Change your thoughts, change your animal’s behaviour

How does our conditioning and beliefs impact our animals? 

Today I want to address a very interesting and important topic. The power of our mind and our thoughts, in relation to our animal friends specifically, and how by changing our beliefs and what we project onto them, we can positively impact them.

My wish is to inspire you cast a new light on how you perceive your animal/s, and I love sharing advice, tools, as well as practical examples to enhance your relationship with your animals and yourself.

So, how can we positively impact our animals’ behaviour by changing our conditioning and beliefs? How can the two be related anyway, in any way?

The Power of Thoughts & Feelings

Well, actually, your thoughts are extremely powerful. Or to be more accurate, your thoughts when combined with feelings are tremendously powerful; they have the power to impact your reality and influence your environment. The power of our mind and quantum physics are topics I’m totally passionate about and that I have been studying a lot from different sources and authors for many years now. And I’m pretty excited to talk about it specifically in relation to our animals. No scientific theories here. I will make it easy to grasp, give you some practical tools and share some real-life examples.

To begin with, there are two key principles - or Universal Laws - to be aware of: 

Think & Feel = Manifestation

The 1st principle, as mentioned: thoughts have the power to create our reality; thoughts when combined with feelings are the most powerful way to create and modify our reality. When the heart (feelings) and the mind (thoughts) are in harmony, they open the doors to amazing transformations, synchronicities, and manifestations to happen in your life. 

Whatever you focus on expands

This is the 2nd principle: Whatever we put our attention on, will grow. 

Attention is energy. Thinking about, focusing on, and talking about are ways we give energy to any matter - material or immaterial, positive, or negative - and feed it. The energy or attention keeps it alive, active, and real. The more attention we give these matters, the stronger they get, the more real they feel and the truer they become. This is how thoughts become beliefs. Beliefs are so strong because we take them as Truth, and we don’t even question them anymore. Our Beliefs are Our Truths. The words we use, the values we have, the actions we take are all based on what we believe in.

Our Reality reflects our Belief system

And therefore, the reality we experience reflects our belief system and values. To change the reality we live in, we need to question these beliefs, and modify those that don't serve us anymore.

As the famous quote from Mahatma Ghandi states: “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Your outside world will change when you change your inner world. 

What we project onto our animals

Very well, but what’s the link with your animal, you might be wondering?

Here’s the link. Generalities on animals are countless - well, there are generalities on basically every topic! And we humans looove them. It gives us a sense of safety, points of reference, something to hold on to. How many general statements are taken as facts? How many rules and statements are considered as undeniable facts regarding animal species and breeds or training methods for instance? When these are helpful and supporting both the humans and the animals, it’s all fine. However, some are not, and therefore become limiting beliefs, impairing any development and evolution beyond a certain limit.

Limiting beliefs about our animals

Let me ask you some questions - take some time to think about them:

• What specific traits or behaviours does your animal friend have that you take as facts due to their species, breed, history, or background? It can be pleasant or unpleasant ones.
• What unpleasant behaviour do you think you cannot change in your animal because of their breed, species, history, or training/ conditioning?
• What repetitive negative thoughts do you have? What typical negative words, stories or facts do you keep repeating, telling, and sharing regarding them? Things like: he always barks at other dogs - She hates other females - it has severe allergies - it’s never been easy with her/he - she has poor health - she’s the grumpy type, etc; well, you get the picture.

What do you project onto your animal day after day? 

The more you beat the drum about an unpleasant trait, issue, or behaviour that your animal friend has, the more energy you give to it, the more obvious, the bigger it will get. And if not bigger, at least, it will never go away, and simply become a Truth. Whatever action you undertake to make it disappear or change, will be vain or have poor results if you do not modify your own projections on or beliefs about your animal. 

I’m not denying that something, some events, happened in your life or in the animal’s life that makes this statement a current reality. The idea here is that if you want to change that current unpleasant reality, you must start by modifying it at a vibration level: the level of energy, thoughts and feelings. And the very first step to do this is by becoming aware of your recurring negative thoughts and words about the issue.

So, look at what negative, repetitive stories you keep telling yourself or others when it comes to your animal friend and any unpleasant situation you experience with them. What words do you use when you talk to your animal or about them? Note them down if need be. 

Replacement statements

Once you have this list of negative thoughts patterns with your animal, let’s replace them with more positive and constructive statements. It’s the most efficient way to shift beliefs. Not by fighting or avoiding the negative inner speech or thinking, but by replacing them with more positive ones. 

Your replacement statements must be obviously more positive but also acceptable for you. They must feel good both to you and your animal when you say/think them. If a replacement statement feels too unrealistic, or off, your feelings will counteract your wording. Let me give you some examples: 

• “My pet’s health is improving day after day”,
• “It has the perfect weight for its breed and nature”
• “I find the perfect food brand /feeding system for them”,
• “he/she’s getting more social and friendly every day”,
• "My animal is smart and understands everything I say"
• "We are more connected and understand each other better every day"
• “I find creative solutions to improve our relationship”,
• “the outcome will be the best for both me and my animal”,
• etc. 

Also pay attention to how you feel and how you talk directly with them and make sure to use positive and encouraging words and statements. They will feel beyond your words. They will pick on your real feelings and react to that. So be aware of any discrepancy between your heart and your mind

Your homework

From now on, check how you talk about your pet, what negative thoughts you still hold regarding a behaviour or issue they used to have. Change your wording. Change the way you look at them. Use replacement statements. Pay attention to how you feel. If you notice any negative thinking and say anything negative to them, say mentally or out loud “cancel, cancel”. And correct with the appropriate replacement statement. 

Give up on the outcome

But there’s one last thing to know - and not the easiest!
Drop your expectations about the outcome. By this I mean, change your wording, check how you think about them, BUT do not WAIT for them to change. Do the work, stick to it, and trust that change is on its way. Simply notice any positive behaviour, small progress, or improvement. From now on, hold only positive thoughts towards them. Genuinely praise them, without victimising or mollycoddling them. Be authentic. Feel proud and happy of any progress made! ….and before long, you’ll be amazed by the results!

Take it further

If you want to reinforce the mind work and speed up results, combine this with healing techniques such as EFT tapping, reprogramming, reiki, EMDR, etc., on yourself and your animal to release any related blockage.

So this is it for today’s post. All the best of luck with your pet and animal friends. Let me know how it goes in the comments, and thank you for sharing this article if you think it can help other animal owners. You can also subscribe to my Youtube channel for audio and video updates!  Until next time, take care

The Outdoor Witch