What I Learned About Stress Relief from my Puppy, Chulo!
My sweet Chulo has been having some behavioral issues, including uncontrollable barking and aggression toward certain dogs. So we hired Denise, an awesome dog trainer who schooled us on ways to keep him calm, and what I learned was incredibly enlightening, as I believe it applies to us too!
She outlined the physical signs of stress in dogs from the slight to the more obvious signs like barking and growling, and we realized that poor Chulo was getting stressed by things way before we were recognizing it. When dogs lick their lips, turn their heads while wiggling their noses or simply do a stretch, it’s a sign they are beginning to feel anxious; and when their adrenaline gets turned on, it hits its height of effect 10 minutes later, unless they are calmed down. If you have ever heard of a dog biting someone for what appears to be no reason, there was probably a trigger 10 or so minutes earlier – interesting right?
So, as we noticed these more subtle signs, she taught us to distract Chulo with commands and treats to desensitize him to the stressful stimuli. And, it worked! We got him to practically ignore dogs and squirrels, which were previously his most provoking stimuli. What we accomplished in two hours was amazing! For more information on Denise and her services as a trainer, send an email to denise@denisenyctraining.com.
I started thinking about how this applies to us. There are so many little stressors in our lives, and I am sure we have all felt overwhelmed. How can we notice the smaller signs of being stressed in our own bodies, so we can calm ourselves down before we reach the overwhelm stage and possibly bark at someone who is in our way, or verbally bite someone’s head off? Lord knows I have been guilty of over-reacting at times.
Doing a physical body scan to see if you have any tightness or constriction in your body, is a good way to catch stress at an early stage before it builds up. I really like to use the time on public transportation to check in, feel constrictions, and then free then up with some quick, easy and inconspicuous energy exercises.
Just sitting in the easiest stress relief posture and breathing deeply works really well for public places, doing the good endorphin release exercise is super effective if you are alone, and I highly recommend doing the head hold before bed every night, as it will calm the body so you can get a better, more sound and relaxed sleep. The links to all of the videos of these exercises are below:
http://vimeo.com/67547000
http://vimeo.com/58835097
It really is so much easier to avoid headaches, insomnia, overwhelm, anxiety and muscular aches and pains associated with stress if we can alleviate the smaller manifestations of it in our body before it builds to these levels. And, just like with Chulo, it’s pretty easy and has an amazing benefit for just a little bit of awareness and application of these simple exercises.
It will also keep us on track with staying more positive about what we are trying to manifest! Stress comes up whenever we are in a state of change, so putting these exercises into practice while in the growth phase makes it sooooo much easier: crossed posture on the way to work, endorphin release mid day sometime, and head hold at night will help us to stay calm, carry on and avoid the more intense manifestations of stress which take us out of living our lives to the fullest.
If you would like support and more tools on releasing stress or the emotional resistance to making change in your life, and using the Law of Attraction in the most efficient way to get what you want, then save the date for my upcoming introduction to the The Secret to Manifesting What You Most Want In Your Life. It will be on May 5th, 12th or 19th from 7-9pm at She Creates Change: 35 West 31st Street, between Broadway and 5th Avenue. In this class, you will learn how to test yourself to see which specific things are stressing you out and how to clear negative beliefs you may not even know you have from your subconscious, so you can free yourself from your past and attract what you want now. We will be sending more info in the upcoming blogs, but if you want more info now, email us at info@thelaratouch.com and we will send you the juicy bits sooner than later!
