Healthy Growth should be calm and easy – not dramatic!

I’ve been devoted to healthy growth in my life for quite a few years now. When I was younger, I didn’t think about growth. I just floated along, doing the best I could. Then I got really unwell with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Lyme. Suddenly my body didn’t answer for me. I was fatigued, in pain, nothing helped.

I had to grow in all kinds of ways to survive. But this was a forced growth, and not so healthy. I still had a whole lot of patterns of not listening to my needs, not caring for myself properly, and above all, not being kind or loving to myself. It took a lot more years to realise that healthy growth takes time, attention to detail, and a whole lot of patience.

It wasn’t until I learned how to stop pushing, and started relaxing and taking things one step at a time – that I realised that for most of my life I’d been addicted to intensity and drama. I thought that to grow you needed to have radical breakthroughs, to push hard, to have big, sudden changes.

My animals suffered through this period of ‘boom and bust’ type, unhealthy growth with me for years. They were impacted by the second-hand stress and my fluctuating capacity to be present, to care for them, to connect with them, and to be in relationship with them.

Over the past 5 years or so, I’ve learned what healthy growth really is. There were several important realisations I arrived to along the way. And… My animals have visibly benefited from me moving away from unhealthy growth, and towards healthy growth.

Healthy growth is sustainable. Healthy growth never takes you into extreme dysregulation. It doesn’t turn your life upside down. It takes work. It needs will. You have to be intelligent and flexible.

Here are what I feel are the key ingredients for healthy growth

1. Strong, active self-love. It wasn’t until I decided that I’d do whatever it took to truly love myself, to be kind to myself, and to show up and care for myself, that I started to explore what healthy growth felt like!
2. Consistency. I didn’t get well, and increase strength and vitality in my body, until I committed to exercising and meditating 5 mornings a week. And that didn’t happen straight away. It’s taken years, literally, to get to being well and strong (and still steadily growing that well-being!).
3. Determination. My self-love in action is NON-NEGOTIABLE. No matter how hard it is, no matter how much I might not ‘feel like’ it, I do it.
4. Kindness. I am kind with myself, and I am kind with others. I will not tolerate lack of care and consideration from others. That means that sometimes I move away from people, and choose not to interact/connect with them.
5. Steady does it! I grow little by little. I practice little by little. I increase my exercise program little by little. I don;t push too hard. I am patient and willing to wait for as long as it takes to gain the benefits. Sometimes it might be months of doing a practice before I reap the rewards!
6. I find awesome mentors. I actively seek people who are brilliant, who share my values, and learn from and with them.
7. Rest. I make sure I get plenty of sleep. If I go away for retreats or ceremonies, I make sure I have downtime to integrate afterwards.
8. FUN! I find it’s incredibly important to remember to smile, to actively create joy in my life, in every way possible.
9. Healthy discomfort. It’s rare that meaningful growth comes without at least some healthy discomfort. I continually seek and grow my capacity for healthy discomfort.
10. Escaping comfort zones. I do new things at least now and then that stretch me, that require that I learn new skills and expand my capacity.
11. Expansion and contraction. Life is all about expansion and contraction. I allow and welcome contraction phases. I’ll back off work, go to bed early, and if need be, cancel out clients and commitments. Sometimes I need to conserve my energy. If I don’t, I’ll crash.
12. Creativity. Above all, I nurture and express my creativity regularly. I feel that this is possibly the most important facet of healthy growth. The act of creation is fertilizer for healthy growth!

When you tend to your healthy growth, not only does your life become richer, but your pets benefit. With consistent healthy growth, you’ll have more energy, more flexibility, greater capacity, more presence. More of you, more of everything.

This benefits your pets MASSIVELY. You’ll see them simply blossom because you are now a much better environment for them to live in and with. In addition, you’ll naturally grow your capacity to tend to them better, to care for them better, to train them better, and to be a better human for them!

Here’s a short video of me discussing this topic.

– Enjoy this article? You can check out last week’s one at this link.

– Want to work with me to create harmony for your pets (and maybe for you) with holistic veterinary consultations, intuitive insights, and energy healing? Drop into www.thehealingvet.com and book a free call with me. And if you’d like to learn how to heal your pets (and yourself) with loving touch and energy healing, check out www.wholeenergybodybalance.com

Dally, my lovely horse.