As Long As We Have Not Loved An Animal, Our Soul Is Asleep

Until we know what it means to love an animal, we cannot understand what nobility is and the awakening of emotions that can cleanse our soul.

Giving love to a dog, a cat or any living being no matter how small, restless or singular it is, is to enrich us and discover that animals can have feelings as precious as ours.

We have all read many times about the benefits of having a pet at home.

Now, what is more interesting is to discover that all of this has a clear impact on savings in the field of public health.

According to various studies, animals save us many visits to the doctor, which saves the health sector nearly 3 million euros in countries like Germany and Austria.

To love an animal is to see yourself in a gaze that expects everything from us, which invites us to caress, which gives us smiles and pure emotions. The only thing he asks of us is love.

We could relate with great fondness that moment when someone unique comes home and turns everyone’s hearts.

Something wakes up in our interior when we adopt a dog, when we save a little cat from the street, starving, dirty and in search of affection.

It is as if an inner light is turning on, as if a particular mechanism is moving the gears of change to help us be better people too. We invite you here to think about it.

The animal “medicine” and miraculous therapies

We will start by telling you about the case of Claudia, an Alzheimer’s patient who, a while ago, stopped showing interest in the world.

No activity that she did generated a change in her condition, except one: when the socio-cultural animators brought in 4 bitches trained for therapeutic purposes.

Claudia has a predilection for one of these bitches. The mere fact of seeing her turns her gaze on and awakens her energy, which allows her to reconnect with reality. And it never fails.

A few seconds later, this patient takes the animal in her arms, kisses it and tells it thousands of things.

Thanks to this interaction, we have been able to reduce the administration of several drugs aimed at the physical, cognitive and emotional response.

Animals are real medicine for people.

According to a study published in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology”, this “awakening” is promoted by the activation of oxytocin, known as the hormone of love, affection and tenderness.

When its levels increase, a series of psychological and physiological triggers appear that allow people to be more present and more receptive to everything that involves emotional aspects (hugs, caresses, tender words … ).

The gaze of our animals

Sometimes you can make a better visual connection with an animal than with a person.

An animal has an incredible capacity for emotional connection, whether it is through a simple gesture or a look.

In fact, we know that the visual contact between a dog and his master is so pure and sincere, that thanks to him, the bond is very strong.

There are many types of love, but the love we can feel for an animal is something exceptional that brings out the best in us, and helps us to be better people.

According to an interesting study, published in the journal Science, dogs recognize our smile, show empathy and know how to interpret our emotions just by looking us in the eyes.

All this would be the result of so many years of common evolution, during which an exceptional bond was created, which goes far beyond races or sizes. It comes directly from the genes and the heart .

We become what we see in the eyes of our animals

Often it is said that our dog’s gaze is the best mirror to see the reflection of our soul. It is an obvious truth which deserves to be fleshed out.

• If one of the animals we have trained is running away from us and their eyes reflect fear, something has gone wrong. Fear feeds on a negative emotional impact.

• Few things can be as therapeutic as a dog or a cat when you arrive home with low morale and tears burning our eyes. It is as if they are hugging us and telling us “everything is fine”.

• To our animals, we are the most beautiful thing in the world and that doesn’t just meet the need to eat. They too hope for only one thing: to receive affection.

• The gaze of an animal serves as a mirror to forge our “self-acceptance”.
  Their sincere eyes offer us another perspective with which we can put our problems, our anxieties and our stress into perspective. We just have to take them in our arms and then the world harmonizes.

This wonderful dose of oxytocin that our pets give us allows us to connect with reality,  and combine affection with illusion to conquer the clouds of everyday life with more security.

We are all “a little asleep” until we find out what animal love is.