Last week, I had a conversation with a client that stayed with me for quite some time. He told me that he had already recommended me to so many people around him, yet only a few of them had actually reached out. His wife had a very gentle explanation for this. She felt that perhaps many people are simply afraid of what their animals might tell them.
When I heard that, something deep inside me nodded in agreement. This worry is so very human, and it touches on two points that many of us quietly carry in our hearts.
On one hand, there is the fear that your animal might express wishes you cannot fulfill in your busy everyday life. The fear of feeling guilty because walks are currently too short, your head is too full, or time is simply passing too fast. What if my animal criticizes me? What if I am not enough?
I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that your animal looks at you completely without judgment. Our animals know us inside and out. They see our rush, our worries, and also the days when we are just functioning. When an animal expresses a desire for more time in nature or a moment to pause during a session, this never comes from a place of blame. There is no quiet “you should have,” and there is no feeling of neglect.
When your animal asks for calm or shared moments, it almost always means you. It sees that the stress is not good for you. It feels how much you are missing yourself. Its impulses always stem from a space of deep love and the simple wish for you to feel better again.
And then there is the second, perhaps even deeper hurdle. There are things in our lives we don’t particularly like to look at ourselves. Sometimes we know exactly where we actually need to change something, but we haven’t done it yet. When an animal then softly and lovingly holds up a mirror to us and speaks directly to those tender spots, it can trigger resistance. We fear being confronted with our own truth, and we worry about letting our animal down if we don’t address our own topics.
Yet here too, your animal does not demand perfection. It simply opens a window to your heart.
I told my client at the end that this is completely okay. The right people and animals always find their way to me when the time is right. Those who are open to it and feel the impulse in just the right moment to listen and receive.
How do you feel about this thought? Do you sometimes know this quiet shyness too, or is the space between you and your animal allowed to be completely free and wide?
With love,
Tanja