Can Your Pet Help You Keep Your New Years Resolution?

What’s Your New Years Resolution?

This year, did you commit to your health and wellness? Are you set to lose those extra pounds? Will you exercise more regularly? Are you determined to get to bed earlier? Did you make a similar resolution last year but somewhere around February did your resolve come to a stall?

How about adding a new twist to your resolution this year, one that is fun and includes your BFF?

In Dog and Cat, I Trust

During 2017 I read countless articles about the health benefits of having pets. From boosting our immune system, relieving stress, and helping us feel less lonely – our animal friends offer a myriad of benefits to our wellbeing.

As a health and wellness coach and acupuncturist I was so inspired by our animal friends ability to enhance our whole body health that I wrote a book “Dog as My Doctor Cat as My Nurse: an animal lover’s guide to a healthy, happy & extraordinary life, to show that not only can our animal friends help us become physically healthier, but what they add to our emotional and spiritual well being is second to none.

If you love your cat or dog, would love to spend more quality time with them and create a healthier life for you, why not make 2018 the year that your pets become your health and wellness allies.

Five Ways Your Pets Can Help You Stay Healthy in 2018

1. Fitness with Fido….and Fifi – Studies show dog guardians are more fit than non-dog guardians. And you are more likely to go out for a walk with a dog than a human friend. Commit to taking your dog for two walks of at least 30 minutes every day. Be sure to mix it up and try a different trail or a new route to add spice to your life and your dog’s life too.
2. Go Play – When was the last time you took some time to play? Playing isn’t just for kids; it is an extremely healthy activity for adults. Play sparks our imagination and benefits our cognitive ability. Both cats and dogs love to play. And they especially love to do what most of us liked to do as kids –  play with balls. Get away from technology and go out and toss a ball to your canine at the beach or at the dog park. Or if a cat is more to your fancy, then buy them a little ball filled with catnip. I dare you not to laugh as you watch them chase after it.
3. Become a Healthy Snacker Instead of Slacker– Research shows that if you want to live a long and healthy life, eating ten servings of fruits and vegetables per day is the winning number. Ten is a big number so snacking in between meals is a great time to add them. Make your dog part of this healthy routine. Buy a bag of sweet potato treats for your canine and enjoy a treat together.
4. The Gift of the Present – How often do you catch yourself worrying about tomorrow or obsessing about something that happened in the past? I spent too much time visiting those far off places before I realized how important it is to relish the present. And no one has reminded me of this better than my dogs and cats who seem to enjoy every moment in the here and now. Meditating, mindfulness practice, yoga, taichi, walking your dog, spending time with your cat – all can help you enjoy the only moment that truly exists – right now.
5. Staying Pawsitive – This is my New Year’s resolution. Last year, I was disheartened by so much hatred, anger, and volatility in the world. Like so many people I wondered, how can I find happiness when there is so much darkness? One day it dawned on me that the best that I could do for the world was to focus on “staying pawsitive.”And what better happiness coach to remind me to remain optimistic than my own dog, Dakota. My Chow dog models joy and happiness every day, even though she is now sixteen, slowing down and a little more confused than in her younger years. If she can live happily, then so can I.

Make Your Resolutions Stick

Mary Morrissey reported in the Huffington Post how researchers discovered that people who write down their goals regularly are more likely to achieve their goals than those that do not. Writing down your goals gets your brain to kick in and to understand that you mean business.

Whatever your resolution is for 2018, make sure you jot it down and if you are an animal lover, make sure that you don’t go one more year without including your dogs or cats in your health and wellness resolutions. Because not only can our fabulous friends help us live longer, but they can help us live healthier too. And in the end, what more do we want out of life than that?

Stay Pawsitive,

Carlyn

Ps: Need a bit of inspiration? How about getting your very own, Stay Pawsitive Pin? I wear mine virtually every day to remind me to enjoy life even when I have to leave my dogs at home. It goes great on my jacket or attached to my computer bag. I even surprise people – the cashier at the store, a friend having a hard time, a perfect stranger on the street – I hand them out and the benefit is a big smile. If you want to pick one up they are now available at….

My Wellness Depot

Watch This Week’s Simply Pawsitive Show!