When we think of baby (puppy) steps, we think about taking little steps. The hope is that baby steps will help us develop a capacity to bear experiences of joy, fear, anger, love, and have a higher resolution of consciousness. Learning techniques of mindfulness a little at a time gives us more opportunity to practice and reinforce behaviors to incorporate...[ read more ]
Many of us wish we could sleep like a baby or, in this case, sleep like a puppy in these stressful times. “Sleep is emerging as the latest casualty of the COVID-19 crisis. Too many sleepless nights can aggravate both physical and mental health problems, but a few simple adjustments to our already altered routines may resolve our bedtime issues...[ read more ]
Back in 2016, I wrote that “Anxiety is like hanging from a skyscraper. Depression feels like you already falling and hit bottom. Anxiety can drive a depressive episode. Give someone enough worries, and depression will slip into a person’s psyche.” As the coronavirus is spreading so is anxiety and its sidekick, depression, but the importance of managing anxiety to ward...[ read more ]
Mindfulness asks us to ground ourselves by tuning into our five senses. The four senses of seeing, hearing, touching, and tasting are first processed in the frontal lobe of the brain. They are responsible for higher-level mental processes. Smells, however, are much more likely to quickly trigger emotional responses than any other of the senses because smell is first processed...[ read more ]
As we all try to follow the important health guidelines from leaders for social distancing, what is the long-term impact of engaging in this behavior on our mental health? That is a question that is hard to answer. What we do know is the incredible stress associated with being isolated and what prolonged stress can do to our psychological well-being....[ read more ]
What do puppies and human brains have in common? Well, they both like to chew on things. Our human brain likes to grab, chew and sometimes not let go of thoughts much like a puppy does as it grabs, chews and not let go of a stuffed animal toy. Years ago I recall, when we first got our puppy all...[ read more ]
Dogs teach us how to accept our mistakes without being so hard on ourselves with self-criticism. Nothing is really a mistake because it is where it has taken you to this point in time. It has made you who you are today. So many times we harbor and dwell over past mistakes. The voices in our head tell us what...[ read more ]
Honey, my beloved Golden Labrador was one of those table fed dogs. I remember everyone kept telling me to not start giving the dog table food and especially not from the table. Well, that didn’t happen. I started giving Honey a few snacks from the table, which inevitably lead to more food and eventually making up almost an entire second...[ read more ]
With the new year here it’s a good idea to start it out on the right paw! So let’s see how we can on a daily basis learn how to be cued into mindfulness by observing our furry friend. We will start with a Pleasant Events Calendar or Log, which is used in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Techniques (MBCT). We will apply...[ read more ]
Research suggests that mindfulness — the ability to live each moment as it unfolds and accept it without judgment — can help reduce stress and anxiety and enhance our overall health. One of the most significant psychological benefits of interacting with a dog is the opportunity to be guided into mindfulness by purposely focusing your attention on the present moment....[ read more ]
