Your Pets and Stress Relief

A whole variety of pets, including cats, dogs & tropical birds do things we find funny. And we should all agree that pets and stress relief are a great combination …

Your Pets and Stress Relief

As with raising children, keeping pets is thought to be stressful. But often the situation is exactly the reverse: keeping pets often provides one of the best stress relief mechanisms around.

Several studies suggest that keeping a pet helps recovering surgery patients heal faster.

If the link between infection and stress, that some patients show, is correct then the link between pets and stress relief shouldn’t be surprising. The positive effect on your immune system could be accounted for by that.

For many of us, keeping pets provides an abundance of psychological benefits.

Your sympathetic nervous system works in conjunction with other areas of your brain to generate hormones and the signals that create our fight-or-flight response, pets shift our focus away from this and activate our parasympathetic nervous system creating the opposite effect.

In short, we calm down when pets and stress combine.

This short change of focus helps your body achieve homeostasis, the move back to equilibrium from the extreme that stress has interrupted.

Cats, for example, are oblivious to any stress problems you might have.

Tiddles wants her supper and her rub while perched in your warm, stationary lap.

This shifts your focus to your pets needs and away from the unpleasant episode at the office or the family argument, and helps lower your stress levels.

Pets and stress relief is a positive benefit.

Dogs are terrific stress relievers, when they aren’t creating more stress.

Digging holes in the backyard, destroying a good pair of shoes or creating a mess on the carpet certainly doesn’t help alleviate stress. But a short game of fetch with a tennis ball can.

Dogs have been domesticated to live with humans for over 10,000 years. During that time they have participated in a hundred common human rituals and activities, some of which can offer relief from stress symptoms.

Fishing, hiking and other activities are excellent combinations of pets and stress relievers. Physical activity accompanied by a loved and loving dog amplifies the stress relieving effect.

Watching your dogs enthusiastic, eager joy in the simplest activities is a vivid reminder that not everything in life is doom and gloom.

Even aquarium fish as pets provide stress relief.

Taking care of tropical fish requires a lot of careful planning and execution. That focus helps keep your mind off what can often be trivial problems. Additional rewards can gained by observing the many interesting behaviors your friendly sea creatures exhibit.

A whole variety of pets, including tropical birds, hamsters, ferrets and many more frequently display actions that people find humorous. And even the most serious psychotherapist will agree that laughter is the best medicine when it comes to relieving stress.

Though the form of communication between animals and humans is very different from that between one person and another, there is an undeniable understanding that can form between pets and their owners.

That bond is often stronger than between casual friends and the result is a feeling of support without expectation of anything other than a good stroke.

Pets and stress relief is a fact, after all, when was the last time you heard someone say ‘my dog drove me to drink?’

A regular 48hr De-stress will do wonders for your outlook on life.

The ability to spend some time on yourself will make you appreciate the quiet times more and will help you value your ‘me time’ more. The pressures of work, family and friends will seem simpler and any financial pressures you have, will be approached in a calmer, more logical way, with a clearer mind.

Try the 48hr De-stress once a month for maximum benefit. You’ll soon find yourself looking forward to your de-stress weekends.