfamily members.
(27:18):
When I first asked my soul bird,pearl, what he thought of the
two shelled beings that wereliving in our family and I kind
of knew he was a little bitannoyed about the fact that I
had added both turtles withoutasking him first and he said to
the communicator I know that mymom loves them, but I don't
(27:40):
understand why they're slimy andstinky and they don't have any
feathers.
And was that hard for me tohear yes?
Did I instinctively alreadyexpect him to say that?
Yes, you might be listening tothat going.
That wasn't very compassionateor empathic, but the thing is,
(28:01):
is it absolutely fit with what Iwas already sensing to be true?
And in truth it was a relief tohave it confirmed because it
gave me the opportunity to sayto Pearl I'm sorry.
It also gave me the chance toexplain that both turtles and my
(28:21):
second turtle, my rescued boxturtle Bruce, in particular,
needed a home.
They didn't have a home beforethey came to live with us and
when Pearl heard that,everything shifted for us.
So we just were having thisrather challenging, emotional,
open and honest conversation andhe actually said they didn't
(28:44):
have a home.
Well then, of course they muststay here and everything shifted
.
So our survival system is goingto ask that fear factor question
what's the worst can happen?
And then imagine that we staystuck there and we don't survive
the experience and is it goingto allow us to see past that to
(29:04):
all the possibilities that openup for us personally and for our
whole family?
When we have, we go thereanyway, we have that
conversation anyway.
We ask the off limits question,we ask the fear factor question
, we invite the feedback thatmaybe we're fearing and dreading
but also kind of secretlyexpecting and maybe even hoping
(29:25):
for, because we know thatthere's a breakthrough for all
of us hidden inside it.
And if you live in the South,you know about the New Orleans
Mardi Gras King Cake where theyhide like the baby in there and
whoever finds it is supposed toget good luck.
That's kind of what we'relooking at here.
So, yes, sometimes our animalswill have requests that we can't
fulfill.
(29:45):
Sometimes they'll say thingsthat we are afraid that they
might say or would kind of wishthat they wouldn't.
Maybe we will discover that,like me, I didn't ask Pearl what
he thought of adding the twoturtles to our family because I
was afraid that he wouldn't wantit.
Well, guess what?
(30:05):
I was also secretly kind ofaware that he wouldn't want it.
I already kind of knew that andI wanted it anyway.
So, instead of just having thatconversation and finding an
open and honest way of movingforward and compromising, if I
had just led with that well,this turtle doesn't have a home,
he's hungry, he's scared, he'slonely Would it be okay if he
(30:26):
stays with us?
It would have saved actuallysaved a lot of potential
heartache and a lot of stressand anxiety, not just before and
during the decision that I made, but after the fact of trying
to acclimate, and Pearl was justso jealous and jealous and
everything just eased after weactually had the conversation.
And so all I'm trying to sharehere is just don't let that hold
(30:48):
you back from having theseimportant, impactful
conversations with your pets,because there's always a way to
talk it out, there's always away to work through it.
That's what the love is therefor.
It's the glue that keeps us in.
It keeps us more committed toeach other than we are, to the
(31:10):
short-term thing that we don'twant or that we want, that we
think is so vitally important.
When you start to take a lookat these conversations these
interspecies conversations moreas an opportunity to learn, to
stretch, to grow, to evolve, totransform, then to get what you
want or avoid what you don'twant, that's where you find the
(31:30):
magic.
If you've enjoyed this episodeof let's Talk to Animals podcast
, if you found value in ithopefully, if you found a nugget
, something that has beensupportive for you and your pet
family, please do like,subscribe, share it with
somebody else who loves animals,who lives their life with
(31:52):
animals, who lives their lifefor animals, to care for animals
in our natural world.
Please do share it about andlet others know.
It really does keep our littlepodcast alive, growing and
thriving here in the greaterpodcastosphere, you can find us
atletstalktoanimalsbuzzsproutcom.
You can also find us atanimallovelinguagescom backslash
(32:15):
podcast and you can find allfour seasons.
If you have a request for ashow guest or a topic you'd like
me to cover, please do let meknow Again.
You can reach me, shannon, atanimallovelinguagescom or at
Buzzsprout.
I always love to hear from you.
I look forward to welcoming youback in two weeks for a fresh
(32:36):
new episode, and I'm sending youand your pet family all my love
.
Okay, bye for now.
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