Pushing Past Your Comfort Zone

Understanding the growth cycle can validate you in your learning and growing and how you experience the same with your dog.

You start off learning something new, you’re excited about the journey.

You feel ready and you feel it in your bones you can climb any mountain with ease.

You encounter your first roadblock.

You didn’t know this challenge was going to happen and it is surprisingly confusing.

You didn’t know this was a thing.

When the answer doesn’t show up easy, you begin feeling the frustration seep in and take over.

Your excitement wanes and you’re at a crossroads of turning around and giving up, or pushing forward and figuring out how to navigate the obstacle.

You make the choice in digging deeper, asking for what you need, putting the pieces of what you’re working on together.

Your surrender back into the routine, practice, or just going back to square one starts to fade the curtain of frustration that hung over your head.

You start recognizing the shifts happening.

The changes taking shape and you get excited again.

The growth cycle is just that, a cycle and learning to ebb and flow with it isn’t always easy or fun, but it certainly offers opportunity for expansion.

A client shared about her success with Appa.

At the heart of the matter, she learned to deepen her patience when things got frustrating.

She looked inward and continued to go back to the practice and show up with love for him.

With months of practice (again, learning and growing never ends), Appa is making choices she’s so proud of him for making.

He’s more comfortable wearing a harness, walking on a lead and no more nipping.

She taught Appa to take breaks (practicing mat work) and sure enough, he is doing this on his own.

She shared her proudest moment when he dragged out his mat and made the choice to settle on it when he needed to slow down.

You may not always see the gains during each practice session and even the frustrating bits may cloud your achievements, but you too will experience a breakthrough and in these moments celebrate those wins.

Thanks Body Mind Coaching for this golden nugget. The ripples of sharing continue!