Your Body Your Boundaries

My clients experience powerful awarenesses as they move through their coaching experiences with me.

They are gifted with an abundance of opportunities of exploring what patterns show up in their lives and what they can do to shift into living more authentically.

A theme arose this week of boundaries. Or rather when boundaries are crossed and the impact of this experience on someone’s body and how they take action when they aren’t in tune with how they feel.

For instance, one person may set a boundary of “thank you, but no” when presented with an offer, but the other person may not accept this and push the question, demand or expectation again.

When the boundary is set again and the same person doesn’t once again accept the answer, this can leave the person setting the boundary as feeling cornered or pushed up against the wall.

The feeling left behind is anger and resentment. When the person with the boundary being crossed doesn’t recognize how these feelings are showing up as tension and pings of pain in the shoulder and neck when the boundary is crossed, the body is ignored. When the body goes unrecognized, the energy of this feeling has to go somewhere since it has become uncontainable.

When the person has a pattern of ignoring these sensations, this can lead to angered outbursts at those who you love, including your dogs.

When the explosion occurs, often the aftermath is everyone is left feeling confused and scared while the person may be feeling guilt and shame for responding in such a manner when the reaction wasn’t warranted.

It can be destructive to your close relationships. Your dogs and your family members may not understand what’s happening. Trust gets broken.

On the other hand, when the same person is more aware of the impact of how setting a boundary may be ignored by someone (or in some cases, by the same someone), and the feeling of tension in the body shows up, the person understands what is happening is less about themselves and more about how the other person needs repeated reminders of your boundaries.

At this stage, there are more empowered choices that can be made in the moment of how to address the individual and the situation.

What results is the person experiencing more freedom in expressing themselves in a manner that is more aligned with their own integrity and agency.

This awareness may lead the person into making a choice of how to work with this person if its in an office setting, it may lead to limiting how this person has access to them if its a friend or family member or it may also inform the person about how to create clearer expectations with customers.

When you become more aware of how things show up for you in your own body through the sensations of what interactions and situations bring up in you, you can be more clear on what you want to say “yes” to and what you want to say “no” to and this is a gift you create for yourself.

Setting your boundaries informs other people how to treat you.

If you desire support in how you can create boundaries for your work and personal life that reflect your values, jump on a call with me and we can strategize what this can look like for you!

Harmonious Living with Your Dog

Dog training often leads people into believe obedience is the answer.

It sets the expectation that control over another being is the goal.

Without control, you won’t have harmony or peace in your home.

This isn’t true.

Creating peace and harmony is only attainable when you respond in the moment with awareness of yourself and those around you.

You let go of controlling them and the situation you’re in.

You learn to flow with your dog, your friends, family, work colleague regardless of what’s happening because you recognize the illusion of control limits your life.

When you deepen your awareness of yourself can you make choices that are congruent to who you are as a person that desires connection and freedom, then you can can feel the harmony and peace that already exists.

Do you desire to slow down and want to deepen a connection to yourself so you can live more harmoniously with those you care about, including your dogs?

Let’s chat!

What Values Matter to You?

I’ve been attending at training this week that has nothing to do with coaching or dog training lol.

Since I am spending a whole bunch of time learning about things that aren’t really about anything pertinent to my profession, I still made a choice to wear my listening ears.

I’m glad I did.

The first day, the presenter who is an organization leader discussed values.

He shared how he lives his values and how the values he holds dear are also apart of his organization.

He took it one step further and asked us all individually what value resonated with us and why is it important for the organization we were learning about this week.

I took this seriously.

It was impressed upon all of us that if we live to be X, then we must take action based on X.

Out of all the values, we all chose one that we felt was important to us in how we show up.

Underneath it all, we have to connect with values when we make choices for ourselves personally and professionally.

This made me feel into how my business operates and get clear on the values my business believes in too.

A Do No Harm ethical code in how and what I teach humans and their dogs is interwoven throughout each of the values I’ll discuss below.

Values are personal to the individual.

Here are the priority values for Four Paws & You Dog Training:

  1. Respect: We strive to respect the dignity and worth of the person and their dogs. You are both sentient beings and fostering a safe, humane and gentle learning approach is central to how we show up for you. We ask you to also demonstrate respect for your dogs’ welfare and wellbeing and prioritize this value when working with us.
  2. Autonomy: We see each of you and your dogs as individuals with unique personalities and you all have ability to make choices. We are committed in creating partnerships with you and your dogs so you all can create the life you want to live with your dog. We also ask you to see your dogs’ choice making in the same light and respect your dogs’ consent.
  3. Empowerment: Through our partnership with you and your dog, we cultivate a learning environment where we co-create your action plans. By guiding you on your journey, you take ownership over how you show up and take action, so you can live and move in this world confidently within yourself and with your dog.
  4. Fun (I forgot this one yesterday on the live, but it’s a HUGE one): We strive to create a fun learning environment so you and your dog can find the joy in being in companionship with one another. Play is a primary reinforcer for us and our dogs and when fun is happening, bonding and trust are being built. These are foundational for any learning and growing to happen.

The Do No Harm ethos intersects with each one of these values and underpins them as a grounding force.

If these values resonate with you and want to explore how activating them can shape your learning experience, set up a Discovery Call with me.