Whether you have a pet or not, animals can help improve your wellbeing.
Louise Tierney, Corporate Personal Wellbeing’s mental health training manager shows us how animals can improve the quality of our mental state.
In our articles, we always like to give you different activities to try that will benefit your mental health in all aspects of life with a strong focus on workplace wellbeing. This activity may be something that you practice more in your time at home, but the benefits will reach much further.
As with anything that is going to make a difference, you must practise, practise, practise. In time, it will become easy to switch into as part of your self-care routine. Remember as well that mindfulness is a practice, and sometimes it may work well and other times not so well. Don’t be hard on yourself if this is the case and simply try again another time. Patience is another attitude of mindfulness and you need to let things unfold in time without rushing them.
To practise mindfulness, we know that we need to learn to be more present, not dwelling in the past or guessing what is going to happen in the future, but simply embracing this moment – right now, non-judgementally.
We also know that we switch into autopilot very easily for much of our lives. It is extremely useful for all those things that we don’t need to give lots of attention to, such as the practical side of driving a vehicle. We drive our cars giving no thought to moving through the gears or indicating and this is incredibly useful. This is what autopilot does, it extends our capacity by creating habitual behaviours that use fewer brain resources than conscious ones do.
However, if we are constantly in this “auto-pilot” mode we may start to miss things, even the smallest things like a beautiful flower we pass by or the smile of our son or daughter, because we were busy running through our long list of problems or to-do lists.
So how could animals help us become more mindful and escape from our autopilot?
Here are some ideas for you to try:
Make time to observe
Make time to just look at your pet. Watch how they move around the room, how gently or energetically they walk. See what draws their attention, how they pause and wait for another sound or glimpse of whatever they were disturbed by. Simply watch and ignore those thoughts of what you ‘should be doing’ and stay with this moment. How many times do they circle the chair before they settle and how content they are with a deep sigh of pleasure in their comfy space?
Have a beginner’s mind
Use this attitude of mindfulness to imagine this was the first time you had seen your pet. Consider how a child would feel meeting them for the first time. Capture the feelings of excitement and love at having something new to live with and look after. Feel their fur run across the palm of your hand, and perhaps close your eyes to experience how calming and soothing it is. Is some fur rougher than other areas, does the colour change across their body? Are there things you have never noticed before? Notice your stress drift away with each mindful moment.
Have gratitude
As you watch animals resting and notice their slow steady breath and the rise and fall of their body, be grateful for the companionship they bring to your life. Consider how they bring their unconditional love to you like no other being often can… no matter how grumpy you are 😊 Be grateful that you are together at this moment, in each other’s company, letting go of the day and the rush of life and just noticing what is right in front of you. Thank your little companion from your heart for loving you just the way you are and for the joy they bring to you.
If you don’t have a pet at home, you could try some of these things whilst enjoying your walk in nature, maybe watching squirrels or wildlife in the woods or park. Another idea may be whilst watching a nature programme where you see animals in high definition, up close in all their splendour, getting an opportunity to study and really notice them.
Spread the love
If your HR policies allow, ask if you can bring your pet to the workplace to help others. Ask a college or friend if they would like to meet your pet.
For more ideas about connecting with nature read this.