Did you know that you can significantly impact your pet’s health and well-being with a daily meditation practice?
If you ask your pets what the best gift you can give them is, they will more than likely tell you that they want your undivided attention and love in a calm, peaceful way.
Pets know that if you create a healing space with them using meditation, it will have many positive benefits like stress reduction, relaxation, feeling safe and loved, happiness, and strengthening your heart connection and bond.
Therefore, cultivating a daily meditation practice with your animal family is a precious gift that allows them to flourish in all aspects of their lives—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually- which ultimately keeps them healthier and happier.
The ancient art of meditation can be layered with different expectations and be practiced in various ways. However, animals perceive mediation in straightforward terms. For them, it’s all about being in the present moment. Animals live in the moment and are drawn to peaceful, calm, and open-hearted energy. Through animal-led meditation, we can learn to live in the moment, which is where they live.
This is why animals, especially our pets, are incredible examples of being present and grounded. It’s time for us to shift from human doings to human beings with our pets’ help and guidance.
Here are 7 reasons why you should start a daily meditation practice with your pets today:
Meditating with Your Pet Builds Trust and Safety
If your pet doesn’t feel safe, then it’s hard for them to trust you. And if your pet doesn’t feel safe or trust you, then they can’t experience your unconditional love. Many times, we don’t recognize when our pets feel unsafe. Therefore, it’s essential to create a safe environment so your pets can feel comfortable expressing themselves in whatever way they feel.
Daily meditation practice is a beautiful way to give your animal companions a sense of stability so they no longer need to come from a place of fear, worry, and insecurity. This is especially true for rescued and abused animals who need their human guardians to create a safe space for them.
Pets Mirror Our Energetic States
Whether you realize it or not, your energy and thoughts influence your and your pet’s health and well-being. Our thoughts are energy that ripples out from our physical bodies into the environment where our pets live. As your feelings of anger, anxiety, and fear reverberate, it can create stress, anxiety, and fear in your pet. The more you meditate with your pets, the more you will be in a calmer and more open-hearted state of being. The more calm, peaceful, and present you are, the less your energy will negatively impact your pets and you!
Animals make great teachers because they mirror our energetic states of being and respond to it, whether it’s loving or unkind. That’s why it’s important we work on being calm, open-hearted, and balanced because it helps everyone feel more relaxed and joyful, which is healing and nurturing.
Meditating With Your Pet Promotes Healing and Overall Wellness
When you meditate together, you can have a profound influence on the health and well-being of your pet. Meditation creates a healing space that can relieve stress, anxiety, fear, and anger. This can be especially helpful for all pets but is an essential healing tool we all possess to help older, ill, dying, and rescued pets.
When my dog Bodhi Bear was riddled with terminal stomach cancer in his last days, I was anxious, scared, and worried. I noticed that my anxiety and fear were adding to Bodhi Bear’s pain and discomfort. When I shifted my focus and awareness to my heart center through meditation, I found that not only did I settle down, but it allowed Bodhi to relax.
Bolsters The Love Hormone Oxytocin
No one can open our hearts better than our animal companions. When we are heart-connected with our pets and feel their unconditional love, oxytocin flows freely. Oxytocin is a hormone and a neurotransmitter associated with empathy, trust, and relationship-building, which is crucial for developing a strong, loving bond with your pet.
Daily meditation practice with your pet bolsters loving kindness, compassion, joy, and awe because it increases oxytocin. What could be better?
Develops Mutual Understanding and Deep Listening
Meditation deepens your listening skills and the telepathic connection between you and your pet. Clear communication is the basis of all healthy and balanced relationships. In the silence of meditation, you will learn to listen from your heart center, which builds a spiritual bridge of mutual understanding where your pets can share their thoughts, viewpoints, and heart with you.
A fun and easy way to hear your pet at a heart level is to feel all the unconditional love you have for them. Then visualize radiating your love outward from your heart center like the rays of the sun. Then remain open and receptive to whatever your pet wants to communicate with you in the moment. It’s okay if you don’t receive any messages since the goal is to share your hearts together as one. However, this will open the door for your pet to share their heart with you.
Pets Flourish with a Daily Meditation Practice
A daily routine of spending at least 5 minutes a day (of course, the longer the better) being quietly present while sharing your heart with your pet can go a long way to helping them feel safe, secure, and loved. Pets do exceptionally well when we establish a daily meditation routine. It helps them in all aspects of their life.
Once I recognized that being quietly present with my cats or walking in Nature with my dog was meditating with them, it transformed how I viewed meditation and my relationship with my pets. Every day, I meditate with my cats first thing in the morning. It’s a perfect time for Mona to sit in my lap or Elvis to drape himself across my chest for at least 10 minutes (if it was up to Mona and Elvis, I’d never move!). Our goal is to be quietly present, so we can share our hearts together. Another way I meditate is when I take my puppy, Yogi Bear, on our walking meditation in Nature, where I practice being quietly present, feeling my heart connection with him, and being mindful of our natural surroundings.
Tells Your Pet You Love and Value Them
When you meditate with your pet, it supports and improves your relationship. Our pets give us unconditional love daily and deserve nothing less than our loving presence in return. It also tells your pet that you cherish them.
The more you take the time to meditate with your pet, the more connected you will feel. Doing so will foster spiritual growth, health, wellness, and transformation, benefiting you and your animal family!
