July 31, 2024 • 42 mins
Share your thoughts & ideas! ✨
What is pet anxiety? As a pet parent, it is common to worry that your pet is feeling anxious. But how much do you really understand about how anxiety shows up on different levels, whether what you are tuning into is actually pet anxiety and what you can do to help your anxious pet?
This podcast episode is recorded as an aid and support to the companion resource Anxious No More: Helping Your Pet Find Peace in an Anxious World.
🌟 Download your free Guide here: https://www.animallovelanguages.com/petanxietyguide
This episode is organized into three major categories.
1. Defining pet anxiety and the five different levels of pet anxiety.
2. Identifying three different types of anxiety that your pet may be experiencing.
3. What I look for as an animal intuitive when I am talking with your pet so I can determine if anxiety is at the root of their symptoms and what tools will work best to ease anxiety for them.
You will also benefit from learning more about the highly sensitive genetic temperament trait and whether it is affecting your pet.
🌟 Access your free Guide here: https://www.animallovelanguages.com/HSPetoptin
🌟 Enjoy this past podcast episode about highly sensitive pets:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2105365/1266170
Leave us a review & share what you like most :-)
Your reviews REALLY help our little podcast get noticed & known. 🙏
Schedule your pet's session (living and in spirit)
Head over to Schedule (pssst Join our Weekly Love Letter & get $25 off) ❤️
Learn animal communication with me!
https://www.animallovelanguages.com/enroll 🐾
Join my bi-weekly animal communication practice circle
https://www.animallovelanguages.com/acapcmembership 💚
🤩 Let's connect on IG @loveandfeathersandshells
💫 Support Let's Talk to Animals
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shannon Cutts (00:12):
Hi Shannon here.
Welcome to let's Talk toAnimals, the podcast and
blogcast that all species canenjoy together.
This week I have a fresh newepisode for you featuring the
hot topic of pet anxiety.
Pet anxiety is a thing, right?
(00:35):
It's something that we petparents, animal guardians,
fosters, carers we are always onthe lookout for.
We feel it and sense for itvery deeply.
We're always concerned about itand frequently worried that our
(00:56):
pets are feeling anxious,without necessarily receiving
any outward consciousconfirmation that this is
actually the case.
And what often happens, withoutour even realizing it, is that
we gather a whole variety ofdifferent feelings and and
(01:21):
observations and hunches andvague ideas under the header of
pet anxiety, without ever reallyknowing that that is what we
are observing or witnessing.
And it also can be a reallyconfusing journey through the
(01:43):
traditional pet health caremodel, trying to determine,
first, is it pet anxiety?
And second, if yes, where is itcoming from?
And, based on where it's comingfrom, to ease it, to offer our
pet some relief.
(02:04):
And it is just as common for usas the human animal in the mix,
as the pet guardian the onesitting behind the buck stops
here, desk blotter, the one whoreally kind of calls the shots
and makes the majority ofdecisions in our inner species
(02:27):
family.
It frequently escapes ourattention that our own state of
anxiety, or lack thereof, candeeply impact our animal
companions, and so this is whatwe are going to take a deep dive
look at today.
For today's episode on petanxiety, which I have given the
(02:52):
working title Pet Anxiety whatis it?
How do we know when our pet hasit and, as animal communicators
, what do we look for when we'retalking with your pet, trying
to determine if they are feelinganxious and, if so, where's it
(03:12):
coming from and what do we needto do to address it?
Longest working title in theworld, but I hope you get my
drift, my meaning, so to speak.
So let's start with the basics.
Let's start with the differentlevels at which anxiety can be
present.
There are really five differentlevels that anxiety can
(03:38):
manifest at, the first being, ofcourse, the physical, and while
I say of course, I recognizethat for most of us, the word
anxiety the association that wehumans have in our 3D left
brains.
Remember that anxiety is also abiochemical reaction.
(04:00):
If we are feeling anxiousversus joyful, versus sad,
versus angry, there's adifferent biochemical process
(04:22):
going on in our brains, with ourhormones, with our
neurotransmitters.
And so, while anxiety we mayrelate to it as an emotion, we
may relate to it at theemotional level, and only at the
emotional level.
More and more modern medicalscience, for both humans and
(04:47):
non-human animals, is teachingus that sometimes those anxious
emotional states can originatewith the physical, for instance,
if there is some level ofphysical dis-ease going on or an
exposure to an environmentalagent or toxin that is creating
(05:11):
dysregulation in the body system, if there is an injury, if
there is an illness, if there isan extreme disruption in daily
routine or an undiagnosedallergy.
There are all kinds.
We could follow that rabbittrail forever, but there are so
(05:33):
many physical-based issues thatcan rise to the physical, the
emotional, the mental sensationof anxiety.
So sometimes, when we see whatwe're labeling as the emotion of
(05:55):
anxiety can actually be tracedall the way back to a physical
core cause.
However, that is not always thecase.
Of course.
Emotions can make our body feelwildly uncomfortable.
As just a very personal example, I went through a grief process
(06:15):
lately over the loss of arelationship in my life and I
felt a lot of chest pain.
If you've ever heard ofheartbreak syndrome, you are
already familiar with howemotional dysregulation can
trickle downhill and manifest atthe physical level.
As we get into our conversationtoday and I talk a little bit
(06:39):
more about what we what Ipersonally can't speak for other
animal communicators, butcertainly what I look for as an
animal communicator when I'mtalking with your pets and I'm
trying to determine is itanxiety?
If yes, where is the root cause?
What is that deepest level?
Because of course, we don'tjust want to bandage it, we want
(06:59):
to get all the way down to thedeepest level, find the core
trigger and begin addressing itthere and, based on what we find
, based on what I discover whenI'm talking with your animal,
that is going to then lead us inthe direction of the proper
remedy.
So this is the next levelanxiety that originates at the
(07:24):
emotional level and, of course,sometimes emotional
dysregulation.
Anxiety does not necessarilylead to overt physical symptoms,
but can manifest as behaviorchanges, changes in
relationships, changes inhobbies or habits, relationships
(07:48):
, changes in hobbies or habits,and so these can also be
indicators that what we'rereally dealing with is anxiety
originating at the emotionallevel versus, perhaps, at the
physical level.
Now there's also anxiety thatcan originate at the mental
level.
There's a lot of debate aboutwhether animals think and how
much they think in terms of whatwe human animals define as
(08:13):
thinking.
For us, thinking is anever-ending kind of almost like
a stream of consciousnessactivity that takes place in our
3D left brains all day, everyday.
Our brains, especially thatleft hemisphere.
They are meaning-makingmachines In intuitive anatomy,
(08:35):
which is different frombiological anatomy.
But intuitive anatomy is what Iteach when I teach animal
communications.
You can understand yourintuitive wiring, the internal,
what I teach when I teach animalcommunications.
You can understand yourintuitive wiring, the internal,
what I call operating system.
That is inbuilt, present frombirth.
That provides you with themeans to have intuitive two-way
(08:59):
conversations with other humansand with non-human animals.
So when we're looking at thatintuitive anatomy, we are
looking at a left brain mindthat has one job to do to
receive, decode, translate intowords and share intuitive data
(09:20):
or information the emotions,thoughts, experiences, data or
information, the emotions,thoughts, experiences, etc.
Of the animal conversationpartner.
While our non-human animalplanet mates may not think
obsessively in the way that wehuman animals tend to do, they
may not have a brain structurethat is as optimized for the
(09:46):
heady lives we lead today, thatdoesn't mean that they don't
think.
My experience, however, hasbeen that animals think more
through their emotions.
They think more through theirfeelings.
Why?
Because that is more functional.
It's also faster, and for wildanimals in particular, and even
(10:11):
for our companion animals stillbeing hooked so intimately into
the fight or flight defensesystem, always aiming to feed
and not get fed on, to finddinner and not be dinner, it is
more functional to tap into yourvibes, gut, brain, your
(10:33):
emotional system and just skipthe thinking.
Already, for us humans, it justadds an extra layer, it adds an
extra step onto our process.
It makes us slowercommunicators and, in many ways,
stupider communicators.
I realize that's not really aword, but we just we're slower
and we are less trusting of ourown multi-layered system, of the
(11:00):
information that it's giving us, because we have this
overactive, overly involved leftbrain hemisphere that is
constantly seeking for meaningand turning it into words and
delivering it to us like it'sthe buck itself, so to speak.
So with our animals, thoughtsdo come through, and repetitive
(11:23):
thoughts in particular tend tobe what generate anxiety.
So if I'm connecting in with ananimal and I'm seeking for
first, is this anxiety?
As a pet parent, if what youhave come to me seeking an
explanation for informationabout truly is anxiety, then
(11:45):
where is it originating?
If I'm picking up on repetitivethought patterns, then it's a
likely possibility that we'relooking at a mental pattern that
is producing the anxiety.
Now we can also see anxietyoriginate at what is alternately
(12:05):
called the relational or thesoul level, and that's really
where we have these soulagreements, if you will, or soul
contracts with other beings'rein a family together, maybe we
(12:26):
are a mated pair, maybe we livenext door to one another, maybe
we work together, and these sametypes of structures exist
across species boundaries.
So, for instance, one of thethings I always look for when
I'm communicating with an animal, then recapping with their
(12:50):
person, is I'm always curious toask about the nature of their
soul agreement.
What type of soul agreement doyou share with your human?
And there are so many differenttypes of soul agreements.
There can be the romanticpairing, the life mates, if you
will.
This is one that shows upconstantly in my own life with
(13:13):
the animal companions I'mclosest to.
There can be the teacher andthe student.
There can be the parent and thechild.
There can be the colleagues,the co-workers, there can be
what I call the frenemies andoccasionally the have-we-mets,
where we're really learning somedeep soul lessons from each
other, where we're reallylearning some deep soul lessons
(13:33):
from each other.
So taking a look at the natureof the relationship itself can
give us great insight into is itanxiety?
If so, what is the function,what is the purpose and is it
shared?
And this really gets us into aninteresting territory where
(13:53):
we're looking at your ownrelationship with anxiety, or
what we're calling anxiety, soyour own human experience of
anxiety and the animal'sexperience of what we're calling
anxiety, and taking a look andseeing if there are any
parallels and we'll talk aboutthat a little bit more as we go
along.
And the final, or the deepest,if you will, or the highest
(14:17):
vibration level of anyexperience that we're observing
and calling anxiety is what Icall the spirit level.
That's when we're looking at asoul joining with a physical, 3d
body and brain system that hascertain inherent genetic
properties or qualities that areadvantageous for that soul's
(14:44):
evolution.
That was probably a mouthful foryou, but when we look at why
did you get the body you got?
Why did you get the body yougot?
Did you choose it?
Was it chosen for you?
Was it a group decision?
Did you make up your mind allon your own, why this body and
(15:06):
not that other body?
It's interesting to look atfamily systems, whether human or
non-human.
Our puppy, for instance.
When he came home, he alreadywas showing a very distinct
personality that was differentfrom his puppy siblings In my
family.
I have a very differentpersonality, genetic makeup,
than my sibling, and you canprobably see examples of this in
(15:28):
your family life, even withyour extended family and with
those you're not related to.
We all get different gifts.
We all get different challenges.
I always find it so fascinatingwhy am I predisposed to back
troubles and my friend hasCrohn's disease and my neighbor
(15:49):
is dealing with rheumatoidarthritis?
We all have different stuff andwe may never get any of what
somebody else is dealing with.
And why is that?
And so this is the spirit levelwhere, perhaps over and above
even any physical or mentalissues or emotional issues,
(16:10):
there may be wiring that'salready present that causes an
animal to be predisposed towardsmore of what we might call an
anxious or a nervous temperament.
And where we can really seethis playing out is in animal
species, where we humans havegotten in the mix and we tink
(16:31):
with their DNA.
So we see this a lot in dogs,in cats, in horses, certainly
other types of livestock,definitely with bird species,
where we've gotten in there andwe have decided that we want to
genetically re-engineer what wasalready perfect to begin with,
(16:55):
because we want to expresscertain traits or inhibit others
, and that can, especiallybecause we're not necessarily
learned genetic scientists whenwe're doing this.
We're really kind ofexperimenting off the cuff and
just learning as we go along can, unfortunately sometimes end up
(17:21):
actually emphasizing traitsthat we would have preferred not
be emphasized, like an anxioustemperament.
So these are all the differentlevels For me as an animal
intuitive, as I'm communicatingwith your pets, I am looking at
these different levels.
I'm gathering as muchinformation as I can from you
about what are you callinganxious?
When you come to me, are youjust having a vague gut
(17:43):
sensation that your pet isanxious and you can't really pin
it to anything specific?
But you just can't get rid ofthe feeling.
We call that a vibe or a hunchor a gut knowing in animal
communication lingo and I talkabout that a lot more in my
animal communication adventurecourses.
If you're interested inlearning, we really take a deep
(18:03):
dive into all of that?
Or is it something that you areactually witnessing, you are
seeing, and if you were a dog ora cat, if you were your pet,
you too would be feeling anxiousif you were doing that thing
that they do.
Is it something that doesn'tnecessarily present as anxiety,
(18:24):
like, let's say, aggression orextreme shyness?
But we know from animalbehavior scientists that those
kinds of personality traits canbe an attempt to mask anxiety,
either by being overlyaggressive or being overly shy
and retiring.
(18:46):
So, really wanting to understand, as the animal intuitive in the
mix, really wanting tounderstand, what are you seeing
that you're labeling as anxious?
And let's find out if it reallyis so.
We're looking at the physical,we're looking at the emotional,
we're looking at the mental,we're looking at the relational
or the soul contract level andwe're looking at that spirit
(19:08):
level.
Why did that animal's soulchoose?
There's always free will,there's always free choice, no
matter who we are.
When we come here, into these3D bodies, to this earth plane,
we are coming here as avolunteer to grow in wisdom and
learn to love better, to make apositive contribution for our
(19:29):
own benefit and for the benefitof all.
Nobody is forced to come here.
This is very important tounderstand.
So why did this animalvolunteer to come into this
particular body, this particularbrain, with this particular
wiring, genetic wiring, brainwiring that is going to
(19:51):
predispose them to have acertain type of personality, a
certain type of temperament, acertain type of health, a
certain type of body, a certainskill set, etc.
Etc.
Etc.
So these are the differentthings that I am looking at as
an animal intuitive, to try tofind out what is at the root
(20:13):
cause.
Now, there's another layer topet anxiety as well that is
really important to look atduring an animal communication
session, and that is where isthe anxiety really stemming from
?
What type of anxiety is it?
Let me unpack this a little bitfurther, because that sounds
(20:34):
just like what we just talkedabout, but it's actually really
different.
Here.
What I'm looking at is is thisa purely animal-originated
anxiety?
For instance, is it a healthproblem within that animal's
physical system?
Is it an exposure that thatanimal has had to, perhaps an
environmental toxin or a toxicrelationship or a bad training
(20:57):
experience, or whatever it maybe?
Is it something that the animalhas experienced pretty much on
their own?
And now you're kind of seeingthe fallout manifest as anxiety,
and another example of thatwould be maybe an animal that
was rehomed and relinquishedbefore you rescued them and
they're still dealing with somefallout from their past history.
(21:21):
Another type of anxiety wecould be looking at is this is
where soul contracts becomeimportant again is is it really
yours?
Is it your anxiety?
And the animal is kind ofstruggling through being around
someone that's anxious.
As we all know, if you walk intoa mall during the holiday
(21:45):
season, you're probably going toleave feeling more anxious than
when you arrived.
Why?
Because there are lots ofanxious people who are concerned
about how their holidays aregoing to go this year, if
somebody or such and so is goingto be happy with their gift,
how they're going to afford tohost all their relatives and
(22:07):
rearrange their schedule.
There are so many deep issuesthat crop up around the holidays
on all kinds of levels yourtime, your schedule, your sanity
, your finances, your digestion,all kinds of different things.
Are you making memories?
Are you making the kind ofmemories you want to make?
(22:28):
And so this is an example ofbeing in a collective
consciousness where it feelslike anxiety is amplified and it
can't always be avoided.
Life happens right.
Things happen to us.
Maybe you are going throughsomething like what I referenced
earlier, with a relationshipthat is just not working anymore
(22:51):
, just not working anymore.
Maybe there's been a loss.
I mean over the last few yearsI've had several deep losses my
father, my dearest friend, mybox turtle, my soul bird.
I mean there have been lots oflosses.
Yes, that has caused spikes inmy anxiety and yes, my pets have
(23:11):
had to weather that.
So sometimes when I talk withan animal who is exhibiting
symptoms that we're callinganxious, I find out it's not
really theirs.
It's just that they're kind ofbeing marinated in an anxious
home space.
They're exposed to you orsomeone else in your family or a
(23:33):
family state, especially if theloss is affecting or there's a
change that's affecting thewhole family.
They're just a part of it.
That's part of being a part ofa family and sometimes we just
all have to kind of get throughit together the best that we can
and hopefully address eachfamily member's needs
individually so we get throughit with minimal disruption and
(23:55):
dysregulation.
But sometimes it's not animalorigin anxiety at all, it's
human origin.
It can even be world eventsorigin.
We've had so many disruptionsto just the flow of safety and
services and polite society, itdoesn't feel so polite most of
(24:17):
the time.
We've had weather events thatare completely unexpected,
political events that arecompletely unexpected, and so
what ends up happening is itamplifies anxiety on this planet
and we all just walk aroundfeeling a little bit more
anxious.
And if you are a highlysensitive personality type and
there are highly sensitivepeople there are highly
(24:37):
sensitive pets.
If you are interested in thattopic, I highly recommend you
head over to my resourcessection and free tools for pet
parents.
Download the Highly SensitivePet Help Guide.
I've also recorded podcastepisodes on HSPs both people and
pets, and so I will link thosein the show notes.
(24:59):
But I highly encourage you tohead over and take advantage of
these resources, because themore your wiring lends towards
sensitivity, which is a genetictrait that's been found in over
100 species so far the more youare likely to feel increased
(25:20):
anxiety as our world goesthrough periods of collective
anxiety as well.
So that's the second type ofanxiety I may discover that it
is really human generated andthe pet is just dealing with the
fallout like every other memberof the family.
I can also find and this iswhere soul contracts really kick
(25:43):
in I can also find that it'skind of what I call a feedback
loop, and typically in animalcommunication conversations,
when I uncover an anxiousfeedback loop or any kind of
feedback loop, what it lookslike to me is I'll see kind of
an infinity symbol, like myfinger is tracing an infinity
symbol.
If you're listening to theaudio version, that's what I'm
(26:06):
doing on the video screen nowover on YouTube and what I see
is we're kind of trading anxietyback and forth and there's a
couple different ways this canhappen.
The first way, which is alittle bit less frequently
detected and diagnosed, is whatI just discovered with one of my
pet parent clients who travelsa lot and he was worried about
(26:29):
leaving his cat behind at thecat hotel and he was coming to
me saying I am worried that mycat is going to be anxious or
uncomfortable when I leave.
When I tuned in with the cat,what I discovered is the cat was
(26:50):
worried about him.
Where was he?
Was he going to be okay?
And what was happening wasbeing together.
Every time my pet parent clientwould start to feel anxious, the
cat would also start to feelanxious and at that 3D conscious
level the cat would think, oh,maybe I should be worried about
(27:12):
my person because they'refeeling anxious.
And then the cat would getworried.
And then again, being in asmall shared space and being
deeply connected at the soullevel, my pet parent client
would start feeling worried andanxious and would think, oh,
maybe it's my cat feelinganxious and I should worry about
(27:32):
this and try to make somearrangements so he won't be so
anxious while I'm gone.
And so it's like, literally,you're trading anxiety back and
forth and it keeps this feedbackloop going because neither
party realizes that they'repicking up on the anxiety of
each other.
And so, instead of being ableto downshift into peace and ease
(27:55):
and calm, just recognizing thisis what families do sometimes.
Sometimes we just worry aboutone another.
This is a way that we expressour love.
Maybe it's not the mostcomfortable way, but it is one
way we have learned to expressour love for one another is
through worry, care, concern andanxiety.
But there are other ways toexpress love and if we can catch
(28:16):
this feedback loop, we candownshift into a calmer, more
comfortable way.
To simply visualize.
In their case, what we talkedabout was simply visualizing
that everyone's having a reallygood time and we trust that we
are supported, we are protected,whether we're traveling or
(28:38):
staying home, and that all iswell.
Home is wherever our hearts areand all is well, and so this
feels a lot better.
But first we have to know what'sgoing on.
So is it purely animalgenerated anxiety that may be
coming from an illness or aninjury or some kind of
biochemical wiring or anexperience that happened before
(29:01):
the two of you's path crossed,before you met?
Is it something that isoriginating with you and it's
simply affecting your animal,just kind of collateral damage,
so to speak?
Or is it something that istruly shared?
And these are teaching moments.
These are moments when werealize we are both being called
(29:23):
to upute anxiety, nerves, worryinto something that feels
better and works better for therelationship.
So we're really teaching eachother through this feedback loop
.
So, of course, these are thekinds of things that I am
(29:45):
looking for as I'm havingconversations with your animals,
and I'm also seeking to furtherdefine what anxiety actually is
, what it really looks likeversus all of these other things
that we've been talking about.
So when you say my pet isanxious, expect that I'm going
(30:10):
to ask you to tell me about whatyou're labeling as anxious, and
I love this part of ourconversation because I find out
so much more about what you'rereally witnessing and it allows
me to ask much more detailedquestions that are much more
(30:31):
accurate.
So I make sure that your petreally understands what is it
you're witnessing or sensing orfeeling, not just asking your
animal why are you anxious, orwhat are you anxious about?
Because that is makingassumptions.
And if you have been followingalong with me here on let's Talk
(30:53):
to Animals or you've been apart of my weekly love letter
community or my studentcommunity for any length of time
, you know that I live andbreathe by Don Miguel Ruiz's
four agreements, and one ofthose agreements is do not make
assumptions.
Is the four agreements, and oneof those agreements is do not
make assumptions.
Instead, ask and ask goodquestions and ask better
(31:19):
questions.
In other words, pay moreattention to what is really
there.
Assumption making is lazybehavior.
It's useful at the fight orflight level, when we don't have
time to gather a lot of databefore we decide what to do
about that shadow lurking behindthe tree trunk right ahead of
us on the path.
We don't have a lot of time tosit and really dig into.
(31:42):
Well, does the shadow look morelike my best friend who's
waiting to meet up with me, or areally hungry, drooling,
saber-toothed tiger.
We really need to make anassumption, as best we can,
based on what we've seen in thepast and what's worked before,
so we can decide whether to comecloser or run away.
But animal communication is notfight or flight.
(32:03):
Animal communication isattention to detail.
It's the parasympatheticnervous system in action.
So we have to really understandthere are nuances of both
systems the fight or flight,sympathetic nervous system and
the parasympathetic nervoussystem at play here, and we need
to be able to parse apart whichsystem to follow and what
(32:30):
information each systemmechanism has to offer us.
And so here what we're lookingat is this animal is in
immediate danger.
This animal is not dealing withlife-altering threats.
This animal is reacting tosomething in certain ways, and
(32:52):
we want to really get deep downinto what is it.
What is it that's causing ortriggering the behavior, and why
are we, the human animal,labeling what we're seeing as
anxiety?
Where is that coming from?
Is it a deep gut knowing?
Is it just an assumption thatwe are casually and maybe even
(33:15):
lazily making?
Because, let's be honest, petparent is not the only hat
perched precariously on top ofour heads.
We have a lot ofresponsibilities.
Being an adult human animaltoday comes with a lot of
responsibilities attached, soit's not uncommon to get a
little bit lazy about.
Well, my animal was known tohave anxiety before, or my
(33:37):
animal was diagnosed withanxiety before, or all the blogs
I read on the internet say thatwhen an animal does this, it
means they're anxious.
Plus, we tend to want to have aworking theory at least in
place when we seek out thesurfaces of someone.
Like an animal communicator, itcan be helpful to have some kind
of at least general umbrellalanguage to use to describe what
(34:00):
we're seeing.
So my job as the communicatoris to get detailed with you, to
dig down under the surface andfind out.
Okay, what are you labeling asanxiety?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can you explain exactly whatyou're seeing, hearing, sensing,
feeling?
I'm asking you to tune intoyour own intuitive wiring, your
(34:22):
intuitive operating system.
This is why so many of my petparent clients go on to study
animal communication with me,because experiencing an animal
communication session with yourpet often serves as a wake-up
call for you to start payingmore attention to your own
(34:43):
intuitive wiring, to what yourown instincts are telling you,
and to start using that as atool to course correct in your
own life, to raise yourvibration, to make better
choices that feel more alignedto who you know yourself to be
in your heart of heart, in yoursoul, of souls, souls to align
(35:08):
in the direction of your truenorth, which is your big life
goals and dreams.
The reasons why you came hereand so it just makes sense, in
fact that's how I got intoteaching is I had a whole group
of pet parent clients that cameto me within the space of a
couple of weeks and asked me ifI taught.
(35:29):
I was like, well, no, but Iguess I could, and you can see
how that story played out.
So if you're interested inlearning animal communication,
that's one of my great joys inlife and I'd love to chat with
you more about that.
So you can drop a comment orsend me an email over at
animallovelanguagescom and wecan chat more about that.
(35:50):
But for our purposes here, thisis really good training ground,
and sometimes I even discoverthat that is an underlying kind
of an undercurrent reason whyyour pet is expressing anxiety
is because there's untappedintuitive potential in you and
it serves you and it serves thembetter.
(36:13):
To point this out, to inviteyou to the intuitive party, to
invite you along on a sharedadventure where your pet isn't
the only one doing the heavylifting of receiving, decoding
and trying their best to shareintuitive messages, where you're
(36:34):
sharing the journey togetherand you're waking up to your
shared intuitive pathways, yourinbuilt, inborn intuitive
communication abilities, and youare improving your lives
together, day by day as you doit.
So pet anxiety it can feel likethe gift that keeps on giving,
(36:58):
but so often it is a tremendousteaching tool for both the pet
and their person.
I have seen this again andagain and again with my pet
parent clients and their animalloves, and this is why I tend to
recommend this these days.
Whatever remedy, especially foranxiety, that is not simply
(37:24):
animal originated, whateverremedy or whatever next steps we
come up with based on what youranimal shares with me, chances
are good that you will benefitfrom it too.
I have certainly found this tobe the case with my own animal
family.
So often we do share commonissues like having a more
(37:45):
nervous or sensitive or anxioustemperament or wiring, and so
many of the things that benefitmy pets end up benefiting me too
.
And here's the really fun part.
So often I'm too busy ordistracted or lazy or whatever
it is, to really seek out thosesolutions for my own benefit.
(38:09):
But if my animal is anxious oris struggling in any way, I'm
not lazy.
I will move heaven and earth tohelp them peace, to help them
find ease, to help them findhealth, to help them find calm.
This is just one more reasonwhy I so often remind my pet
(38:30):
parent clients and my animalcommunication students that our
pets are our partners, empathicfriends and teachers throughout
this life.
And how do I know that?
Because when I ask the animalswhy we call them pets, this is
what they told me we are yourpartners, your empathic friends
(38:52):
and your greatest teachers inthis lifetime.
And we are your greatestteachers because you love us
unconditionally and you allow usto love you unconditionally.
We learn the biggest lessonsthrough the frequency of
unconditional love.
Our pets are always going to bethe powerhouse teachers in our
(39:15):
lives for exactly this reason.
So if you are listening to thisepisode and you are a pet parent
and you are worried that youranimal is anxious, or you are
absolutely certain that youranimal is anxious, but you have
not yet landed on an effectivestrategy to try to manage,
(39:39):
hopefully eventually mitigateand ease or even fully hopefully
resolve their anxiety.
This may be your hint from yourlight team, from the universe,
to give animal communication aseat at the table.
Let's see what animalcommunication can do to support
(39:59):
your pet to live their calmest,clearest, healthiest, happiest
life with you.
So I hope you've enjoyedtoday's episode.
I would love to hear your bigaha moments, any questions you
have, your stories, anythingthat you've found that works to
(40:21):
help your pets that have anxiety, and any questions you have
about how animal communicationcan play a part in easing your
pet's anxiety.
I am releasing these episodesevery two weeks, and so be sure
to join my weekly love lettercommunity.
(40:43):
You will receive firstnotification for brand new
episodes, and if you've enjoyedthis podcast, please do give it
a like, give it a subscribe,share it with a friend, give us
a review over on iTunes.
It really helps our littlepodcast find its space and place
(41:06):
in the greater podcastosphereand certainly encourages me to
keep sharing new episodes withyou.
So thank you for caring aboutanimal communication and
accompanying me on this ongoinglearning journey.
I send you and your innerspecies family.
All my love and bye for now.
Hi Shannon here.
Welcome to let's Talk toAnimals, the podcast and
blogcast that all species canenjoy together.
This week I have a fresh newepisode for you featuring the
hot topic of pet anxiety.
Pet anxiety is a thing, right?
(00:35):
It's something that we petparents, animal guardians,
fosters, carers we are always onthe lookout for.
We feel it and sense for itvery deeply.
We're always concerned about itand frequently worried that our
(00:56):
pets are feeling anxious,without necessarily receiving
any outward consciousconfirmation that this is
actually the case.
And what often happens, withoutour even realizing it, is that
we gather a whole variety ofdifferent feelings and and
(01:21):
observations and hunches andvague ideas under the header of
pet anxiety, without ever reallyknowing that that is what we
are observing or witnessing.
And it also can be a reallyconfusing journey through the
(01:43):
traditional pet health caremodel, trying to determine,
first, is it pet anxiety?
And second, if yes, where is itcoming from?
And, based on where it's comingfrom, to ease it, to offer our
pet some relief.
(02:04):
And it is just as common for usas the human animal in the mix,
as the pet guardian the onesitting behind the buck stops
here, desk blotter, the one whoreally kind of calls the shots
and makes the majority ofdecisions in our inner species
(02:27):
family.
It frequently escapes ourattention that our own state of
anxiety, or lack thereof, candeeply impact our animal
companions, and so this is whatwe are going to take a deep dive
look at today.
For today's episode on petanxiety, which I have given the
(02:52):
working title Pet Anxiety whatis it?
How do we know when our pet hasit and, as animal communicators
, what do we look for when we'retalking with your pet, trying
to determine if they are feelinganxious and, if so, where's it
(03:12):
coming from and what do we needto do to address it?
Longest working title in theworld, but I hope you get my
drift, my meaning, so to speak.
So let's start with the basics.
Let's start with the differentlevels at which anxiety can be
present.
There are really five differentlevels that anxiety can
(03:38):
manifest at, the first being, ofcourse, the physical, and while
I say of course, I recognizethat for most of us, the word
anxiety the association that wehumans have in our 3D left
brains.
Remember that anxiety is also abiochemical reaction.
(04:00):
If we are feeling anxiousversus joyful, versus sad,
versus angry, there's adifferent biochemical process
(04:22):
going on in our brains, with ourhormones, with our
neurotransmitters.
And so, while anxiety we mayrelate to it as an emotion, we
may relate to it at theemotional level, and only at the
emotional level.
More and more modern medicalscience, for both humans and
(04:47):
non-human animals, is teachingus that sometimes those anxious
emotional states can originatewith the physical, for instance,
if there is some level ofphysical dis-ease going on or an
exposure to an environmentalagent or toxin that is creating
(05:11):
dysregulation in the body system, if there is an injury, if
there is an illness, if there isan extreme disruption in daily
routine or an undiagnosedallergy.
There are all kinds.
We could follow that rabbittrail forever, but there are so
(05:33):
many physical-based issues thatcan rise to the physical, the
emotional, the mental sensationof anxiety.
So sometimes, when we see whatwe're labeling as the emotion of
(05:55):
anxiety can actually be tracedall the way back to a physical
core cause.
However, that is not always thecase.
Of course.
Emotions can make our body feelwildly uncomfortable.
As just a very personal example, I went through a grief process
(06:15):
lately over the loss of arelationship in my life and I
felt a lot of chest pain.
If you've ever heard ofheartbreak syndrome, you are
already familiar with howemotional dysregulation can
trickle downhill and manifest atthe physical level.
As we get into our conversationtoday and I talk a little bit
(06:39):
more about what we what Ipersonally can't speak for other
animal communicators, butcertainly what I look for as an
animal communicator when I'mtalking with your pets and I'm
trying to determine is itanxiety?
If yes, where is the root cause?
What is that deepest level?
Because of course, we don'tjust want to bandage it, we want
(06:59):
to get all the way down to thedeepest level, find the core
trigger and begin addressing itthere and, based on what we find
, based on what I discover whenI'm talking with your animal,
that is going to then lead us inthe direction of the proper
remedy.
So this is the next levelanxiety that originates at the
(07:24):
emotional level and, of course,sometimes emotional
dysregulation.
Anxiety does not necessarilylead to overt physical symptoms,
but can manifest as behaviorchanges, changes in
relationships, changes inhobbies or habits, relationships
(07:48):
, changes in hobbies or habits,and so these can also be
indicators that what we'rereally dealing with is anxiety
originating at the emotionallevel versus, perhaps, at the
physical level.
Now there's also anxiety thatcan originate at the mental
level.
There's a lot of debate aboutwhether animals think and how
much they think in terms of whatwe human animals define as
(08:13):
thinking.
For us, thinking is anever-ending kind of almost like
a stream of consciousnessactivity that takes place in our
3D left brains all day, everyday.
Our brains, especially thatleft hemisphere.
They are meaning-makingmachines In intuitive anatomy,
(08:35):
which is different frombiological anatomy.
But intuitive anatomy is what Iteach when I teach animal
communications.
You can understand yourintuitive wiring, the internal,
what I teach when I teach animalcommunications.
You can understand yourintuitive wiring, the internal,
what I call operating system.
That is inbuilt, present frombirth.
That provides you with themeans to have intuitive two-way
(08:59):
conversations with other humansand with non-human animals.
So when we're looking at thatintuitive anatomy, we are
looking at a left brain mindthat has one job to do to
receive, decode, translate intowords and share intuitive data
(09:20):
or information the emotions,thoughts, experiences, data or
information, the emotions,thoughts, experiences, etc.
Of the animal conversationpartner.
While our non-human animalplanet mates may not think
obsessively in the way that wehuman animals tend to do, they
may not have a brain structurethat is as optimized for the
(09:46):
heady lives we lead today, thatdoesn't mean that they don't
think.
My experience, however, hasbeen that animals think more
through their emotions.
They think more through theirfeelings.
Why?
Because that is more functional.
It's also faster, and for wildanimals in particular, and even
(10:11):
for our companion animals stillbeing hooked so intimately into
the fight or flight defensesystem, always aiming to feed
and not get fed on, to finddinner and not be dinner, it is
more functional to tap into yourvibes, gut, brain, your
(10:33):
emotional system and just skipthe thinking.
Already, for us humans, it justadds an extra layer, it adds an
extra step onto our process.
It makes us slowercommunicators and, in many ways,
stupider communicators.
I realize that's not really aword, but we just we're slower
and we are less trusting of ourown multi-layered system, of the
(11:00):
information that it's giving us, because we have this
overactive, overly involved leftbrain hemisphere that is
constantly seeking for meaningand turning it into words and
delivering it to us like it'sthe buck itself, so to speak.
So with our animals, thoughtsdo come through, and repetitive
(11:23):
thoughts in particular tend tobe what generate anxiety.
So if I'm connecting in with ananimal and I'm seeking for
first, is this anxiety?
As a pet parent, if what youhave come to me seeking an
explanation for informationabout truly is anxiety, then
(11:45):
where is it originating?
If I'm picking up on repetitivethought patterns, then it's a
likely possibility that we'relooking at a mental pattern that
is producing the anxiety.
Now we can also see anxietyoriginate at what is alternately
(12:05):
called the relational or thesoul level, and that's really
where we have these soulagreements, if you will, or soul
contracts with other beings'rein a family together, maybe we
(12:26):
are a mated pair, maybe we livenext door to one another, maybe
we work together, and these sametypes of structures exist
across species boundaries.
So, for instance, one of thethings I always look for when
I'm communicating with an animal, then recapping with their
(12:50):
person, is I'm always curious toask about the nature of their
soul agreement.
What type of soul agreement doyou share with your human?
And there are so many differenttypes of soul agreements.
There can be the romanticpairing, the life mates, if you
will.
This is one that shows upconstantly in my own life with
(13:13):
the animal companions I'mclosest to.
There can be the teacher andthe student.
There can be the parent and thechild.
There can be the colleagues,the co-workers, there can be
what I call the frenemies andoccasionally the have-we-mets,
where we're really learning somedeep soul lessons from each
other, where we're reallylearning some deep soul lessons
(13:33):
from each other.
So taking a look at the natureof the relationship itself can
give us great insight into is itanxiety?
If so, what is the function,what is the purpose and is it
shared?
And this really gets us into aninteresting territory where
(13:53):
we're looking at your ownrelationship with anxiety, or
what we're calling anxiety, soyour own human experience of
anxiety and the animal'sexperience of what we're calling
anxiety, and taking a look andseeing if there are any
parallels and we'll talk aboutthat a little bit more as we go
along.
And the final, or the deepest,if you will, or the highest
(14:17):
vibration level of anyexperience that we're observing
and calling anxiety is what Icall the spirit level.
That's when we're looking at asoul joining with a physical, 3d
body and brain system that hascertain inherent genetic
properties or qualities that areadvantageous for that soul's
(14:44):
evolution.
That was probably a mouthful foryou, but when we look at why
did you get the body you got?
Why did you get the body yougot?
Did you choose it?
Was it chosen for you?
Was it a group decision?
Did you make up your mind allon your own, why this body and
(15:06):
not that other body?
It's interesting to look atfamily systems, whether human or
non-human.
Our puppy, for instance.
When he came home, he alreadywas showing a very distinct
personality that was differentfrom his puppy siblings In my
family.
I have a very differentpersonality, genetic makeup,
than my sibling, and you canprobably see examples of this in
(15:28):
your family life, even withyour extended family and with
those you're not related to.
We all get different gifts.
We all get different challenges.
I always find it so fascinatingwhy am I predisposed to back
troubles and my friend hasCrohn's disease and my neighbor
(15:49):
is dealing with rheumatoidarthritis?
We all have different stuff andwe may never get any of what
somebody else is dealing with.
And why is that?
And so this is the spirit levelwhere, perhaps over and above
even any physical or mentalissues or emotional issues,
(16:10):
there may be wiring that'salready present that causes an
animal to be predisposed towardsmore of what we might call an
anxious or a nervous temperament.
And where we can really seethis playing out is in animal
species, where we humans havegotten in the mix and we tink
(16:31):
with their DNA.
So we see this a lot in dogs,in cats, in horses, certainly
other types of livestock,definitely with bird species,
where we've gotten in there andwe have decided that we want to
genetically re-engineer what wasalready perfect to begin with,
(16:55):
because we want to expresscertain traits or inhibit others
, and that can, especiallybecause we're not necessarily
learned genetic scientists whenwe're doing this.
We're really kind ofexperimenting off the cuff and
just learning as we go along can, unfortunately sometimes end up
(17:21):
actually emphasizing traitsthat we would have preferred not
be emphasized, like an anxioustemperament.
So these are all the differentlevels For me as an animal
intuitive, as I'm communicatingwith your pets, I am looking at
these different levels.
I'm gathering as muchinformation as I can from you
about what are you callinganxious?
When you come to me, are youjust having a vague gut
(17:43):
sensation that your pet isanxious and you can't really pin
it to anything specific?
But you just can't get rid ofthe feeling.
We call that a vibe or a hunchor a gut knowing in animal
communication lingo and I talkabout that a lot more in my
animal communication adventurecourses.
If you're interested inlearning, we really take a deep
(18:03):
dive into all of that?
Or is it something that you areactually witnessing, you are
seeing, and if you were a dog ora cat, if you were your pet,
you too would be feeling anxiousif you were doing that thing
that they do.
Is it something that doesn'tnecessarily present as anxiety,
(18:24):
like, let's say, aggression orextreme shyness?
But we know from animalbehavior scientists that those
kinds of personality traits canbe an attempt to mask anxiety,
either by being overlyaggressive or being overly shy
and retiring.
(18:46):
So, really wanting to understand, as the animal intuitive in the
mix, really wanting tounderstand, what are you seeing
that you're labeling as anxious?
And let's find out if it reallyis so.
We're looking at the physical,we're looking at the emotional,
we're looking at the mental,we're looking at the relational
or the soul contract level andwe're looking at that spirit
(19:08):
level.
Why did that animal's soulchoose?
There's always free will,there's always free choice, no
matter who we are.
When we come here, into these3D bodies, to this earth plane,
we are coming here as avolunteer to grow in wisdom and
learn to love better, to make apositive contribution for our
(19:29):
own benefit and for the benefitof all.
Nobody is forced to come here.
This is very important tounderstand.
So why did this animalvolunteer to come into this
particular body, this particularbrain, with this particular
wiring, genetic wiring, brainwiring that is going to
(19:51):
predispose them to have acertain type of personality, a
certain type of temperament, acertain type of health, a
certain type of body, a certainskill set, etc.
Etc.
Etc.
So these are the differentthings that I am looking at as
an animal intuitive, to try tofind out what is at the root
(20:13):
cause.
Now, there's another layer topet anxiety as well that is
really important to look atduring an animal communication
session, and that is where isthe anxiety really stemming from
?
What type of anxiety is it?
Let me unpack this a little bitfurther, because that sounds
(20:34):
just like what we just talkedabout, but it's actually really
different.
Here.
What I'm looking at is is thisa purely animal-originated
anxiety?
For instance, is it a healthproblem within that animal's
physical system?
Is it an exposure that thatanimal has had to, perhaps an
environmental toxin or a toxicrelationship or a bad training
(20:57):
experience, or whatever it maybe?
Is it something that the animalhas experienced pretty much on
their own?
And now you're kind of seeingthe fallout manifest as anxiety,
and another example of thatwould be maybe an animal that
was rehomed and relinquishedbefore you rescued them and
they're still dealing with somefallout from their past history.
(21:21):
Another type of anxiety wecould be looking at is this is
where soul contracts becomeimportant again is is it really
yours?
Is it your anxiety?
And the animal is kind ofstruggling through being around
someone that's anxious.
As we all know, if you walk intoa mall during the holiday
(21:45):
season, you're probably going toleave feeling more anxious than
when you arrived.
Why?
Because there are lots ofanxious people who are concerned
about how their holidays aregoing to go this year, if
somebody or such and so is goingto be happy with their gift,
how they're going to afford tohost all their relatives and
(22:07):
rearrange their schedule.
There are so many deep issuesthat crop up around the holidays
on all kinds of levels yourtime, your schedule, your sanity
, your finances, your digestion,all kinds of different things.
Are you making memories?
Are you making the kind ofmemories you want to make?
(22:28):
And so this is an example ofbeing in a collective
consciousness where it feelslike anxiety is amplified and it
can't always be avoided.
Life happens right.
Things happen to us.
Maybe you are going throughsomething like what I referenced
earlier, with a relationshipthat is just not working anymore
(22:51):
, just not working anymore.
Maybe there's been a loss.
I mean over the last few yearsI've had several deep losses my
father, my dearest friend, mybox turtle, my soul bird.
I mean there have been lots oflosses.
Yes, that has caused spikes inmy anxiety and yes, my pets have
(23:11):
had to weather that.
So sometimes when I talk withan animal who is exhibiting
symptoms that we're callinganxious, I find out it's not
really theirs.
It's just that they're kind ofbeing marinated in an anxious
home space.
They're exposed to you orsomeone else in your family or a
(23:33):
family state, especially if theloss is affecting or there's a
change that's affecting thewhole family.
They're just a part of it.
That's part of being a part ofa family and sometimes we just
all have to kind of get throughit together the best that we can
and hopefully address eachfamily member's needs
individually so we get throughit with minimal disruption and
(23:55):
dysregulation.
But sometimes it's not animalorigin anxiety at all, it's
human origin.
It can even be world eventsorigin.
We've had so many disruptionsto just the flow of safety and
services and polite society, itdoesn't feel so polite most of
(24:17):
the time.
We've had weather events thatare completely unexpected,
political events that arecompletely unexpected, and so
what ends up happening is itamplifies anxiety on this planet
and we all just walk aroundfeeling a little bit more
anxious.
And if you are a highlysensitive personality type and
there are highly sensitivepeople there are highly
(24:37):
sensitive pets.
If you are interested in thattopic, I highly recommend you
head over to my resourcessection and free tools for pet
parents.
Download the Highly SensitivePet Help Guide.
I've also recorded podcastepisodes on HSPs both people and
pets, and so I will link thosein the show notes.
(24:59):
But I highly encourage you tohead over and take advantage of
these resources, because themore your wiring lends towards
sensitivity, which is a genetictrait that's been found in over
100 species so far the more youare likely to feel increased
(25:20):
anxiety as our world goesthrough periods of collective
anxiety as well.
So that's the second type ofanxiety I may discover that it
is really human generated andthe pet is just dealing with the
fallout like every other memberof the family.
I can also find and this iswhere soul contracts really kick
(25:43):
in I can also find that it'skind of what I call a feedback
loop, and typically in animalcommunication conversations,
when I uncover an anxiousfeedback loop or any kind of
feedback loop, what it lookslike to me is I'll see kind of
an infinity symbol, like myfinger is tracing an infinity
symbol.
If you're listening to theaudio version, that's what I'm
(26:06):
doing on the video screen nowover on YouTube and what I see
is we're kind of trading anxietyback and forth and there's a
couple different ways this canhappen.
The first way, which is alittle bit less frequently
detected and diagnosed, is whatI just discovered with one of my
pet parent clients who travelsa lot and he was worried about
(26:29):
leaving his cat behind at thecat hotel and he was coming to
me saying I am worried that mycat is going to be anxious or
uncomfortable when I leave.
When I tuned in with the cat,what I discovered is the cat was
(26:50):
worried about him.
Where was he?
Was he going to be okay?
And what was happening wasbeing together.
Every time my pet parent clientwould start to feel anxious, the
cat would also start to feelanxious and at that 3D conscious
level the cat would think, oh,maybe I should be worried about
(27:12):
my person because they'refeeling anxious.
And then the cat would getworried.
And then again, being in asmall shared space and being
deeply connected at the soullevel, my pet parent client
would start feeling worried andanxious and would think, oh,
maybe it's my cat feelinganxious and I should worry about
(27:32):
this and try to make somearrangements so he won't be so
anxious while I'm gone.
And so it's like, literally,you're trading anxiety back and
forth and it keeps this feedbackloop going because neither
party realizes that they'repicking up on the anxiety of
each other.
And so, instead of being ableto downshift into peace and ease
(27:55):
and calm, just recognizing thisis what families do sometimes.
Sometimes we just worry aboutone another.
This is a way that we expressour love.
Maybe it's not the mostcomfortable way, but it is one
way we have learned to expressour love for one another is
through worry, care, concern andanxiety.
But there are other ways toexpress love and if we can catch
(28:16):
this feedback loop, we candownshift into a calmer, more
comfortable way.
To simply visualize.
In their case, what we talkedabout was simply visualizing
that everyone's having a reallygood time and we trust that we
are supported, we are protected,whether we're traveling or
(28:38):
staying home, and that all iswell.
Home is wherever our hearts areand all is well, and so this
feels a lot better.
But first we have to know what'sgoing on.
So is it purely animalgenerated anxiety that may be
coming from an illness or aninjury or some kind of
biochemical wiring or anexperience that happened before
(29:01):
the two of you's path crossed,before you met?
Is it something that isoriginating with you and it's
simply affecting your animal,just kind of collateral damage,
so to speak?
Or is it something that istruly shared?
And these are teaching moments.
These are moments when werealize we are both being called
(29:23):
to upute anxiety, nerves, worryinto something that feels
better and works better for therelationship.
So we're really teaching eachother through this feedback loop
.
So, of course, these are thekinds of things that I am
(29:45):
looking for as I'm havingconversations with your animals,
and I'm also seeking to furtherdefine what anxiety actually is
, what it really looks likeversus all of these other things
that we've been talking about.
So when you say my pet isanxious, expect that I'm going
(30:10):
to ask you to tell me about whatyou're labeling as anxious, and
I love this part of ourconversation because I find out
so much more about what you'rereally witnessing and it allows
me to ask much more detailedquestions that are much more
(30:31):
accurate.
So I make sure that your petreally understands what is it
you're witnessing or sensing orfeeling, not just asking your
animal why are you anxious, orwhat are you anxious about?
Because that is makingassumptions.
And if you have been followingalong with me here on let's Talk
(30:53):
to Animals or you've been apart of my weekly love letter
community or my studentcommunity for any length of time
, you know that I live andbreathe by Don Miguel Ruiz's
four agreements, and one ofthose agreements is do not make
assumptions.
Is the four agreements, and oneof those agreements is do not
make assumptions.
Instead, ask and ask goodquestions and ask better
(31:19):
questions.
In other words, pay moreattention to what is really
there.
Assumption making is lazybehavior.
It's useful at the fight orflight level, when we don't have
time to gather a lot of databefore we decide what to do
about that shadow lurking behindthe tree trunk right ahead of
us on the path.
We don't have a lot of time tosit and really dig into.
(31:42):
Well, does the shadow look morelike my best friend who's
waiting to meet up with me, or areally hungry, drooling,
saber-toothed tiger.
We really need to make anassumption, as best we can,
based on what we've seen in thepast and what's worked before,
so we can decide whether to comecloser or run away.
But animal communication is notfight or flight.
(32:03):
Animal communication isattention to detail.
It's the parasympatheticnervous system in action.
So we have to really understandthere are nuances of both
systems the fight or flight,sympathetic nervous system and
the parasympathetic nervoussystem at play here, and we need
to be able to parse apart whichsystem to follow and what
(32:30):
information each systemmechanism has to offer us.
And so here what we're lookingat is this animal is in
immediate danger.
This animal is not dealing withlife-altering threats.
This animal is reacting tosomething in certain ways, and
(32:52):
we want to really get deep downinto what is it.
What is it that's causing ortriggering the behavior, and why
are we, the human animal,labeling what we're seeing as
anxiety?
Where is that coming from?
Is it a deep gut knowing?
Is it just an assumption thatwe are casually and maybe even
(33:15):
lazily making?
Because, let's be honest, petparent is not the only hat
perched precariously on top ofour heads.
We have a lot ofresponsibilities.
Being an adult human animaltoday comes with a lot of
responsibilities attached, soit's not uncommon to get a
little bit lazy about.
Well, my animal was known tohave anxiety before, or my
(33:37):
animal was diagnosed withanxiety before, or all the blogs
I read on the internet say thatwhen an animal does this, it
means they're anxious.
Plus, we tend to want to have aworking theory at least in
place when we seek out thesurfaces of someone.
Like an animal communicator, itcan be helpful to have some kind
of at least general umbrellalanguage to use to describe what
(34:00):
we're seeing.
So my job as the communicatoris to get detailed with you, to
dig down under the surface andfind out.
Okay, what are you labeling asanxiety?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can you explain exactly whatyou're seeing, hearing, sensing,
feeling?
I'm asking you to tune intoyour own intuitive wiring, your
(34:22):
intuitive operating system.
This is why so many of my petparent clients go on to study
animal communication with me,because experiencing an animal
communication session with yourpet often serves as a wake-up
call for you to start payingmore attention to your own
(34:43):
intuitive wiring, to what yourown instincts are telling you,
and to start using that as atool to course correct in your
own life, to raise yourvibration, to make better
choices that feel more alignedto who you know yourself to be
in your heart of heart, in yoursoul, of souls, souls to align
(35:08):
in the direction of your truenorth, which is your big life
goals and dreams.
The reasons why you came hereand so it just makes sense, in
fact that's how I got intoteaching is I had a whole group
of pet parent clients that cameto me within the space of a
couple of weeks and asked me ifI taught.
(35:29):
I was like, well, no, but Iguess I could, and you can see
how that story played out.
So if you're interested inlearning animal communication,
that's one of my great joys inlife and I'd love to chat with
you more about that.
So you can drop a comment orsend me an email over at
animallovelanguagescom and wecan chat more about that.
(35:50):
But for our purposes here, thisis really good training ground,
and sometimes I even discoverthat that is an underlying kind
of an undercurrent reason whyyour pet is expressing anxiety
is because there's untappedintuitive potential in you and
it serves you and it serves thembetter.
(36:13):
To point this out, to inviteyou to the intuitive party, to
invite you along on a sharedadventure where your pet isn't
the only one doing the heavylifting of receiving, decoding
and trying their best to shareintuitive messages, where you're
(36:34):
sharing the journey togetherand you're waking up to your
shared intuitive pathways, yourinbuilt, inborn intuitive
communication abilities, and youare improving your lives
together, day by day as you doit.
So pet anxiety it can feel likethe gift that keeps on giving,
(36:58):
but so often it is a tremendousteaching tool for both the pet
and their person.
I have seen this again andagain and again with my pet
parent clients and their animalloves, and this is why I tend to
recommend this these days.
Whatever remedy, especially foranxiety, that is not simply
(37:24):
animal originated, whateverremedy or whatever next steps we
come up with based on what youranimal shares with me, chances
are good that you will benefitfrom it too.
I have certainly found this tobe the case with my own animal
family.
So often we do share commonissues like having a more
(37:45):
nervous or sensitive or anxioustemperament or wiring, and so
many of the things that benefitmy pets end up benefiting me too
.
And here's the really fun part.
So often I'm too busy ordistracted or lazy or whatever
it is, to really seek out thosesolutions for my own benefit.
(38:09):
But if my animal is anxious oris struggling in any way, I'm
not lazy.
I will move heaven and earth tohelp them peace, to help them
find ease, to help them findhealth, to help them find calm.
This is just one more reasonwhy I so often remind my pet
(38:30):
parent clients and my animalcommunication students that our
pets are our partners, empathicfriends and teachers throughout
this life.
And how do I know that?
Because when I ask the animalswhy we call them pets, this is
what they told me we are yourpartners, your empathic friends
(38:52):
and your greatest teachers inthis lifetime.
And we are your greatestteachers because you love us
unconditionally and you allow usto love you unconditionally.
We learn the biggest lessonsthrough the frequency of
unconditional love.
Our pets are always going to bethe powerhouse teachers in our
(39:15):
lives for exactly this reason.
So if you are listening to thisepisode and you are a pet parent
and you are worried that youranimal is anxious, or you are
absolutely certain that youranimal is anxious, but you have
not yet landed on an effectivestrategy to try to manage,
(39:39):
hopefully eventually mitigateand ease or even fully hopefully
resolve their anxiety.
This may be your hint from yourlight team, from the universe,
to give animal communication aseat at the table.
Let's see what animalcommunication can do to support
(39:59):
your pet to live their calmest,clearest, healthiest, happiest
life with you.
So I hope you've enjoyedtoday's episode.
I would love to hear your bigaha moments, any questions you
have, your stories, anythingthat you've found that works to
(40:21):
help your pets that have anxiety, and any questions you have
about how animal communicationcan play a part in easing your
pet's anxiety.
I am releasing these episodesevery two weeks, and so be sure
to join my weekly love lettercommunity.
(40:43):
You will receive firstnotification for brand new
episodes, and if you've enjoyedthis podcast, please do give it
a like, give it a subscribe,share it with a friend, give us
a review over on iTunes.
It really helps our littlepodcast find its space and place
(41:06):
in the greater podcastosphereand certainly encourages me to
keep sharing new episodes withyou.
So thank you for caring aboutanimal communication and
accompanying me on this ongoinglearning journey.
I send you and your innerspecies family.
All my love and bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.