Since we’re all animal lovers here, we know that our pets reduce our stress level. When is the last time you came home and weren’t excited to see that adorable furry face greeting you (or just looking up if you have a cat…hahahaha).

All of us need unconditional love.  We know that babies who don’t receive love will experience a syndrome called “failure to thrive.” This lack of love actually causes arrested development preventing these babies from growing physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Love is what nourishes us, and enables us to grow and thrive.  In fact, children receiving no love have actually been known to not survive.

Pets are the Opposite of Stress

Who in our lives can love us no matter how crabby we are, or how miserably we wake up in the morning, or on those days when we don’t want to get dressed, comb our hair, or even talk to another living soul?  We can always count on our BFF (Best Furry Friend) to take away the blues.  We know that pets are a constant source of unconditional love.

Pets = Love, Not Stress

Our pets ask nothing in return from us, other than being allowed to love us. They are little beings that affect us energetically because we are able to make a heart to heart connection. You can actually feel this energy if you try the following exercise:

• Close your eyes
• Take three deep breaths – breath in, hold it, breathe out slowly
• Clear your mind by focusing on your breathing. Do this for approximately 2 minutes
• Now allow yourself to picture your favorite pet
• Picture your pet (either actual or imagined) cuddled up on your lap as you both go into a deep relaxation
• Stay with that image for another two minutes
• Slowly open your eyes

What did you feel? Where did you feel it? Most people report that they feel warm and relaxed. They actually feel something in their heart area – an opening, a warming, a good sense of well-being.  They feel this even if they only imagine having a pet. And this exercise merely took less than 5 minutes.

Pets and Health Benefits

The medical community has actually come to realize the benefit of having pets. Studies support that having a pet can reduce blood pressure, improve heart rhythms, alleviate depression, and much more. Pets provide company for people living alone. They are good companions – even the most aloof cat is willing to interact with us (on their terms of course).

Pets and Emotional Benefits

When you have a pet there’s a good chance that you’ll have at least one good laugh a day which is another powerful stress reducer. Tears of laughter and joy have been found to exhibit the same toxins as crying from sadness and sorrow. In fact, our facial muscles contort in the same way when when’re laughing as when we’re crying. The sounds we make are similar, and both generate a cathartic cleansing. We might feel drained after a good laugh or a good cry, but we will indeed feel better afterwards. The one difference is that crying focuses us inward, and laughing brings us out of ourselves and opens us to the world.

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle and you’re tired of being tired, then maybe it’s time to get a dog. Not only will you be responsible for another living being, which will give you a positive focus outside of yourself, but you will also have the opportunity to get off the couch and exercise every day. Even if you’re not the walking type, you might have fun just throwing a ball and playing catch which is good for your physical, as well as your mental health.

A pet can certainly alleviate stress and reduce any depression you may be experiencing.  In addition to companionship, increasing your physical activity, and keeping you healthy, you will have a constant source of love and that’s something to wag your tail at.

And, of course, Adopt Don’t Shop!