Blog — Health and Well-Being

  Everything for me in the world of canine somatics is boiling down to one thing: Emotional Capacity. Reactivity is a lack of capacity to deal with outside stressors. Instead of trying to fix, correct, punish, or suppress the symptoms of reactivity, we can go straight to the heart of the issue which is capacity. Increasing emotional capacity goes hand in hand with autonomic flexibility and higher thresholds. Difficulty in learning or retaining information is: A lack of capacity. We can think of your dog's emotional and cognitive bandwidth being cluttered and confused with too much noise/stress. It leaves little...

  Balance and Proprioception are Deeply Intertwined Proprioception (your body's sense of position) provides the raw data (where you are) that your balance system uses (with input from eyes and inner ears) to make constant, tiny adjustments via your muscles to keep you steady and upright, preventing falls and allowing coordinated movement, with balance training effectively enhancing this internal GPS system. Essentially, better balance means better proprioception because the challenges of balancing force your proprioceptors to work harder and smarter, improving nerve signals and muscle response. Proprioception (body position in space) and interoception (internal body states like hunger, fatigue) are...

  I really wish I had some fancy training techniques for you. I wish I could impress you with some sharp obedience and lots of down-stays around chickens (impulse control). I wish making your dog "wait" for his dinner and then telling him "okay" was the quick and easy fix to all your training problems. But let's look on the bright side... What we do have is the built-in technology of the nervous system to detect threat and safety. What we have is the fascia, the living matrix of the body. We have neuroception, co-regulation, and somatic resonance. We have your...

  Present Moment Gratitude Write your dog a letter of gratitude, for everything they have brought into your life, everything they have taught you, and all the things you hope to experience together. Take a moment to read and reflect on this letter and all the emotions it might bring up in your body as a felt sense. A "felt sense" is a bodily-felt experience of a whole situation that exists before you can put it into words. Gratitude for the Past Write a letter of gratitude to each of your past dogs, who are no longer with you. Take...

  What is Biophilic Design?    Biophilic design is a concept that incorporates nature into the built environment to enhance the connection between people and the natural world, thereby improving physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This is achieved by integrating elements like natural light, vegetation, water features, and natural materials, as well as using designs that mimic natural forms, patterns, and spaces.    Many thanks to Dr. Niki Elliott who gave a very insightful presentation at the Polyvagal Institute gathering. I was especially interested in the concept of Biophilic Design as it relates to dogs and their nervous system regulation....