Veterinarians – Page 7 – Heal ThySELF DVM

Seasons Change and So Can We

It is definitely autumn now. I live in Pennsylvania and fall is definitely here. The mornings are cold, the afternoons warm, the leaves are falling and the air is fresh and light.

Chinese medicine asserts that balance of the five elements of nature-wood, fire, earth, metal and water-allows for better health. The balance of these five elements is the basis for traditional chinese medicine which includes herbal treatments and acupuncture. The elements all coincide with a season. Wood is spring, fire is summer, earth is late summer, metal is fall and water is winter.

If we apply a holistic approach to our health, which definitely includes our mental health, we can use the outline of the 5 elements for creating harmony in each season.

We are now in autumn, which in chinese medicine is represented by metal. Autumn is a time to harvest the crops and prepare for winter. It is a time to make sure everything is ready and strong for the coming winter, it is a time to clean out unwanted things.

Metal is associated with purity – think about ore being forged and refined into steel that is strong and unbreakable. Metal is associated with air as well – the changing of one thing into another, movement, adaptability, purification.

Metal is associated with the lung and large intestines, both are organs of transformation and purification. The lungs take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide while the large intestine absorbs water, minerals and nutrients and expels the unwanted waste.

Autumn is a time of harvesting what has been sown and tendered, taking in all the necessary bounty and eliminating the unwanted, a time of change, a time of preparation.

There are traditional ways of eating in autumn based on the chinese agriculture such as more root vegetables, hearty foods, strong flavors like ginger and more water in the diet.

So today, I encourage you to immerse yourself in autumn with all of your senses. What does it feel like on your skin, what beautiful sights are there, what smells, what sounds, what foods do you appreciate in autumn?

Use this time to reflect on the harvest you have reaped this summer-what new projects were started, what family outings did you enjoy-and how can you glean strength and a deeper love for yourself and others because of what you experienced this summer.
Above all, take time to enjoy the new season and allow the ideas of harvesting the fruits of your labor create a new commitment to your health-physical, mental and spiritual.

A Revolutionary Way of Looking at Vet Med

My decision to be a veterinarian was a calling, not a decision. I knew from a very early age that I would be a veterinarian. So now that I am, how do I navigate the stresses and struggles of the profession? Watch the video to find out what has worked for me, and how you can see our profession in a new light.

How Can Not Taking Things Personally Lift You Up?

Taking things personally is so easy to do! We do it without even thinking of it!

When someone attacks us verbally, or makes comments about us to others, it is so easy to fall into the trap of taking it personally.

What does taking it personally mean? It means that we make the comment about us, we put meaning to it that satisfies our need to be right, our need to be safe and our need to defend ourselves (thank you monkey mind). When we take something personally we are assuming that we know what the other person meant and wanted us to feel. But, can we ever know what someone else is truly thinking?

Taking things personally, making it about us, is a great way to create drama, emotion and stress where there may not need to be any. Let’s look at an example.

We hear someone say that “we are just in it for the money, we are gouging clients”. Right away our hackles go up and we are ready for a fight. But this only happens if we have taken it personally. If we have allowed their comment to affect our belief in ourselves or affect how we believe others think about us.

If you can allow that first flush of anger wash over you and through you and take a step back from it, you can see where maybe, the comment is a reflection of THAT person’s beliefs and practices, not yours. Perhaps THAT person feels some sort of conflict about charging clients, their clients’ ability to afford them, their own finances and debt etc.

Or a client tells us that we don’t know what we are talking about, they found real info on Google. If we take that comment personally then we are insulted, miffed, angry and that can spiral out of control over the days and weeks we keep replaying the comment in our head. But what if, when they say that, we can allow it to wash over us and not land inside us? What if we can recognize that they are entitled to their belief about me, but it has nothing to do with me!

I know myself, and I don’t need to take their opinion of me into consideration. I can then end the appt with allowing them to go on their way, find another Vet they can feel better about and I can move on. Not taking things personally also sometimes means that I have to let go of the need to be right and the need to be the right person for everyone.

So I encourage all of you to practice taking a step back whenever you hear anything that flares your defensive, emotional muscles. Take a breath. Ask yourself “ How could what I just heard have nothing to do with me?” “What would I be like if I knew that others’ opinions do not matter to me?”

How would it feel to not react in anger the next time you are confronted? Not taking things personally allows you to find a thought, a solution that makes sense to you instead of getting caught on an emotional merry go round that you cannot get off.

It doesn’t mean that you are ignoring the situation. It simply means that you have moved past the monkey mind induced negative emotions into the realm of self-care and finding solutions that allow you to feel better.

Please let me know how not taking things personally allows you to be more of the person you know you are. How does your day flow when things roll more easily off your back?

You can contact me via pamela@healthyselfdvm.com or set up a personal free 1 on 1 chat about this by visiting my scheduling site. And, as always, continue to be the wonderful, compassionate rock star badasses that I know you all are!

How Can You Keep Anger from Derailing Your Day?

I feel the need to speak out about a FB video that was posted recently by a veterinarian who I will not name here. She was distraught about the price of veterinary care and the effect that cost has on our clients and patients.

While I agree that this is an important topic, I feel that her approach was hurtful and disrespectful of her colleagues. Everyone in the field of veterinary medicine does the very best they can every day, day in and day out, despite the pain and suffering we see every day. We are not in it for the money, that’s for sure!

I created this with the desire to help my colleagues who may have been hurt by the video.

Some things to think about as you watch the video are: What does anger feel like in your body? Can you respond to anger in a new way, and what would that look like to you? When you feel angry at someone, could you deal with it differently by acknowledging that there is an underlying cause of the anger?

You can watch the video and let me know how you answered any of the above questions by emailing me at pamela@healthyselfdvm.com or setting up a private 1 hr phone call by visiting my scheduling center.

And please, as always, let everyone see the unique, compassionate person you are!

What if your beliefs are actually holding you back from more joy and abundance?

So what if beliefs that you have about yourself, the world, your profession, your love life are actually holding yourself back? What if you could let go of a belief and see it allow space for a totally different, more enlightened, centered view to take hold?

Common beliefs that can hold us back involve having to be right, what kind of career we want and how we deserve to be treated. Check out this video by Prince Ea:

Then let me know what belief you are willing to let go of to let more joy and abundance into your life.

And if you would like to explore letting go of beliefs that do not serve you, please visit my online scheduling center and set up a one on one personal call with me.

How can being wrong be OK?

The fear of being wrong can be paralyzing. But we are all wrong sometimes. How you deal with it is the key.

Check out the video I made on this subject:

Now let me know how this works for you… Let’s set up a time to talk one-on-one. Just head over to my scheduling system. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Simple Tips to Stop Compartmentalizing Your Day

So often in my day I have to move from 1 appointment to the next with barely time to catch my breath.

I used to feel like I had to hide the stress or sadness of the previous appt from the next one. But I realized that as I did that, I was also stuffing down and ignoring my emotional needs and by the end of the day I was exhausted and depressed. I would go home and binge eat, or not eat at all, and yet never really let go of the emotional stresses of my day.

That is what leads to burnout and compassion fatigue.

What I have found is that spending just 30 seconds on dealing with the emotions I am feeling in the moment helps me feel better throughout the day.

Here are several ways I release tension and emotions throughout the day so they don’t build up and overwhelm me, especially if I am crazy busy or running late with appointments:

I will pause before opening the exam room door, take a couple deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth. I feel the breath in bringing in peace and happiness, knowledge and confidence. I feel the breath out releasing any negative emotions I might be feeling-stress, anger, sadness.
I will tell the client of the next patient a 1 sentence explanation of why I might have run late, such as “I am sorry to keep you waiting, the last client had some difficult decisions to make and I could not rush them. I appreciate your understanding. Now, I see that Fluffy is very excited to be here today.” Telling them that I respect their time and that I am only human has been well received. Most clients respond with “when it is my pet, I know you will do the same for us.”
I “shake it off.” Literally, just like the Taylor Swift song says. I do a full body shiver, shake or jump around for 5-10 seconds. It releases tension, can be a source of laughter for my staff, and it allows me to feel brighter and lighter moving forward. If you can’t do a full body shake, try swinging your arms or bouncing on your toes.

Seeing new clients and pets every 15 minutes or so can be very draining if there is no effort to stay centered and balanced throughout the day. In the coming weeks, we will explore ways of releasing negative emotions by reframing your thoughts and honoring your feelings.

If you like what you just read, or if you have other ways of releasing negative emotions during your work day, I would love to hear from you. Please visit calendly.com/healthyselfdvm to schedule a free, 1 hour phone call with me to explore ways that work for you.

Have a fantastic day!!

Dealing with energy drainers…

I know that when I am feeling stuck and unable to move forward, I realize there are things in my house or office that need to be done that bother me every day as I look at them. Little things like clutter on the countertop, stuff on the stairs waiting to be carried up, a burned out light bulb in a lamp. Things that I could quickly and easily remedy, but I don’t.

I use them as evidence to myself that I am lazy, worthless, overworked, a poor time manager and an overall failure at life! Yep, that sums up my thoughts some days!

But what I have learned is that when I feel that way and look at those things, if I can resolve them I feel so much better and can turn around that negative self-talk.

So here is my challenge to you:

Pick 3-5 things that irritate (drain) you every day when you look at – or think about – them. Choose easy-to-remedy things for now like change that light bulb (not paint the house or clean the closet out).
Now, commit to resolving one thing on the list every day this week. Just one.
As you resolve the thing, give yourself credit for fixing it, tell yourself how much you love yourself for doing this and celebrate the hell out of your accomplishment every day!

These energy drainers are keeping you stuck. Changing the little things you don’t like about your surroundings will lead to your ability to create the bigger things you dream about.

Here is a TEDx talk that will give you more ways of jump-starting the removal of those energy drainers: https://youtu.be/Lp7E973zozc.

Watch it and let me know how your Energy-Drain-Unclogging goes! Click here to set up a free, 1 hr call with me to let me help celebrate your accomplishments!

Can you be grateful in stressful situations?

Gratitude. Feeling grateful for the experiences in our lives is a powerful way to feel happier and more empowered.

When you can extend the feeling of gratitude to the people and experiences in your life you will find that more and more good things come your way.

So I encourage you to keep a gratitude journal. Start small: just commit to doing it for 7 days. Each morning or evening, write down 5 things that you are grateful for. They can start with simple yet important things: you woke up!, your car started, you have clothes to wear, etc.

Be honest with yourself and start with what you can truly say you are grateful for having. I think you will feel better after the 7 days and I encourage you to keep the practice going or at least reach for it when you are feeling down.

As time goes on, see if you find gratitude in the challenges of the day. Such as gratitude that you were 5 minutes late leaving the house because then you got to avoid the accident, or see the heron in the creek, or the cute dog being walked by its owner.

Gratitude can also be extended to challenging client interactions. Be grateful that you do not have the life experience of the chronically bitchy client. Be grateful that the client with no money allowed you to flex your “No” muscle and not get drawn into their drama.

Being grateful for the good things in life is a great way to start, but finding ways to be grateful for the suckier things that happen is when the true magic occurs. So go out and be GREATFUL today!

If any of this resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to discuss these ideas more, please click here to set up your free, 1 hr one on one call with me. I can’t wait to hear from you!

I challenge you…

Complaining. Argh.

It is so easy to go through the day complaining about all types of things-the weather (it’s always too hot or wet or cold), the clients, the computer system, the staff, the management.

But complaining, and getting others to join in with you, is a way of continuing to keep yourself tied down to negative thoughts and emotions.

For today, I challenge you to not complain about anything!

If you feel the need to complain, stop, take a breath, try to recognize why that situation invokes your need to complain and find a way to breath through it and let it go. Make a list of the things you really want to complain about and see if there is a common underlying thread. Maybe they are situations in which you are feeling powerless. Maybe they are situations that challenge beliefs about the world or yourself.

Sometimes finding the common thread helps you to be able to play with ways of changing your beliefs so those situations do not irritate you any longer. We will be discussing ways of changing those irritating situations/thoughts into better feeling ones as we move forward. The first step is noticing what you want to complain about and what is the underlying belief.

So for this week, try noticing what situations cause you to complain the most. When you have some quiet time, see if there are any common threads to the areas.

What sets off your complaining mood? I’d love to hear from you.

Click here to set up your free, 1 hour one on one call with me to discuss these ideas further.