Dog Music?

I know this isn’t really self-help related, it’s more like dog help, but I thought it was really, really worth the share.  My little Allie is terrified of fireworks.  I mean hide in the corner facing the wall, refusing to eat or respond to humans scared of fireworks. Every year we stay home just to make her feel a little more comforted.

Last year, I tried “dog music” and it didn’t work. But desperate for anything that may help, and hoping that it had at least made her a little more comforted even if not noticeable, I decided to try again this year.

I downloaded “A Dog’s Ear” from Amazon Prime and began playing it as soon as I heard the first boom at around 6:00 pm.  She instantly fell asleep (which isn’t saying much for a bulldog). But throughout the night she has remained by my feet on the blanket, not in the corner cowering in fear. It’s about 10:30 pm now, and she has been sleeping through the fireworks for hours. Even the ones in our own community parking lot.

I thought maybe she just has been sensitized after a few years and isn’t scared anymore, so I turned the music off.   At the next bang, she started whining and doing her two-paw nervous dance and then began to search for a way to get in the bedroom (where her hiding corner is) through the closed door. I turned the music back on, and she rested her face on the couch and asked for pets.  Then she fell asleep again.

At the really loud ones that vibrate the floor, she lifts her head and looks outside, but that’s it. Her breathing is normal, and she’s not exhibiting any of her usual signs of anxiety. She’s also literally sleeping through most of it. The music isn’t bad either.  It has several popular classical songs and instrumental versions of popular ballads. There are 20 songs on the album, and it plays for a few hours.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I still recommend it.  If it works, it’s worth it, and if it doesn’t, then oh well.

 

On the other side…

This is so perfect I just had to share. Found it on Flashlight Batteries

flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw

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Finding Calm

I recently started using the Calm app.  I never really intended to do a review on it, but in just a few days it has made enough of an impact on my life that I decided to share my experience.

Calm is a free app designed to help you begin a mindfulness meditation practice.  I have tried many times in my life to “meditate” using many different approaches but never felt like it was working.  My mind still felt cluttered, and I didn’t feel any of the relaxation or anxiety reduction that everyone was talking about. This time, using the Calm app has been very different.

I started as a subscriber to their Instagram page. I loved the beautiful images and often drew inspiration from the quotations.  I always just ignored the app, but one day I decided to try it out just for something to do.   So far, I have only used the free portions. Although there are many other options available with a subscription, I find the free content to be valuable.

Here’s what I like best:

• Only takes a few minutes a day
• Beautifully animated images of nature scenes with your choice of many different nature, calming, or white noise sounds playing in the background (can be played in app only or outside of the app depending on your settings)
• Helpful guided meditations that teach you how to have an effective mindfulness practice
• A selection of guided and unguided meditation sessions
• A breath timer that allows you to focus on breathing and relaxation
• Stories that engage your mind and then slowly taper off to help your mind transition from the bustle of your day into deep and relaxed sleep (just like when you were a kid!)
• A calendar to help you track your practice (number of consecutive days, number of sessions, total time spent meditating)
• An option to leave feedback after every guided session

If you’re like me, and always wanted to try meditating but never found a way to actually achieve it, I highly recommend this app. In just a few days I am beginning to notice when my mind wanders, and am discovering things about myself by noting where it wanders to. I love how the guided meditations encourage you to notice these wandering thoughts, and not be frustrated or judge yourself about it but just come back to the moment. I’m excited to see what changes in my practice and in my life after more time spent cultivating mindfulness and meditation.

 

 

52 Weeks of thankfulness #8

I’m thankful for the opportunity to spread thankfulness over 52 posts, as mine will definitely take longer than 52 weeks with my posting schedule!

But in all seriousness today I am thankful for a chance to rest, to relax and bring my awareness back to self and mindfulness instead of sales and scores and tasks. Today I can read, spend time with my dog and my partner, eat when I’m hungry, nap, shop, whatever I want! This is going to be great. I hope the same for you, if not today then in the near future.

Join the 52 Weeks of Thankfulness prompt at Haddon Musings.

Shared from Jay Colby’s Blog

This is a really great opportunity that Jay is offering to his followers to network, and get your writing out there.  I encourage you to join. You never know who you might reach or who you will discover! Thanks, Jay Colby for this chance to participate.

 

I just want to take this time to thank everyone who reads, subscribers and shares my site. I appreciate all the support and encouragement.I would love to read everyone’s blog, but I don’t always get a chance to read and follow everyone’s blog. So today I want to offer a networking opportunity and a chance […]

via Networking + Share Your Blog — Jay Colby

52 Weeks of Thankfulness #7

I know I’m not the most timely with this, and I don’t do it every week like I intend.  But I honestly feel that even if I don’t have time to blog about it, it’s the mindset of thankfulness and the change it can bring about in the world that is important.  What’s fun is to share it online when I can. With that said, I found a quote that inspired me this week and made me thankful for a spirit of hope.

“Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience-or give it a more fascinating name. Call it hope.”-Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

This appeals to me at this time in my life because I thought that switching jobs would make me happier.  Instead, it is the same thing, but for a different company for more hours with the same pay, and in an industry I dislike even more than the last one. But this quote empowers me to take the reins, to know my own happiness. To know people, you have to meet them, introduce yourself, spend time learning about them.  Soon they are your friends and you know them.  At the very least we should be this familiar, if not downright intimate with our own happiness.  We should approach it and bring it into our lives.  And with this done, the only thing we will want is more of it.  That striving and pulling impatiently toward it, that hope of more. This reminds me not to give up, even when the weight of things feels so heavy, and the climb to the top of the ditch seems way to far. When someone is worth it, we put the effort in to stand by them no matter what. And when our happiness is worth it, we should do the same.

Join the 52 Weeks of Thankfulness prompt at Haddon Musings.

52 Weeks of Thankfulness #6

Today I’m thankful for my name. It’s who I am, but it’s also where I come from. My family made me with the genetic attributes and capabilities that I have, and they raised me to have the values that make me who I am today. When I achieve success, my name is a record of that success directly attributed to me in the present, but also to my ancestors and most importantly to those who will carry this name after me. What an honor and a privilege.

Join the 52 Weeks of Thankfulness prompt at Haddon Musings.

Forgiveness by Dani DiPirro

I would call this more a collection of quotes and positive affirmations than a book.  It took me less than an hour to read, and in the end, I don’t feel like I came away with much more than a few new quotes I hadn’t heard before (all of which I found for free and favorited on BrainyQuote for future reference.) I wouldn’t say that I found this book helpful in learning how to forgive, although it did remind me of why it is important to forgive.  At the end of the book, there are some lists of ways to forgive in certain circumstances (at home, at work, in love, etc.) but they are very vague suggestions and don’t give any tips for how one would go about achieving this forgiveness.  Speaking from personal experience, when you have been hurt it is very hard to find a way to forgive even when you want to, especially if a violation of trust is involved.  I was hoping to experience a book about ways to achieve forgiveness in difficult circumstances.  Because all of the quotes can be found on the internet for free, and because most people who are picking up a book about forgiveness already want to forgive, I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy this book if they are looking for help to achieve that goal.  However, if you are looking for encouragement along the journey of forgiveness you have already started, you will definitely find it here, even if you can find it for free elsewhere.

I received a copy of this book for free to read and review through Netgalley

52 Weeks of Thankfulness #5

I’m back after a break full of traveling and resting and I’m still thankful! This week I am thankful that we are not slaves to circumstances.  How we experience the world is a direct result of how we choose to view and interact with it despite what may or may not happen.  This week I just found out my employer has no plans to make good on some promises made during the hiring process.  I’m extremely disappointed because I was excited about this job and have really enjoyed it so far.  But today I choose to see this as a chance to realize early on that this is not the right place for me before I’m too invested.  There are many other options out there, and one of them will be the right fit.

Join the 52 Weeks of Thankfulness prompt at Haddon Musings.

 

Smart Housekeeping by Anne L. Watson

Smart Housekeeping is a simple, straightforward and to the point book with tips to make housekeeping easier for you. While I’ll admit there is really nothing extraordinary or new in the book it’s still very helpful if you feel overwhelmed or lost about de-cluttering and cleaning your home. What I liked most about it was the focus on finding what works for you.  The main idea behind the tips in the book is to help you find simple solutions that you will actually use because they are comfortable for you and make sense in your life and in your home.  What works for some will not work for others and it’s all about finding the end result that you are seeking and the simplest way to get and stay there.  I also like that it was short!  Who wants to spend days reading about cleaning up around their home when they can actually be doing it? This book offers some ideas and inspiration to get you started in the right direction, and then lets you use the rest of your time to get going.

Some topics covered are a simple decluttering method, clutter control, organization, cleaning, and tips for getting household members on board. Some tips that I found helpful or encouraging were:

• work for short periods and break projects down into manageable bits
• be realistic about your limitations (time, money, energy)
• balance your resources (you may have more money than you have time, or more time than money.  Spend money where you can to make things easier, or put in extra time where you can to make things cost effective.
• Analyze where things collect and why and then design your clutter control around your habits and preferences (a laundry hamper where you undress to avoid a dirty laundry pile, a “gathering basket” holding place for things waiting to be put away.  When the basket is full make one trip to put everything away, etc.)
• “Never nag. It’s useless.”

This is a quick read and has some valuable tips for anyone who feels like getting their home under control is a daunting task.  The tips I found helpful might not make sense for you, but there were plenty of others that might work in your home and just weren’t a good fit for me. The biggest takeaway for me was that the state of your home is a personal choice, and the level of organization and cleanliness have to work for you.  How you do it is flexible so that it fits in your life and you build a routine you will maintain instead of one you will abandon.

I received a copy of this book for free to read and review through Netgalley