anxiety

The Nasty Grip of Anxiety

Anxiety. If that word resonates with you I don’t even have to go into all the feelings that it brings on.

Unnecessary feelings, but never the less they are alive and real for many. Most the time dog owners rub it right off on to our own dogs as well.  After all, our own dogs do in fact reflect our behavior.

If the word anxiety doesn’t resonate with you. Good for you! Stoked for you.

Those who do feel anxiety on a regular basis this is the year to get rid of it once and for all.  It is like worry, which is a total waste of time.

As a dog trainer it is obvious when an owner comes to me and says their dog has separation anxiety or fear aggression. However, it is usually not apparent to the owner.  It is a realization to the owner that it can actually be about them.

You do emulate the 5 things you hang out with most.

You see, we spend much of our time covering it up, not addressing that it’s a real issue. We stay the same. In fear. In anxiety.  That ugly nasty grip stops us from doing so many things we hold as dreams and aspirations.

When it comes to coaching people without dogs, sometimes it is actually harder to read. Again, dogs have no filter and tell all. So without the mirror of a dog’s behavior it becomes even easier to hide behind.

The Way To Anti Anxiety

Wouldn’t it be great if I could just lay it out here and have it resolved once and for all?

Anxiety is a complex problem but the truth of the matter is we must address it to do anything about it. We must first admit that it affects our lives. And for those who can already admit it, we need to move on to doing something about it.

Or…. guaranteed it will get worse over time. What you think about you become.

So here is a quick and fast answer to get your started to no more anxiety in 2012:

GO INTO ACTION.  It’s a natural anti anxiety remedy that works.

Let me give you an example.

This morning I was outrigger paddling in the Ocean with 9 other people on our crew. We had paddled out for about a half hour, came around a point off of the pier here in the magical, healing, yet very powerful waters that surround the Big Island and… WAHOO… big swell.

What that means for those who don’t paddle is the little tiny canoe in comparison to the great big Ocean starts rocking and rolling and becomes in great danger of going over.  It means the front end of the boat was completely covered with water and our job was to keep paddling to come out the other side and get back on top of the water.

I found myself beginning to freak. I had already started all the “what if’s” in my mind. I already had me and all of my crew flailing around in the water, trying to find our paddles, trying to grab an overturned canoe to flip it back over, trying to not get bashed by big waves or the boat while bailing the water out before we could get back in.

My comment out loud was, “Oh shit, I’m sorta scared.” One of my paddle crew sitting at the front along aside me who is strong just like I am when it comes to paddling, said in the midst of it all just after I made the comment, “Don’t think about it. Just paddle.”

Guess what? It worked! I just paddled. Smoothly, with rhythm.  I became calm in the powerful  water and used it to my advantage to keep moving forward.

The realization later is once again the lesson came about how to deal with anxiety, how to get rid of anxiety.

Do something. Go into action. Don’t waste the time spinning out about all the “what if’s” Move. Take action.

In my experience, it works for people and it works for dogs. It is a habit one has to practice though if you happen to be afflicted by the nasty grip of anxiety.

The Anxiety Busting Virtual Tour

Yes, a blatant promotion coming your way. And know I don’t promote anything I don’t truly believe in.

Anxiety is one of those things people tend to put on “wait”. Wait and see if it goes away. Wait to see if things suddenly change. Wait to see if the New Year will make it better. Wait to see if the love of my life comes along and makes it better. Wait to see if when I lose weight I will feel better. Wait to see if the anxiety gets better.

Wrong answer. Wait.

The only way to get rid of anxiety, to change it from entering your life and literally stealing your plans to live happily away is to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

The Anxiety Busting Virtual Tour starts Jan 23. Get on it. Check it out. And have yourself the best 2012 ever.

*Note to dog owners who are looking for help with what seems to be a dog anxiety problem:  This is for you!  If you understand anxiety you can help your dog.  If you don’t understand anxiety, considering the lack of communication methods we have with our dogs, it will be a difficult fix!

Thanks for reading.  My hope is to give you inspiration and thought provoking ideas to take your very next step in creating your own paradise from where you are now!  Please subscribe to Big Island Dog and follow me on Twitter.   Retweets are cool too.

As a 9 time Ironman finisher, change maker, author and creator of  5K Training Guide | Running with Dogs and K9 Cross Fitness Classes in Kailua Kona Hawaii I encourage you to make that change you want so badly today!

Mahalo 2011 and Aloha 2012

It has been a most fabulous year for me and Big Island Dog.

Look back and spend some time to be grateful for people, experiences and the things you love in your life. Make a love list about it.  It’s a much better way to put your New Year’s Intentions out there instead of thinking in terms of Resolutions!

I love that I took the action to live a dream and move to Hawaii.

Still, I’m a little amazed that it all happened. It all aligned and what I’m taking from it is to go ahead and amaze yourself. If you love it, when you amaze yourself, not someone else, it will take the expectation part out of the picture and put your best self on for everyone else for real… no pretending. That changes everything.

I love that the love of my life, my life partner did all it took to get our family to Hawaii.

We had a quest to live with less and spend our time creating experiences to share with others. In the last 8 months we have had people here for their own retreat and friends and family come stay with us. Wonderful times have come from all of it.

I love that our dogs are with us.

If only you could hear the conversations with Emmy the Lab it would be quite clear that we are experiencing pure joy. We have had lots of it this year.

Even through all the NEW, it brought us to practice reaction. I’m finding the reaction to come to the positive side of everything in the moment, to have a grateful view of all that is, has made fear and anxiety vanish more often.

I love that I started eating much much more healthy.

This one has changed the way I feel in a HUGE way. It took some sticking to it, and I’ve got a lot more foodie nutritional healing ways to go. But I love the challenge to eat mostly things that are not processed.  I love learning about it and sharing it with others.

I love that I started doing yoga on a regular basis.

It has brought balance to my very busy mind, and created flexibility in my body where there was pain before.

I love that I got rid of so much of my stuff.

It was one of those things I didn’t realize.  I was holding on to things and not using them out of fear of not having enough.  When I gave most of it away or sold it, I realized how abundant my life is and how less can actually create more of the most important things in life.

I love that I started outrigger paddling and met some wonderful people.

They help me in my observations to write many articles because of our experiences on the Ocean. My new Kona crew rocks it as far as working out goes with happy ready to go attitudes too. I love that.

I love my website and blog.

I got the chance to write my story. And I get to use my gift of teaching. I get to be an author and I get to have people read my stuff. I love that I published an e-book this year. It’s on Amazon and everything. It’s so cool.

Huge Mahalo Courtney Carver

You are so amazing and the contribution and professional awesome-ness you brought to putting the site together has your magic intention flowing at all times even here in Hawaii. It makes me think of you often.

*Courtney’s writing on How to Make a Love List was the inspiration for this article as well.

Be In The Moment while Looking Forward to the Aloha of 2012

I look forward to all that I can do in 2012 for myself, for my family and for others. I’ll leave my wonderful readers I appreciate so very much here to write your own Love List of Mahalos 2011 and Alohas 2012. I’ll be at the beach this year, celebrating all that is and all that is to come. I plan to write my 2012 Love List there. Stay tuned.

Aloha wags!

Thanks for reading.  My hope is to give you inspiration and thought provoking ideas to take your very next step in creating your own paradise from where you are now!  Please subscribe to Big Island Dog and follow me on Twitter.   Retweets are cool too.

As a 9 time Ironman finisher, change maker and author and creator of  5K Training Guide | Running with Dogs and K9 Cross Fitness Classes in Kailua Kona Hawaii I encourage you to make that change you want so badly today!

 

Choosing Your Gifts or Choosing Anxiety

Dogs reflect our behavior. This is how I have come to realize that fear and anxiety or so much a part of our lives that we have gotten to a place where our dogs, who have always been happy-go-lucky-in-the-moment are suffering from anxiety as well.

While it kept me busy in the dog training world, it became a huge lesson in how to start recognizing anxiety in myself and what the reaction was that went along with it.

Change on Purpose

If you want your dog to stop with an anxiety lifestyle, then you must show a picture of exactly how to react. In other words you need to stop with your own anxiety lifestyle habits or your dog probably never will recover from it!

If you spend more of your time than you even realize reacting in ways that you’d rather not, it may be time to start replacing that feeling with thoughts that bring “Calm” and reactions that are much more fun filled.

Changing on purpose is a practiced type of thing. We must recognize first that we are in the moment of acting with anxiety cover-ups, and choose what it is we want to replace it with. I have found ways to choose those things that are fun, that are relaxing and that bring me peace of mind. It’s been a journey I wish that more people would take.

It is Ok to Give Yourself Your Own Gifts

We all have pretty awesome gifts. The problem is many tag “underneath it all” to that statement.

I find that reading things that come into my in box, like The Anxiety Busting Virtual Retreat help peel off those layers of stress and anxiety, of not having fun anymore and making choices we really don’t want to sign up for. The gifts we have been given to enjoy reveal themselves easily and effortlessly all of sudden.

It will be a wonderful gift for the dog in your life as well.

Go on, create your own paradise!

Thanks for reading.  My hope is to give you inspiration and thought provoking ideas to take your very next step in creating your own paradise from where you are now!  Please subscribe to Big Island Dog and follow me on Twitter.   Retweets are cool too.

As a 9 time Ironman finisher, change maker and author and creator of  5K Training Guide | Running with Dogs and K9 Cross Fitness Classes in Kailua Kona Hawaii I encourage you to make that change you want so badly today!