You Can’t Learn From Your Emotions, If You Don’t Allow Yourself To Feel Them

We all have emotions that can be uncomfortable for us to experience. I for one don’t like to hear the word “no” when I want more treats, it makes me both sad and mad, but luckily, since I have a dog brain, I move on rather quickly. I have observed that’s not so easy for you humans, so that is where Doc and I come in with some advice.

The most important thing to learn is that when you start blocking out the uncomfortable emotions, they don’t really go away, your body and brain keep count. You can try to self medicate with alcohol/drugs, food, binging on social media, or outright ignore what you are feeling, but it is still there, waiting to be triggered again and rise to the surface.

Doc and I both think you can learn a lot from your feelings. So if there are feelings you are struggling with ask yourself why? What am I trying to avoid, why is this uncomfortable, and most important , what can I learn from this?

I am lucky, Doc has always let me feel safe enough to express how I feel as along as I am not disrespectful. For instance, I sometimes get scared when I go to the veterinarians office and I have to get a shot. When I am scared, I lower my head, put my tail between my legs, try to hide behind Doc and sometimes shake. She would never make me feel ashamed by saying something like “stop acting like such a baby!” No, she and the vet techs are kind and speak softly until the procedure is over. So you see, how we have been treated when we show our feelings, sets the pattern for what we feel comfortable expressing and what remains hidden.

There are many healthy ways to cope with feelings, including talking to a trusted person, meditation, exercise and journaling your thoughts, just to name a few. Or you can do what Doc does lately when she has had a bad day, she goes outside and shovels snow until all of her stress is gone and then comes in and cuddles with me.

However you choose to cope, remember one thing, you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge.