Pet Quote and Mental Health Reflection.

Here is a pet quote to help you refelct on your mental health and your relationship with your pet.

“Pets reflect you like mirrors. When you are happy, you can see your dog smiling and when you are sad, your cat cries.” — Munia Khan

Pets are often considered as an extension of our family, providing us with love, comfort, and companionship. They can bring joy and happiness into our lives, but they can also reflect our moods and emotions which can be a valuable tool for improving our mental health and well-being. By paying attention to how your pets react you can become more aware. The reflection they give you provides an opportunity to become more self-aware and in control of your emotions, feelings, and behavior. Here are some ways to use the relationship with your pet to become more self-aware and increase your health and well-being.

• Notice your pet’s behavior: The first step in using your pet to become more self-aware of your emotions is to pay attention to your pet’s behavior. Does your pet become excited when you are happy, or do they become anxious when you are stressed? Observe how your pet reacts to your mood and use this as a starting point for understanding your own emotions.
• Reflect on your own emotions: Once you have noticed your pet’s behavior, take a moment to reflect on your own emotions. Are you feeling happy, anxious, or stressed? Try to identify what is causing these emotions and take note of how they are affecting your behavior.
• Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present in the moment and aware of your thoughts and feelings. By practicing mindfulness, you can become more aware of your emotions and how they are affecting you and your pet. Spend time with your pet, and focus on the present moment, paying attention to your pet’s behavior and your own emotions.
• Use your pet as a grounding tool: When you are feeling overwhelmed by your emotions, use your pet as a grounding tool. Take a moment and pay attention to your senses.  How does your pet look, how do they feel, are they making any noise? Grounding helps you refocus on what is in front of you through your senses to relieve difficult emotions. By practicing grounding techniques with your pet, you can feel more centered and increase your confidence, and self- control.
• In all the instances above it is important to ask yourself “how am I feeling?” “how do I want to feel?” “and “what do I need to do for myself, in this moment, to get to how I want to feel?” Then of course do just that.

Pets can be a powerful tool for improving your emotional well-being. By paying attention to how your pet reflects your mood, you can become more aware of your emotions, feelings, and behavior giving you the power to change them.

It is also important to remember that while pets can be a valuable tool for providing a mirror to change in the moment and increasing your ability to improve emotional well-being, they should not be relied on for extended bouts of depression or consistent episodes of anxiety. It is important to seek help from a mental health professional if you are struggling with and are not able to gather support from you pet to move through the difficult negative emotions. If you cannot find the answer to the questions listed above, seek professional support.

To your health and wellness

Dr Julie and Sadie Quinn

Celebrate National Therapy Animal Day

National Therapy Animal Day is an opportunity to celebrate the hard work and dedication of therapy animals and their handlers. It’s a chance to recognize the countless hours of training that go into preparing these animals for their important roles. It’s also a time to acknowledge the many benefits that therapy animals provide to people in need.

Research has shown that therapy animals can have a positive impact on a wide range of people, from children with autism to veterans with PTSD. In hospitals, therapy dogs have been shown to help reduce pain and anxiety in patients. In nursing homes, therapy animals have been known to improve mood and increase social interaction. In schools, therapy dogs have been used to help children improve their reading skills by providing a non-judgmental and supportive presence.

Therapy animals also play an important role in mental health therapy. Animal-assisted therapy has been shown to help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The presence of an animal can provide a sense of comfort and safety, which can help people feel more at ease during therapy sessions.

In addition to their many benefits, therapy animals also provide a sense of companionship and unconditional love. They can be a source of joy and comfort to people who may be going through a difficult time in their lives. For many people, therapy animals become an important part of their support system.

National Therapy Animal Day is an important reminder of the incredible work that therapy animals and their human partners do every day. It’s a time to celebrate the powerful connection between animals and humans, and to recognize the important role that therapy animals play in improving the lives of people in need. So, take a moment today to appreciate the many ways that therapy animals make a difference in the world

Three Best tips for positive change

What are the 3 best tips for positive change? Let’s face it while you might have the best intention of making positive changes by getting up before the sun rises to head out for a run, doing yoga, or meditating, if you don’t do it there is no amount of thinking that will equal to the change made if that action is done.

We all know that thoughts do not always lead to action. However, there is good news, that positive change does not have to be hard. Doing small tasks can retrain your little brain, the amygdala, where your unconscious thoughts live, to be more responsive, making positive change easier. By doing three small actions you can change defeating thoughts, increase happiness, productivity, mindfulness, and overall optimism, which of course will in turn get you closer to all the awesome goals you set.  

Here are the three best tips that take little effort for positive change:

1. Build a Routine

Develop a practice of acknowledging gratitude every day.  This can be done in the morning before you place your feet on the ground, helping to set the intention for you day. Or, it can be done in the evening before you close your eyes to sleep.  You can employ this task as a mind activity or by writing in a gratitude journal. This daily practice helps to have a longer, more restful sleep and higher levels of positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

If you have children don’t forget this practice can be done as regular bedtime routine, along with the great fun things you will hear them be grateful for it will help them develop a skill that can protect them from any hardships they may experience throughout their life.

2. Use your Words

When you are expressing yourself make sure to speak with positive words. Say “please” and “thank-you” to others and mind how you talk to yourself.  Make sure you are using supporting and encouraging word when you speak. This practice will reverse the negative impressions that have been imprinted in your unconscious throughout your life. This will boost your self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth and increase your motivation to keep going.

3. Don’t Gossip and Limit Your Intake of Negative News

Part of being happy is spreading happiness.  Practice the art of ignoring and dis-engaging in the awful chatter that encircles talking negatively about another person.  If you feel the need to say something to someone that may be hurtful, think of a way to tell them personally in a positive way.  Natural laws of what you give comes back to you will and does apply.  So, if you have nothing good to say about someone it is best to say nothing at all.

In this same regard don’t saturate your thoughts with negative news.  Most news keeps you engaged by providing shocking, awful depressing stories stirring and storing your negative emotions.  Your mind is a muscle with memory if you fill it with sadness, anger, anxiety, or depression, awful is what will replay in your thoughts and actions.  If you fill it with happiness, joyful inspiration, and supportive motivation, happiness, joyful inspiration, and supportive motivation is what will be replayed as well.

These small tasks will retrain your brain, and develop a habit of life satisfaction, and overall well-being. This will also increase your ability to see the positive in situations which not only lowers your blood pressure, improves your immune function, promotes happiness, and spur acts of helpfulness, generosity, and cooperation it also reduces lifetime risk for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders (Emmons & Stern, 2013).

References:

Emmons, Robert A. and Stern, Robin. (2013). Gratitude as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 846– 855.

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: Experimental studies of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377–389.

What Are the Best Relaxation Techniques

Because the body and your thoughts create a compound reaction when you are having a panic attack it is important to make sure that you are addressing both. It is also important to note that there is a chain reaction that is triggered. Understanding this is helpful in the use of relaxation techniques by identifying what part of that chain you are focusing on. A panic attack starts with an unconscious trigger that then activates your body response which send a message to the cognitive part of the brain to respond with thought. Your body responds with an elevation of all automatic functioning. Your heart rate increases sending the signal to your body to run, stay, or fight. After that occurs your mind will respond usually accelerating the panic with thoughts of fear and confusion. This creates the looped chain reaction of a panic attack. Once your body is activated by the triggering event your thoughts confirm the panic your body is having. The following relaxation techniques address all parts of that loop.

Just Breathe

Breathing techniques are the most common relaxation techniques to use when having a panic attack. But it is important to remember that as you are doing breathing techniques you are also activating a thought response simultaneously. Because you are telling yourself you must breathe fear is compounded. Breathing is usually an automatic function. If we must tell ourselves to breathe the unconscious reaction is there is something wrong. That is why the practice of deep breathing is done when you are not having a panic attack. Becoming aware of you breathe and practicing long inhales, and slow exhales when you are not in panic will create a pattern in your brain and your unconscious thought will not think of this as an emergency situation when you are doing it in the middle of the panic attack. This type of deep breathing can be incorporated into habitualized action through the practice of meditation. When we are practicing meditation techniques, we are using the same type of breathing that relaxes us when we are in panic.

Best Apps for breathing and mediation relaxation techniques:

Calm:

Calm has been ranked as the number one app for instilling relaxation by helping to create a daily practice. This app will allow you to decide how much time you can dedicate to meditation practice each day. It will also help you track your mood throughout the day, giving you the added benefit of identifying stressful situations that you may not be aware of. Along with these features Calm provides natural sounds and sleep stories to help you fall asleep.

Breathwrk:

Breathwrk is an app that will teach you how to breathe through guided exercises that are backed by research. The app will show you how to do exercises. It also has the capability to send reminders to breathe throughout the day. The techniques they teach have been tested and are used by Olympic Athletes, Psychologists, Yoga Experts, Navy SEALs, and Zen Masters. Breathwrk is like having your own personal breathing coach.

Pay Attention to Your Thoughts

Usually when you are having a panic attack your thoughts are working against you. Your thoughts spiral out of control because they are reacting to your body response. If you do not focus and repeatedly redirect your thoughts you will confirm the panic you are experiencing in your body response. Saying calm and relaxing words or repeating a mantra over and over changes the automatic body response by letting it know that everything is ok, and panic is not necessary. Setting yourself up with go to phrases when you are not experiencing panic, again will allow for easy recall and not appear as a crisis response. Having quotes sent to your phone, memorizing a favorite phrase and journaling everyday help to solidify relaxing thoughts in the cognitive part of your brain. It may sound silly to think that you need to consistently be aware and practice your self-talk but when panic occurs if you have not trained your big brain to able to fight the panic you will lose. So, part of getting off the merry go round of a panic attack is practicing mental self-talk that evokes relaxation, peace, and calm.

Best apps for changing your thoughts.

Shine

Shine is a free app developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life. This app provides different guided meditations that focus on positivity and elimination of negative thoughts by focusing on the present moment. It is based on evidenced based practices. The best part is that change can happen by using it only 10 minutes a day.

Happify

Happify provides basic features that can be upgraded to use additional options. This app uses techniques that train your brain to overcome negative thought patterns. Through positive affirmations the app teaches you to adopt positive techniques that will help you relax. The app provides games and activities that can be done in a short snippet of time. They also provide you with a happiness score that you can track to see your progress as you incorporate the tools provided daily.