Earning my adopted dog's trust at first seemed almost impossible, until one heartbreaking moment changed everything. What I learned through Tucker’s journey is the same truth I share with my clients today: healing can only begin when we feel safe enough to trust.
Hello, and welcome to Quantum Waves of Wellness. I’m your host, Dr. Paula Apro—Doctor of Natural Medicine, holistic health mentor, and your guide to unlocking the healing power within. This week, I'm going to explain how my dog Tucker is an example of how important Trust is in the healing process.
When we first adopted Tucker, he was more shadow than dog—skittish, jumpy, and certain that the world was out to hurt him. Every noise sent him into panic, every beckon to “come” was met with fear.
Tucker was a stray for over a year and had to learn how to survive in a scary and dangerous world. Everything about his behavior was evidence that his Fight or Flight response was stuck on high. You definitely needed to earn his trust. In Tucker's book, you were guilty until proven innocent.
This behavior went on for a while, and it was not exactly easy to deal with. I felt so sorry for him. I just couldn't convince him that I was not going to hurt him, and my only intentions were to love him and keep him safe.
And as fate would have it, the Universe provided us with the ultimate opportunity to prove that to him. During his invisible fence training, the dreaded happened. The already skittish and terrified dog … got zapped.
I will never forget that awful sound of him screaming and squealing. He ran straight to the back door of the house and cowered until I opened it up and scooped him into my arms. All I could do was hold him, rock him in my arms, and tell him, "You're OK Tucker. You're safe, I got you."
He finally settled down, but that experience just reinforced his deeply embedded story that the world is a scary place and nothing is safe. I thought I destroyed any progress that we may have made with him. After that incident, he didn't even want to go outside, let alone take walks up the street. I was so upset and discouraged.
Until . . . things started to turn around. I used this as an opportunity to remind him that as long as he's with me, he's safe. When we went for walks and fear overcame him to the point where he could no longer take another step, I just picked him up and I reassured him.
This was good exercise for me because one walk required many pickups. But it was worth it. Not only did his fear start to release, but his trust in me grew exponentially.
It wasn't long before the dog that would NEVER come when called started to fly right to my side whenever I called him. There was no question that he accepted me as "his person." I was his and he was mine.
In over a year, he never had one single experience where I let him down. I made darn sure that I continued to build his trust more and more.
He used to be very fearful of the car and always resisted getting in. Once inside, he just shook like a leaf, convinced I was going to dump him on the side of the road.
But I made sure every ride was a good experience and praised him endlessly for being such a brave boy. After several months, I started to notice that he was no longer shaking in the car. And nowadays, he doesn't even wait for my beckon to jump in. He's so excited about what fun adventure is coming next, he can't wait to get into the car.
Looking at this dog gives me so much hope. I have worked with many clients who feel like they are at a dead end and will never break out of whatever problem they are dealing with. Sometimes these problems are physical, and sometimes they are depression. But ALL problems are rooted in emotional and mental imbalances.
It is our past that completely, 100%, dictates our current reality. All the hurts we've experienced in the past build up and inform our nervous system as to how much danger we are in. The more bad experiences we've had, the higher our state of alert will be. It's simple mathematics, really.
And it is our current reality, and our current feelings, that 100% dictate our future. If we can not let go of the pain from our past, there is not much hope of a bright or healthy future. It's really that simple.
Well, the theory is really that simple. The act of letting go, on the other hand, is not so simple. This is the focus of my work, and I will never stop looking for the ultimate tool or method to make this easy. But here's the reality . . .
I can find and use the ultimate tool to train your nervous system that "You're OK, you're safe, and it's all good," but if you can't go back to living your daily life without being in a hyper-vigilant state, there's a problem.
It is so very important to feel safe in your environment. If you're nervous system is on high alert and you're just waiting for the next shoe to drop, the next problem to arise, the next conflict to disrupt your life... You are never going to heal.
Many of us may feel like that stray dog on the streets, thinking that life is never going to change, and it is what it is. But if you ever get stuck in this thinking pattern, just remember the Cinderella story of my little dog Tucker. He reminds us that there's always hope of things turning around.
Maybe another "person" will rescue them. Maybe the Lord will start guiding them. Maybe they will find their own strength inside to convince their nervous system to take a break. But something needs to change in order to heal.
If we could just trust that miracles can happen, everything little thing will be alright. Trust and faith seem to go hand in hand, and without one, the other is very difficult to achieve.
Without faith, how can you trust? And without trust, how can you have faith?
These are very hard questions that I really wish I had the answer to. I may not have all the answers, but what I do know is that healing is not possible with a nervous system that is always on high alert. It really is step #1 to any healing process.
We all need the equivalent of "our person" to scoop us up into their arms and convince us we are safe. We all need an environment where we can feel safe and heard. We all need to take a break from the outside world so that we can listen to what’s going on inside ourselves. We need silence and stillness in order to find inner peace.
Which leads me to my next upcoming virtual retreat. Knowing how important all of this is in any healing process, I am planning to offer a 6-week healing journey that aims to RELAX (the nervous system), RELEASE (the emotional pain from the past), and RECHARGE (with fresh vital life force energy). This workshop will not only include many self-help tips and tricks, but will also include the powerful boost of frequency medicine.
Please stay tuned for more info, or you can drop a comment to let me know you are interested. I'm still in the building process, but I should have more details out shortly.
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