Here is another example from my own experience about how animals take on our “stuff”.
I have been doing ballroom dance for about 6 yrs. Last year, I decided to push myself to perform, even though it really scares me to be out in front of people. I had to wear high heels while performing and I had never danced in heels before. I had to order a specific color and style of shoe and the shoes didn’t arrive until the day of our final practice before the performance. I had had knee surgery on my left knee years ago and was always protective of it and was really, really nervous about dancing in heels for the first time. I kept asking the angels to protect my knee and to keep me from falling down! I managed to do ok during the practice but did not feel at all ready for the upcoming performance and kept thinking about it.
When I got home from practice, I took my dog, Buddha, and another dog across the street to a park and let them run around, the grass had just been watered and it was dark. After a few minutes I heard a painful yelp and Buddha came limping back, holding his left rear leg in the air. I was hoping he had just tweaked it but after a few days, he was not showing any improvement and it finally occurred to me to check for trapped emotions in his knee.
He had 3 emotions in his knee – my fear, my anxiety and his anxiety. I finally made the correlation between my fears about my left knee and the injury to his left knee and my anxiety about my upcoming dance performance, which he had taken on, along with his anxiety about my emotional state.
Unfortunately, his ACL was partially torn and he took months to recover. I realized once again how important it is not to worry or fear the worst, and if we do, clear those negative emotions!
