 Their Whole Selves Today I want to talk about what animals teach you. Those of you who have read my previous posts know I mentioned animals do not have an ego. Not the same way as humans. Animals come to you with their whole selves. They do not hide anything about themselves from you. They may be cautious and they may take their time but once they feel that you are trustworthy they show you their 'Whole Selves'. What does showing your 'Whole Self 'mean from the animal perspective:-
When animals meet you or greet you they scan you physically, emotionally and energetically. You may use masks in the human world but animals see through these and see the raw you as you are. This is one reason why humans feel that animals get them and they can connect to them - most especially after trauma. You see animals don't hide who they are and they give with zero expectations (maybe a treat here and there but that type of expectation is a conditioned response). Animals are attuned to their bodily sensations very deeply and are ready to meet you where you are. At the same time they will do what they can to bring you to this present moment and want you to see them for who they are. This in itself is such a beautiful gift indeed. Allowing you to see them. Their real selves. In their view they cannot be anything else. Meeting You Where You Are Meeting you where you are is a sure way to build trust. When you meet an animal always meet them where they are. I do not believe in pushing animals beyond their capacity. One cannot get over trauma in one sitting and no behavioral methods can erase trauma. Trauma does not go away through conditioning. It may appear that way temporarily but it's not fool proof. Trauma sits in the tissues of the body. Research by Candace Pert and her colleagues (Pert, Ruff and Herkenam, 1985) (she was the Chief of Brain Biochemistry in the Clinical Neuroscience Branch of the National Institutes of Health before her death) suggests the mind and the body talk to each other through what are known as neuropeptides. These are complex protein molecules that are released in the brain and attach themselves to cell receptors in the body. These molecules create a cascade of chemical reactions inside the cells where they are attach and are related to how emotions are manifested in the body. Candace Pert dubbed these 'molecules of emotion'. What this research tells us is that emotions are full bodymind experiences that are not separated. How does this relate to the current topic? It's very important because when I wrote that animals meet you where they are - they are truthful and when they behave a certain way they are showing you a great deal about themselves. There is a reason for everything and there is a time to direct and a time to invite and a time to stand still in the quietness so that integration and learning can happen. An animal does not learn when the brain is in a flight or fright stress/trauma response, so continually eliciting this response is a sure way to create fragmented memory and does not address the fear in the animal at all. It creates a platform for a total shut down and a resignation to helplessness. The animal is pushed beyond beyond their threshold. Threshold Each animal is an individual. Each animal has their internal reality (I will cover this in another post) and has their own thoughts and emotions. Bringing all of these together means that they bring their personalities and all of their experiences with them when they meet you. A threshold is a demarcation or a line that marks the top end level of tolerance in any given experience. In working with trauma this threshold is the marking point of what the animal can handle at any one time. Some animals have a small window of tolerance others do not. Think about a time when you were triggered and you were terrified of going to a certain area as a result and someone pushed you through that when you weren't ready. You probably collapsed internally and some type of dissociation of the bodily feeling occurred because the pain was too great. You moved beyond your threshold. Trauma is no different for animals. In fact it is even more intense because animals are fully aware of their experience and their bodies. Humans, on the other hand, are focused on the cognitive and lose track of their bodies very easily. When trauma has been the status quo for a human or animal finding joy in new experiences and exercising curiosity is no longer natural. Curiosity and Play When an animal is healthy (mentally, emotionally and physically) they show a cautious curiosity and play in new situations. I am sure you have watched kittens and puppies play - they are adorable and totally throw themselves into the experience and the moment. Jumping all paws in! This is the healthy way to navigate life! These are examples of healthy curiosity and play. Provided the animals have the correct resources for good health and they are in a homeostatic place (where bodily checks and balances are maintained) they will exhibit these behaviors. Often young animals most especially in domestication are plucked from their Mothers too soon. This is the number one thing animals tell me they want a healing for. So by the time animals in domestication are born they have inherited the traumas of their parents (trans-generationally), have lived through the trauma of birth and have been prematurely separated from their animal families. This is the beginning of the trauma cycle and timeline right there. By the time they are 8-10 weeks old, baring all else is well (resources, human interaction etc) young animals already hold the scars of these traumatic events in their bodies and personal narratives. Rescue animals hold much more based on their experiences. So what do animals teach us...
Remember there is a time to DIRECT, a time to INVITE and a time to STAND STILL. References Pert, C.B., M.R. Ruff, R.J. Weber, and M. Herkenham. 1985. Neuropeptides and their receptors: a psychosomatic network. J Immunol. 135:820s-826.  Chiara gives a voice to the voiceless. She brings the internal realities of animals to life through her Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™ process. She is unique and mixes science and intuition. She calls it a boundless science. A science that includes doing, being and has a method.
Wild Voices Talk™ and Chiara are about you and your animals. Chiara provides unique services that bring a richness of connectivity between animals and their human counterparts. She provides a new perspective on animal minds, emotions and trauma with a view to supporting animals through their journeys with their humans. It is a Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™. She creates the space for animals to find their voices in a human world. She creates a communicative meeting place between their consciousness and yours. Disclaimer: Nothing on this website in any communicative form and relating to any and all communications either on this website, social media accounts or using any other technology constitutes giving advice, or a diagnosis or a cure or a prescription. The information on this website and any and all communications, verbally or by any other technological platform globally is provided for 'sharing' of resources only. Should you decide to use any such information you do so at your own risk and you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in any and all legal matters concerning your health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom may practice the information upon. For all diagnosis, cure or prescription and any related information contact a qualified health professional at all times. Chiara Marrapodi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and bluehost.com. The Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc or it's affiliates. The Bluehost logo are trademarks of Bluehost.com. This notice is provided as a form of transparency. Chiara Marrapodi does not endorse any products that are part of the affiliate program and by clicking on any links you are dealing directly with the advertised supplier. In so doing you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in the decisions and purchases you make. Animal Connectivity Session Today I want to share an experience with you... Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a beautiful Maincoon. Her name was Grace. She has cancer in her right jaw and her human wanted to find out if Grace wanted to leave the body yet. When I arrived at Grace's home she was outside. In true maincoon style she came to greet and then walked away and did her own thing. This was a privilege unto itself. Later her human told me that she does not come to strangers and usually runs to hide under the bed. We all proceeded indoors. Grace placed herself on an ottoman between me and her human. It was the perfect set up. You see it was already creating the flow of energy that would make this session so incredibly beautiful. Grace was getting all she needed at that moment in time and her human was right by her side. Grace knew this was her session. We locked eyes and I told her why I was here to ask her some questions and see how she was faring. Grace already knew she said. We asked her if she wanted to stay or go and she said she was not ready. We did a scan of her body and did a healing (accuhealing and cleansing of her body). We also did a healing on her cancer too - I asked her at each point if she was ready and she was. With each healing and communicative expression she became more and more relaxed. Her human was surprised at how relaxed she was and commented on how Grace would either look very intensely when I talked to her. When it was complete we all knew. Grace got up and she decided to look outside and then scratched the mat that was near the door. Her human was most surprised. She said that Grace had not done that for a very long time. Grace decided it was integration time and she needed to move a little and find her space for her alone. And she did. As I was leaving her human went to find her to tell her I was going and she came back into the lounge room and sat on her ottoman. I left Grace and her human. A few hours later I got a text message from her human who told me that shortly afterwards Grace went to the corner of the couch I was sitting on and sniffed for the longest time. Then she sat down right where I had been sitting. She wanted to soak what we had done through my imprint on the chair. Tears filled my eyes. What an honor and a privilege. Grace, dear Grace you are a feline filled with great wisdom and grace beyond our capacity as humans to grasp. Thank you for sharing yourself with me and for trusting me to share your life with you and your human. This practice is so very sacred and is life changing both for the human and the animal. I hold it in sacredness. Love Chiara #animals #animalcommunication #gift #sacred #sacredness #maincoon#grace #species #pet  Chiara gives a voice to the voiceless. She brings the internal realities of animals to life through her Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™ process. She is unique and mixes science and intuition. She calls it a boundless science. A science that includes doing, being and has a method.
Wild Voices Talk™ and Chiara are about you and your animals. Chiara provides unique services that bring a richness of connectivity between animals and their human counterparts. She provides a new perspective on animal minds, emotions and trauma with a view to supporting animals through their journeys with their humans. It is a Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™. She creates the space for animals to find their voices in a human world. She creates a communicative meeting place between their consciousness and yours. Disclaimer: Nothing on this website in any communicative form and relating to any and all communications either on this website, social media accounts or using any other technology constitutes giving advice, or a diagnosis or a cure or a prescription. The information on this website and any and all communications, verbally or by any other technological platform globally is provided for 'sharing' of resources only. Should you decide to use any such information you do so at your own risk and you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in any and all legal matters concerning your health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom may practice the information upon. For all diagnosis, cure or prescription and any related information contact a qualified health professional at all times. Chiara Marrapodi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. The Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc or it's affiliates. This notice is provided as a form of transparency. Chiara Marrapodi does not endorse any products that are part of the affiliate program and by clicking on any links you are dealing directly with the advertised supplier. In so doing you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in the decisions and purchases you make. Many humans have the idea that once the animal is rescued the animal is now fine. Rescue is an important breakthrough but is not the complete picture. Most especially if there is trauma (and usually there is in most rescue cases). When the animal is rescued it is only the beginning of their healing. Unfortunately, for some animals them being rescued brings another host of issues... Human expectation. Their new humans expect them to be able to perform "new jobs" or "roles". The idea is this will bring the animal healing but this is not the case. The animal has a nervous system and based on the species and particular circumstances the nervous system requires recalibration. Rescue animals need at least these 5 things:- 1. Feeling of safety The feeling of safety is not instantaneous because they have now been rescued or have come into a new home. The feeling of safety comes with sniffing the environment, the new people, new food, other animals and doing a territorial search. This is what animals do when they have healthy experiences. They use their bodies and all their senses to understand their environment. When animals are traumatized they are in the flight, fright, freeze or appease (overly pleasing) state. They will try and change their states and will be seen to lick, pant, shiver and other behaviors to compensate for their states of discomfort. A feeling of safety is cultivated. It doesn't just happen. A feeling of safety takes time. Give rescues time to seek their safety in you by not pushing them beyond their threshold. Give them space as they begin to smell your motives, state of being and sense their place in the human-animal world. 2. Adequate resources (food, water and shelter) Good quality resources are important for a healthy nervous system. Understanding that quality water (not from the tap) is important due to all the impurities and contamination found in it. Also the idea that kibble food and canned food will provide all your animal companion needs is not accurate. These commercial, packaged products are laced with synthetic vitamins and minerals that are not as easy to absorb and the animals are eventually left with deficits. Additionally the quality of ingredients is not what you think. They are usually byproducts of the meat industry and a cooked melange of inedible products. A good whole food, raw diet is better for both canines and felines. The quality of this food is key to their thriving. It is my experience that those animals that have been through trauma and are in a rescue situation need more resources than a naturally healthy animal that has had a wholesome life. When you are stressed you will need more nutrients to compensate for this stress. It is the same for animals. As the animal begins to find safety this will slow down. This will also result in better digestion and the animal will be able to hold their weight more. Digestion is not only about food but also about experiences and emotions. 3. For humans to understand their behavior from the animals perspective Animals do not have ulterior motives. I remember reading somewhere that someone stated they know animals lie. This is completely inaccurate. Animals do not have an ego at all. They do not lie or gossip. Animals are honest and animals show you exactly how they are feeling. Humans usually do not see or listen to these communications because humans are stuck in their heads and they use only the languaging of the mind. Also humans tend to project their ideas on to the animals in their care and use human feelings and thoughts to explain human behavior (anthropomorphism). While there are similarities animals do not have an ego and many of the things humans say about their animal's is not interpreted accurately. To be able to see from the animals perspective watch the animal without placing your ideas or thought upon them. You will begin to sense from the animal's perspective how they are experiencing life. 4. Down Time/Processing time/Time to rebuild/Time to feel that things have changed Usually humans are super excited about their new animal companion. And this is of course part of the adoption process! You get all excited and you bring the animal companion home and then there are certain things that begin to show up as the months go by. This is normal with a rescue animal. It is normal for all animals but rescue animals need more time. They need time to understand their surroundings for safety as I said before. They need time to understand you. Your needs, your quirkiness, the other animals, the new tasting food. Everything is new and their senses are being bombarded. In a state of trauma or trauma recovery you can get overwhelmed very quickly. So do animals.
5. Time to connect to their new 'people' and other animals around them Although this has been covered somewhat in the above points I want to address it separately. Animal introductions are not always easy. Most especially in felines. Often older felines who are not accustomed to colonies can find it difficult. Or their personalities just aren't about sharing their space with other feline friends. I have a motto when it comes to introductions:- "Expectations need to be low. Introductions need to be slow". Oftentimes humans want these introductions to be very quick. They want the introductions to go perfectly. This is not the case most of the time. Animals have thresholds and they have dog and cat etiquette. Finally, expecting less is more. What I mean by this is that while we want the best for our animals sometimes we expect them to be more like us. And expect them to be quickly in tune with their environment and us. When a rescue animal has experienced abuse and pain they are very forgiving. They also have their thresholds. Expect less and go slow.  Chiara gives a voice to the voiceless. She brings the internal realities of animals to life through her Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™ process. She is unique and mixes science and intuition. She calls it a boundless science. A science that includes doing, being and has a method.
Wild Voices Talk™ and Chiara are about you and your animals. Chiara provides unique services that bring a richness of connectivity between animals and their human counterparts. She provides a new perspective on animal minds, emotions and trauma with a view to supporting animals through their journeys with their humans. It is a Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N) Connectivity™. She creates the space for animals to find their voices in a human world. She creates a communicative meeting place between their consciousness and yours. Disclaimer: Nothing on this website in any communicative form and relating to any and all communications either on this website, social media accounts or using any other technology constitutes giving advice, or a diagnosis or a cure or a prescription. The information on this website and any and all communications, verbally or by any other technological platform globally is provided for 'sharing' of resources only. Should you decide to use any such information you do so at your own risk and you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in any and all legal matters concerning your health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom may practice the information upon. For all diagnosis, cure or prescription and any related information contact a qualified health professional at all times. Chiara Marrapodi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. The Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc or it's affiliates. This notice is provided as a form of transparency. Chiara Marrapodi does not endorse any products that are part of the affiliate program and by clicking on any links you are dealing directly with the advertised supplier. In so doing you hold Chiara Marrapodi totally harmless in the decisions and purchases you make. |
AuthorChiara is unique in her ability to quickly connect with animals at their level. She connects Nervous System to Nervous System (N2N). She shares her animals stories and animal wisdom right here! Archives
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