How to Learn Lessons From Our Pets’ Mindfulness ⋆ Earth and Water

We have a great deal to learn from our pets’. Mindfulness is one such lesson. In a world so busy, we all need a daily reminder to slow down and savor the moments in front of us.

What a wonderful tool the internet is. In it’s best, it opens up opportunities that our ancestors didn’t have. Bringing us together with wonderful people and things around the world that we wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of.

It’s brought us all Ginny Branden, an animal communicator and energy healer for animals and their people. How astounding is it that Ginny has stepped into her gifts and passions to bring us healing and knowledge from the eyes of our companions? Who can not speak with us in our spoken language, but our fluent in the universal language of energy and emotion.

Ginny’s here today to speak with us on the topic of our pets’ mindfulness and the unique perspective they can give us. She highlights how we can learn from them to make ourselves less stressed and more present.

The more we can get out of the other aspects of time and focus just on the here and now, the more at peace we can be. Mindfulness can help us ease our stress and anxiety and focus on what’s important in life. Animals have mastered so many things that we as humans often struggle with.

Here are some tips on mindfulness that our animals would wish for us to know, brought to us through Ginny:

Are you here or there? Noticing Our Pets’ Mindfulness

To our pets, there is no other way to be other than being fully present in the now. The past and future are not places that they can dwell in. They don’t tell stories about how the other cat jumped on them yesterday when they were trying to nap. They don’t worry about the vet appointment next week. They are simply here and now.

They may remember experiences, and react to similar experiences, but unless that similarity presents itself here and now, it’s not on their mind. The horse will react to the tree where a branch fell and scared them yesterday, but as soon as it’s past that point, it’s not an issue anymore.

As humans, the majority of our life is spent somewhere else other than the present moment. We are always worrying about what happened in the past, and fussing about the future, never in the here and now. When we are not living in the present moment, we become disconnected from what is happening around us, from the energy and emotions of things that are right now. This means we have trouble accessing our own emotions and end up reacting constantly instead of being able to respond to situations as they happen.

Here are some quick tips to tap into the lesson of our pets’ mindfulness!

Every time you are around your pet take a moment and pause to really check in. Explore how you feel in the moment, and see if you can notice how your pet is really feeling.
Breathe! Take a couple of deep breaths every time you are with your pet. If your pet happens to sigh or yawn, follow suit! Notice how pausing to breathe consciously helps to reset your mind back to the here and now.
Cuddle, pet, or brush your animal. Pay close attention to the texture of their fur, hair, or skin. Notice how warm (or cool) they are. Notice how connected (or not connected) they are to you in the moment, without judgment. Just be with them and see how many little things you can notice about your pet, and how you are together.
Meditate with your pet. Almost all pets love nap time, and it’s a great time to sit down and spend a few minutes meditating with them. If you’re up for a challenge, meditate while they’re not so relaxed and see what happens! Animals love the feeling of meditation, and will often calm down significantly if you sit down and spend some time just focusing on your breathing. Every time your mind wanders, just bring it back to your breath.
Get exercise together. Play with your pet, go for a walk, run or explore together. Even doing yoga while your cat or dog hangs out with you can be an adventure! Really feel your body functioning for you as you move around. Feel what it’s like to be inside your skin, and have fun with your pet at the same time.

Over time, practicing these things will help you stay in the moment more often, and in other areas of your life. Even when life gets challenging, or something that isn’t enjoyable happens, it will be smoother and easier to navigate by staying in the moment. The way to achieve that is by practicing when things aren’t challenging, and what better way to do that than with your pet having fun?

I hope you feel as calm and inspired as I do after reading Ginny’s words! If you’re a pet lover and you resonated with this, scroll on down to Ginny’s bio and click on her website link. Sign up to her newsletter and explore the spiritual connection you have with the animals in your life.

If you have any more mindfulness tips you’ve learned from your animals, drop them in the comments so we can learn from them too!

About the Author:

Ginny Branden is an animal communicator and energy healer for animals and their people, too. As a young child, Ginny was drawn to animals and nature, and had an innate understanding that everything is connected.

Finally being able to have animals of her own in adulthood, Ginny has spent the past decade expanding her knowledge of connection and behavior through the ups and downs with her own pets. She is thrilled to be able to share this knowledge with her clients and their pets, bringing deeper connection and more love and joy to their relationships.

She lives in Maryland with her boyfriend, Lilith the chinchilla, cats Mercury and Specter, and horse Storm Watch. To learn more about Ginny and SoulPet Connections, visit us on the web at www.soulpetconnections.com