Your anxiety affects your pets—some helpful info
- Di Kendall
- Jul 4, 2018
- 4 min read
If you follow my animal communication posts you would have read that your anxiety affects your pets. Sometimes, when stress becomes out of hand in a household, pets have been found to run away to escape the tension.
I asked a very special friend of mine, to write a few tips to help guardians manage their anxiety.
This is what she has to say
A lot of people are natural empaths, and even if you are not an empath, you've no doubt had a moment or a few moments in your life when you've been able to pick up on someone else's energy.
Believe it or not, it is no different when it comes pets. They experience happiness, sadness and contentment, just like humans do. The only obvious difference is they don't express it the same way as we do.
Our pets have amazing abilities to be able to pick up when their humans are feeling sad or emotional. Unfortunately, this can start to rub off on them, especially if you are going through a particularly rough patch in your life.
So how can you ensure that your stress and anxiety doesn't affect your pets?
The answer is pretty simple: You need to start projecting a more calmer vibe within your surroundings and that of your pets. They'll pick up on that, helping both of you to feel more calmer.
Once, when I was going through a particularly rough time, my little fox terrier was very on edge and it was only because he is very attached to me and was picking up on my energy.
An animal communicator suggested to me that I take an old stocking and fill it with fresh lavender flowers and hang it above his bed - that way, the smell was be there but not so 'in his face' as would be with rubbing lavender oil on his blanket, so that he wouldn't want to lie in his bed.
So that is what I did for him. I hung the stocking above his bed, and concentrated on decreasing my stress - and viola - I started to notice that he wasn't as highly strung as he had been.
But today, let's focus on you. What can you do to minimise your stress, so that both you and your pet can benefit.
Below are some of my favourite hacks for reducing anxiety:
- Watch cartoons: This is not a very used hack as I have discovered, and I can't understand why because it works so well! Think of a child, think of yourself as a child. I know I used to sit with my cereal bowl watching all my favourite cartoons. Why does this work so well? Cartoons are innocent, they childish, they nourish our inner child, they're silly, they're fun. The whol cartoon world is very different from reality - that is why they work so well - they are a break from the real world!
- The 5 sense breath: This is a breath that I devised myself, taking inspiration from others out there. It's objective is to completely focus and be mindful on your breath using your 5 senses. Do 5 deep breaths and with each breath that you take, Feel the breath, see the breath, smell the breath, hear the breath and taste the breath. It is an incredible exercise to do.
- Make a picture book: I have two of these and I started my first one when I decided that I wanted to reduce the negativity in my life. All you need is a notebook ( I used an A4 size) scissors, glue and various pictures that you have cut out of magazines, or printed out, even photographs, but the pictures should be things that inspire you and make you feel happy. I put pictures of gardens, beautiful houses, animals, nature and inspiring words in my books
- Do child activities: Much like watching cartoons, I really push this tip as much as I can because it works. We all have an inner child within us that needs attention and by doing these activities which are meant for children, it works amazingly well for anxiety as well. I highly recommend swinging on on of the swings at the playground, colouring in and watching a movie intended for children. Sometimes I even go through a box with all my old things in it and it reminds me of when I was a child. You could fly a kite, run through a sprinkler or roll on the grass even. It sounds silly but it's a valuable tool in helping to decrease anxiety. The ever popular adult colouring in was adopted by many people and has proved very useful in helping many people manage their anxiety better.
- Divert your thinking: As cliqued as it sounds, you cannot go wrong with the good old fashioned 'think positive' so focus on 3-5 things each day that you are grateful for and voice them out loud. You could even keep a journal and write them down. I do this at night. Focusing on my blessings has changed my whole outlook on my life and has brought me much peace and abundance.
Mel Bonthuys is a mental health advocate, author and blogger. She uses her past experiences with her own diagnosis of anxiety and panic disorder to help people recover from it and be truly happy again!
You can follow her on
or view her website My Anxiety Companion
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