Physical Memory and the Emotional Body
Many times over the years, Kevin has used a phrase over and over and I’ll have no idea what he means. It always takes a while to gestate and then one day I’ll see it. I start making all the connections; it’s like a puzzle that you stare at for hours until you see how it all fits together. It then forms a picture.
Hero has spent a lot of time lately playing madly at Kevin’s farm. Her best buddy forever is Pablo; a tiny white dog easily confused with an old cotton mop. They go at it for hours and Pablo always looks relieved to finally be put in a crate and given a rest.
Hero has also spent a lot of time around other dogs. The other day, Hero got too close to a female shepherd in heat; she really got a whooping.
She hadn’t been around her big brother Athos in quite some time. The history between them was that she bugged him relentlessly, and he avoided confrontation. After Hero got her “whooping” , when she was with Athos, it was like I was watching two very different dogs.
Hero was “submissive”. Her hackles were up, she was backing away. Because of this, Athos was “aggressive”; he was pushing in on her space and overwhelming her. I had the “ah-ha” moment. Hero wasn’t seeing Athos, she was seeing the female in heat. She had carried that experience with her in her body; physical memory, and transferred it to the next dog she encountered. She really was feeling and reliving the experience from the past and it was influencing her present emotional state.
When ever I see things with dogs, I always wonder what it means to me. As I stood watching this incredible display of physical memory, I remembered something very similar that had happened to me.
I had a dear friend many years ago who was truly one of the most amazing people I had ever known. She was talented, intuitive, spontaneous, and all around lovely. She had also endured years of trauma as a child at the hands of her father. Throughout the relationship with her, strange things kept popping up. She would fiercely defend her children against me for the oddest things. She would be unable to see and respect personal boundaries. She would twist compliments payed to her and see them as hurtful. Slowly, I began to see that she cast me, a person who loved her dearly, in the role of the parent who so terribly hurt her. In our interactions, because I was such a central, loving person to her, I became that parent and she reacted to me just as if I really was that parent. Physical memory. The emotional body. All making sense.
These musings bring up the one central core of Natural Dog Training that comes up time and time again. Dogs are here in our lives for one reason; to help us become more conscious. Watching Hero reliving her past and bringing it into the present, the only place for me to go is inward. What do I do that is a product of physical memory and not an authentic expression of the moment? I can see it in others, but how can I catch myself when my emotional body is being controlled by physical memory? How do I heal that physical memory and move to a place of greater awareness?
The dogs are part of the answer. I can watch them and pay attention. I can place myself around people who aren’t afraid to tell me the truth about myself and I can be open to that truth. I can be grateful for the gift of physical memory and my capacity to understand it. I can just welcome it all; the hurt, the joy, the love and the pain of being on planet earth.
Wonderful post Trisha.
I myself have been experiencing a lot of this lately in myself, and have been struggling with overcoming it and not letting my own physical memories affect how I am experiencing the world in that moment. But it’s a hard, hard thing to do when you become overwhelmed by memories.
Dogs are the access to higher consciousness. When I see my own dog Roxy relive her physical memories of a stranger, or a new dog, I can see how she is reliving the past. Not just remembering it in her mind, but feeling it throughout every part of her body. And it reminds me of myself, and how I fall victim to the power of my memories as well, feeling all the pain and anger that I experienced in the original moment. I struggle with this on a daily basis. But at least I have the ability to know and understand that it is a memory. She doesn’t have that luxury, as she is experiencing her fear and rage exactly as the first experience that initially created it.
Dogs truly are amazing in their capacity to show us all we need to know, if we’re just open to seeing and feeling it.
Thank you for this post, Trisha. Your comment, “Dogs are here in our lives for one reason; to help us become more conscious.”, really hits home for me in this moment… as I have experienced two things tonight which reflect on this:
One: In a local interview with Jon Katz, he said that our attraction to our animals is increasing at an alarming rate. In the last 30 years, things have shifted dramatically…. In the 60’s – 98 percent of people asked if they believed animals have souls, said, “NO”…. and three years ago, 98 percent of people said, “YES” in response to the same question. We are turning toward them now, as our saviors and our guides, and it is my belief AS WELL, that they are leading us to our consciousness. What else may they hold for us, though, that we are naturally gravitating towards so rapidly? Is it only our consciousness, or could there be something more?
Two – I just saw this video, on the upcoming documentary VISIONS, and I feel this may show some reason for the increase of our attachment to animals now… because, if we are moving into a shift such as this, they may very well be helping us in this shift, by aiding our increasing consciousness, or perhaps, our ability to emotionally connect with others……. to feel that sphere of influence animals seem to sense so readily. (If you are interesting in watching the brief trailer for this, it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Wn1ZtLjUE )
Either way, I also find the fact that we are analyzing animals, and truly paying attention to WHO THEY ARE, and what they are experiencing now, rather than continuing our amusing world of anthropomorphizing them, is an important piece of this new world view…..
So once again, thank you for your contribution to this increasing awareness.
I needed to read this today… rescue dogs (esp. those pulled from a shelter environment) have so many unknowns, so many things that people do not have records of. As I get to know my fosters (or adopted dogs) I just watch, listen, learn. Some of it is heartbreaking. Some of it is exciting. But all of it truly does give me a greater awareness of the dog, of self, of purpose, of shared life on earth.
Truly amazing. I’ll keep your words close as I get to know the dog we pulled from the shelter 2 days ago – its already an adventure.
You’ve worded it perfectly – thank you.
Trisha, I love to read your blog, and I am so excited and inspired every time that you write. My own dog responded to an action that triggered a physical memory of him being attacked by another dog the other day, and I was startled, but immediately realized that he was reliving the incident.I could not really explain to my mom or my sister what had happened, but since I was the only one around when our dog was attacked my the other dog, it was like de ja vu. I have experienced triggers of physical memory, and have acted consequently, myself. I am very impressed at you and Kevin’s ability to understand and explain the reasons for these experiences, so we realize that we should noy try to avoid life, but live it. Thanks so much for writing this blog, and keep us posted.
What a wonderful description of the beautiful healing role of dogs in our lives. I’ve had many personal realizations while applying Natural Dog Training principles.
Beautiful post.
My question is, would Hero have behaved any differently if you hadn’t been there to see it? I think when it comes to consciousness, we live in an observer-determined reality. So I’m not sure if this post is as much about a dog’s physical memory and/or emotional body as it is about how dogs reflect our unresolved emotional issues.
Just a passing thought I had…
LCK
Good point Lee. If I weren’t around to observe and witness Roxy’s behaviors, would those behaviors cease to exist? Probably. If I weren’t in the picture, then she’d more than likely return to her natural dog state on her own.
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