Recently, Talk2theAnimals held its first TeleConference of the year. Formerly known as First Friday Forum, this free monthly TeleConference is in Q&A format, with the participants bringing in the questions. Wonderful, awesome questions were emailed in. Here are some that were asked, and in tomorrow’s post you will see questions that weren’t addressed on the TeleConference. As so often happens, one animal seems to be the principal visitor for a Talk2theAnimals event. This time it was Mouse. Interestingly enough, Mouse is about paying attention to details. Because the TeleConference wasn’t recorded, the answers below are paraphrases.
Q: Once I’ve discovered this gift, how can I hone it? For me, it seems more “uncontrollable,” like I get ambushed by an animal. I’d like to make it more deliberate, I guess. Something I can effortlessly call up. (The animal that was ambushing her was Mouse.)
A: It can seem like we get “ambushed” by the animals when we first start to Talk2theAnimals. Part of the reason for the this is the animals are so glad to have a listener that they are ready to jump in and start talking!
Feeling “ambushed” can have to do with us setting our own boundaries about when we are ready to talk and listen. It’s similar to setting boundaries around email, kids, volunteering, any situation that involves balancing our time with our own self-care. Here are a couple of tips that can help:
- Charlie Brown’s Lucy was very wise when it came to setting her hours. You can do the same thing when you Talk2theAnimals. Set your “office hours.”
- You can also think of a garage door. When you open the garage door, you are ready to talk. When you are done talking, close the garage door.
Q: I negotiated a deal with the mice: they leave the house and I would feed them on the hay bales outside. It has become just one more thing to do and the snakes are coming to the hay bales. Yet I feel I am breaking my end of the deal. What to do?
A: Yeah you! for honoring the mice and negotiating a deal with them. Now, remember that we live in a constantly changing world, and to keep up with that change we need to go with the flow. So, you have made a deal, it’s not working for you and apparently it’s not working for the mice either if the snakes are coming to their diner! Tweak the deal. What does work for you? What can you do so that it’s not just another task, but a pleasure and fun to be the chief chef for the mice. Ask the mice what works for them. Ask the mice for their help and suggestions in this. Ask the mice if they still need you to set out the food as you have done in the past. Perhaps they have found another source. You’ll never know until you ask.
What is really important–let me rephrase that: what is really important is that as you are working through the re-negotiations, you create something that honors the mice and you. You will recognize when you have a winning deal for both sides because it will bring joy and delight to all involved.
Q: How does one get their brain to stop thinking? My brain goes a mile a minute, I find it very hard to stop all the chatter to get in the frame of mind for communication.
A: Great question, and one that we all experience from time to time. For me personally, I picture a wastebasket. I then ask myself what is standing between me and my Talk2theAnimal session. Whatever comes to my mind, I dump into the wastebasket; sometimes I need a small dumpster! I keep dumping until I feel calm and at ease, the mental chatter gone away. If I notice the mental chatter coming back during a session, I simply put it in the wastebasket. Nice thing about this is that should I so desire, I can always pick up the items I’ve dumped after the Talk2theAnimals session. Needless to say, I don’t!
Other people find meditating, focusing on their breathing or taking walks helpful. For each person the activity will differ, so there is no right or wrong to this. Simply find what puts you at ease, erases the mind chatter, and use that as a tool.
Q: Picking up male/female energy during a session.
A: That information is usually given to me when the human partner gives me the description of the animal, so it is not something I normally concern myself with.
When I am talking to wild animals, I don’t worry about physical gender. While all of us are of one physical gender, we all are comprised of both feminine/masculine qualities within our makeup. So I may be talking with a female creature who is more in her masculine side at the moment I am talking with her and vice versa. To me, what they are saying at that moment is what I need to focus on.
Well! There’s the Talk2theAnimals TeleConference in a nutshell. Come back tomorrow for the answers to some questions that weren’t addressed at the TeleConference.
Remember: U2CanTalk2theAnimals!
Harmony,
Janet Roper
