4 Spiritual Lessons our Dogs have to Teach Us

In this episode of the Integrated Wisdom Podcast, we explore 4 key spiritual lessons we can learn from our pets in general, but our dogs more specifically.

We discuss how our Dogs are able to help us understand the importance of:

🌟Unconditional Love
🌟Presence
🌟Curiosity
🌟Service

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Intro and Outro music: Inspiring Morning by Playsound

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Transcript

Tatiana: 0:00

Welcome to the Integrated Wisdom Podcast. I am your host, Tatyana Da Silva. Join me as we discuss what it means to live an integrated life and explore ways for you to create a life filled with greater meaning, peace, and connection by integrating the wisdom of spirituality, psychology, Neuroscience, Epigenetics and Energy Psychology are hoped to empower you to create deeper and more loving connections with yourself and others, whilst also paving the way for humanity at large to be reimagined and inspired to become the very best version of itself. Hello and welcome to the integrated wisdom podcast. Thank you so much for joining me for yet another week. So one of the last times that I spoke to you all was about two weeks ago, When I was going away to a master mind retreat. With some other psychologists and therapists who are. Mission driven and working on. Building. businesses, in line with those missions and who're s eeking to create. Large-scale impact. It was a really incredible week connecting with other like-minded individuals. It was an opportunity to relax a little bit, unwind. But when I came home, I was surprised to discover. A. New housemate. Who is Beautiful gorgeous. Four legged and furry. and it's my new little French bulldog puppy. Eros. Who my husband decided to surprise me with. And to say that the last two weeks. Have been a steep learning curve is the understatement of the century. he is absolutely beautiful and has stolen my heart already. But he's also stealing my sleep. And as. Left me feeling very in competent a lot of the time in trying to figure out how to best care for him. And learn all the ways in which we need to adapt, our schedule. To accommodate our new family member. And. Over the last couple of days as I've been reflecting on. These adjustments and all the emotions that have come with having Eros, join our family. It had me reflecting on. I guess the spiritual lessons. That we can get from our pets more generally. But also, dogs in particular. Uh, I've historically never really had pets. I've never had a dog before, so I really am. In the deep end, at the moment. I know that animals. Have. So many. Beautiful lessons to teach us. And that's what I wanted to talk about today. What are the spiritual lessons that our pets can Not just spiritual, but in our pets have such a tangible and positive. Impact on our mental health. Or now health, this, obviously the companionship that we can get from pets. But also just. All the ways in which. They help us become better people in many ways. So I thought I'd speak to that a little bit today. I apologize for all the other animal lovers and parents. But I'm going to speak more specific most specifically to two dogs today. Because I think it's important for me to speak from my own. My own experience. But I think it pits in general. And I hear this even from. Cat parents. And those who have other animals like horses and. I believe it or not. Snakes. Not a reptile fan but I think when we, those of us who have animals in our lives, are only enriched by that. And when I stopped to think about, okay, Animal server purpose on earth too right, we've spoken in previous episodes. I've spoken about. The purpose of humans have in coming to earth. That we're here as souls to learn to evolve that we're moving towards becoming pure unconditional love energy. And learning can be. Compassionate with ourselves and others. And then it begs the question. So what is the purpose of animals? Like why are animals on this planet? And I think in many ways, animals are on their own evolutionary trajectory. And you can see it in some animals, right? Like the personalities that they display. The. The sensitivity that they display the empathy that they display. The a lot of the time they're embodying so many of the emotions and the emotional states. That we are all trying to work through as well as humans. And. But I think. A common question for people is do they have a soul? Uh, and the answer is yes, all living beings have. Uh, spirit energy. If you think of spirit, as we speak about spirit or soul, Uh, spirit is just sentient energy. And. I think all living beings possess that energy to an extent. That includes animals that even includes plants. In fact, there was some fascinating studies in. I'm going to do another episode on this separately. But there have been some fascinating studies too. To demonstrate the social nature of trees, for example, and how. How they communicate with each other, how they care for each other. And they have almost like a. A collective dynamic between them. It's very fascinating. But I, that. Warrants a whole episode on its own. But animals are no different. They have their own individualized little souls. And. The purpose that they serve, I believe is. They're here too. To guide us. And into assist us in our. Evolution. But I'm sure that they have their own little lessons too. No, not to the same complexity that we have. But They have this. Already pure spirit, this connection with source. That is very. Integral to their essence, right? You look at animals and they embody. This unconditional love so beautifully. There are like these little mirrors to us. That show us, this is what it looks like. And I see it in my puppy at the moment. I the first day that I had to go to work. And leave him in his little play pen by himself. I was, are sad. I felt so bad for leaving here because obviously he's still a puppy. He was whining a little bit. And he's breed one of particularly is quite attached. Two. To the human parents. He you whined a little bit in that really broke my heart and I thought, oh my gosh, I'm traumatizing here. He's going to hate me. But then, I come back at the end of the day. And he's just as excited to see me and he's still jumping on the, and he still wants my time and my affection and he wants to shower me. With his affection. That is the embodiment of unconditional love. Isn't it. That. That demonstrational, if I can accept. Things as they are. And. I'm going to accept you as you are in your flawed state. Yeah. Sometimes you're going to do things that I don't like. You know this, but. I wouldn't be here and I'm going to love you regardless. And I'm going to accept you as you are regardless. So I think that's one of the biggest lessons that animals. I have to teach us. This ability to Yeah, just accept us as we are. No matter what they look at us with love. For having a bad day or having a good day. We haven't given them that much attention. They're still, they're so eager to engage with us and connect with us. And feel that loving bond. So I think that's one that's less than bill one and probably the most important one. I think lesson number two is their ability to be so present. As far as we know animals, aren't thinking about tomorrow and they're not reliving yesterday. They're really in the moment and really present with what's immediately in front of them. And there is so much for us to learn. From their ability to do that. To be able to just be in the moment, engage fully immerse in whatever activity that, where. We're working through. And I think. When we pay attention closely to animals, that's what they do. They've got this ability to just be there in the moment. In their environment. Enjoy it for what it is. Uh, this is little cartoon that I saw once it's like a meme. I so on sending it just illustrated this so beautifully. It's a man and his dog walking and. The man has like a thought bubble with all these different thoughts and he's thinking about work. He's thinking about home, he's thinking about all sorts of things. And then when you look at the little thought bubble coming out of the dog, it's just the dog thinking about. Him and his. In his. Human walking together. All that exists for the animals is what's there in that moment. So much of Both. Like spiritual concepts, but, or even psychological concepts, we know. The ability for us to be present in the moment. Can be such a. An important and effective tool. To help. Transcend. The tyranny of anxiety. Anxiety's all about the future. What if this, what if that in the moment that future doesn't exist when we're here right now? And she believed with depression. So much of depression is about the past and the. The regrets that we may have, or. The near misses and the sadness and the loss. And worrying that when we're present in the moment, when we're grounded in the moment, again, we're disconnected from all of that. None of that exists. And so I think that ability to be present. That our animals. So dogs can embody so beautifully. For us. Is another great lesson that they have to teach us. And I think so as part of their purpose, they're like these little. mini templates for us. Of health simple life can actually be. I think the third lesson. That animals have to teach us. Dog's in particular, but I think all animals. Is that. Ability to be curious. To be so interested in exploring the world, exploring the environment. When I'm out with my puppy, he just wants to get into everything he's in awe of everything, he's just Looking at all the cars and people on the F the. He leaves and the plants, and he just wants to smell everything. He wants to look at everything you wants to explore. And I guess gets finds great joy in that. And so I think that embodies a really important lesson for us too. Ability to harness that curiosity. That ability to still be. Open and interested in the immediate surroundings. And we'll talk, you. Environment. In new places that we explore. And the people around us. To retain that curiosity. It keeps us psychologically flexible. Which again is another really important tool of psychological resilience. But also I think opens us up to connect with. With source with our ability to remember that there is a larger context of play. Beyond all of this that we see day to day. I think. the fourth really important lesson that we gained from our pets, from our animals. Is the ability to serve. Is this an all service? I should be ashamed to admit this, but I'm going to share this or. Only with you. I've always struggled with routine in our eyes. I'm someone who. I'm a nocturnal person. I am a night owl. I find getting up in the morning. Really hard. And getting into a routine for me, it doesn't come naturally. I like to go with the flow of how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Except for the things that, we absolutely have to do. Work obviously has set times or can't get around that. But for the most part, I like to keep my days fairly flexible. And it's amazing how in these two weeks I've had. Eros with us. I am jumping out of bed. The clock in the morning when he's crying to go out. Or I'm getting up earlier every day and making sure that he gets a walking a second walking. Before I go to work. And what not coming home from work. At night often I get home after eight. Eight 30. In the evening. And, I'm still taking him out for his walk in the evening. No matter how I'm feeling, I'm just doing it because it's important for him. And it's really highlighted for me that lesson of service or some of sometimes how we're caring for other people. We get benefits from that too. Despite the fact that I am very tired. In some ways, I'm also quite alert. I'm quite energized. I'm getting out every morning and getting sunlight, which I hadn't always been doing. If any of this freezing cold that we'd be having here in Sydney. I'm going out in the evening with him. And I'm not going to lie. I am doing it because of him. I'm doing it for him. I'm certainly not doing it for myself. So I think one of the. Most beautiful lessons as well. That our animals have to, to show sell friends, have to show us. Is how much there is to be gained in being serviced to others. In caring for someone other than ourselves. Uh, not more than us ourselves, right? There is a difference between service and self sacrifice. They're not the same thing. I used to think that they were the same. And I've since learned that they're not. So being in service to someone else or to something else isn't. About letting go of my own needs, but it's extending beyond my needs. It's ensuring that I'm caring for myself, but I'm also caring for that other being. And there's an abundance of research that shores. How service to others. Has. Far reaching physiological and mental health benefits for us. And it has a spiritual in his spiritual benefits too. I believe. It helps us connect with source. It helps us connect with the essence of our nature. It helps us exercise that, that muscle of compassion. Self-transcendence of Connection with others. So all of these elements I think are in the service of serving us in that way. And, even in my clinical work, There's been more than once where I have seen animals be a lifeline for my clients when they are in their Darkest moments. Clients who were struggling with isolation and loneliness. And, uh, and consequently depression stemming from that or being exacerbated by that. Who once they, they sought to have rescue or pet and care for another living being. It gave their life purpose. It gave them a sense of meaning, gave them something to get up for in the morning to keep going to find joy in life. Again. And so it's almost this reciprocal relationship that becomes it's so beautiful. The person is gaining all these benefits for caring for that animal. And that animal is getting all the benefits of being loved and cared for too. I think it's such a great illustration of that reciprocal relationship, that service that, that. Benefits everybody. That doesn't come from a place of lack that doesn't come from a place of resentment. It's a genuine. Giving and caring and nurturing. It brings out the best of us. Uh, I think that's what animals do for us. And they can connect us closer to our spiritual essence. And. Yeah. So I think, those are. One of the most important. Lessons. Then our L animals have to share with us. And for those of you who have animals. I'll love to hear. You know that the role that your animals have played in your life and the lessons that you have gained from them. I've just listed four core lessons that I. I can immediately observe just in. In having errors in my life. These last two weeks. I'm sure this is not an exhaustive list by any means. And so I would love to hear from. From your own. What are some other what are some other. Lessons that you, your pets have your And what are some other lessons that your animals have led you towards, have helped you to realize. So again, I'm going to, just to recap. Oh, animals have the capacity to show us. What unconditional love looks like. They have the capacity to show us. We're being present. Looks like how to embody presence every day in every activity that we do. Oh, animals have the capacity to demonstrate that openness and curiosity. And join exploring. The world around us and people around us. Keeping that. That open, curious spirit. In everything that we do. And lastly, they have visibility to help us understand. The self transcending benefits of service of nurturing someone else or something else. Caring for another living, being how important it is, how interconnected we are. Having some ways on needs and the same. And it demonstrates helps us to connect with that sense of oneness. That helps us transcend ourselves and puts everything into context into a larger context. So I'd love to get you thinking about yeah. How. Uh, or your relationship with your animals can be a spiritual lesson too. It can be a spiritual connection. And as I said, I'd love to hear from those of you who do have animals or have had animals in the past. Some of the lessons that they have taught you. Some of the beautiful benefits that they have brought to your lives. And. It's a steep learning curve. They obviously do made a lot of the time and intention. So we're in the process of training him at the moment. And I think in the service of myself and being able to sustain my own wellness and. And. Health. I'm going to just scale back the frequency of the episodes for now. Just to make it sustainable. I want to be able to show up for you fully. But also want to be able to be really present with Eros in these early weeks of his life in our family. As he adjusts to us and we adjust to him. So just for a brief period of time, I'm going to space out the episodes to fortnightly. Just for the next month or so. So until the end of July, I'll be doing just fortnightly episodes. And We'll resume weekly episodes from August. But for now. I thank you for listening. I thank you for your continued support. I would love to hear from you. You can always find me on Instagram at integrated underscore wisdom. Or you can email me at hello at integratedwisdom.com.au with any questions or comments. And if you have, uh, found this episode helpful, I invite you to share it with others who may benefit from it. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the podcast. I invite you to subscribe to our podcast and also asked you there, leave me a rating and a review. It is so helpful for me to know. What's landing for you. What's been valuable for you all. But also it helps the algorithm recognized that this is valuable content to push out to others. But similarly, I welcome Any feedback that you may have anything that you feel would be doing better? The other topics that you'd like me to be speaking more about, please do reach out to me. Don't hesitate to reach out to me. Either on Instagram again at integrated underscore wisdom or by email. At hello@integratedwisdom.com.au I hope you all have a lovely week. And I look forward to speaking to you again in a fortnight. Thank you. Bye. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Integrated Wisdom. It is my sincere wish that today's episode may have intrigued and inspired you to reclaim your power and step into becoming more fully integrated spiritual beings. New episodes are published every Wednesday. And I hope you'll continue to join us as we dive deeper into what it means to live an integrated life. So if it feels aligned to you, I invite you to hit subscribe and share it with others who you feel may benefit too. You may also find me on Instagram at integrated underscore wisdom. Remember, each moment is an opportunity to embrace your divine potential and create a world that is more frequently inspired. So for now, stay connected, stay inspired and keep shining your light. Into the world.