Episode 3
Dreading the Holidays? Let’s Talk Family Drama and Dog Therapy!
Do you secretly dread the holidays? Howling at the Moon Podcast episode #3
In this heartfelt episode, Heather Leigh Strom opens up about the pain and anxiety that used to surface during family gatherings, and how the K9 Spirit Guides helped her heal what was buried beneath the surface.
If the holidays leave you feeling anxious, agitated, or like the odd one out… you’re not broken. You’re being shown what’s ready to heal.
✨ In this episode:
- • Why the holidays often trigger unresolved family wounds
- • The hidden emotional patterns behind holiday stress
- • How Heather Leigh learned to transform her pain into peace
- • A guided frequency from Anthea to help you reclaim joy here
💫 Want access to the full healing transmission?
Enjoy Anthea's "Patch Shield Meditation Upgrade" available exclusively to my subscribers on Substack.👉 Just subscribe to receive the energetic transmission.
💫 More about Heather Leigh Strom & the K9 Spirit Guides
Lots of episodes coming up with riveting spiritual guests and healing frequencies from the K9 Spirit Guides!
recorded November 2023
Holiday stress got you feeling like you’d rather wrestle a bear than spend time with family? Well, you’re not alone! Tonight, we’re diving deep into the all-too-common struggle of navigating family tensions during the holidays and how it can leave us feeling like a turkey on Thanksgiving—overcooked and ready to be served up on a platter of anxiety. I’ll share my own story of holiday angst and how it all relates back to childhood experiences that can trigger those uncomfortable feelings. But don’t worry, we’re not just here to vent; we’ve got some powerful tools to help eliminate that stress! Tune in as we channel a special frequency from the K9 spirit guides designed to bring you peace and joy, so you can enjoy the holidays without feeling like you’re walking on eggshells. Grab your favorite snack and let’s turn this holiday season into a joyful romp instead of a stressful slog!
Takeaways:
- Holiday gatherings can be stressful, especially when family dynamics are involved, causing anxiety and discomfort.
- Understanding the deeper emotional triggers tied to family interactions can lead to healing and improved holiday experiences.
- A spiritual approach, including guidance from K9 spirit guides, can provide insights and healing frequencies for holiday stress relief.
Transcript
Hello.
Speaker A:Tonight we are talking about eliminating holiday stress, especially involving family tension and conflict.
Speaker B:Welcome to Howling at the Moon, where the mystical meets the practical and the canine spirit guides lead the way.
Speaker B:I'm your host, Heather lee Strom.
Speaker B: In: Speaker B:For five decades, the world felt cold and confusing.
Speaker B:Now I see the patterns, the purpose and the bigger magical picture.
Speaker B:My mission, to help you find your way through your own awakening journey.
Speaker B:Here you'll discover limitless path possibilities for spiritual growth, powerful healing frequencies and extraordinary energetic professionals, each designed to guide you into deeper healing and remembrance.
Speaker B:Some episodes feature enlightening wisdom from spiritually evolved guest healers, visionaries and authors.
Speaker B:Others are led by the multidimensional canine spirit guides themselves, sharing their unique intergalactic wisdom and frequency.
Speaker B:If you've been craving deeper truth, multi dimensional healing and a little cosmic magic, you've just found your pack.
Speaker B:Listen and watch on Spotify or YouTube and bring the magic back into your life.
Speaker A:Okay, so tonight we're going to really get into why it is that some of us have a really tough time around the holidays and we feel really uncomfortable being around our family.
Speaker A:We get agitated, start arguments and we just generally don't have a good time and we really don't want to be around our family on the holidays.
Speaker A:So we're going to talk about that because it is quite common for many of us to not enjoy our family gatherings like other people do.
Speaker A:I know a lot of families get along and have a great time together and that has just never been me and my family and that's never been my experience and.
Speaker A:And I know I am not alone out there.
Speaker A:The more I get out in the world, the more I discover that there are many people that feel the way I felt most of my life and just dread the holidays coming up because they're forced to be around people that are considered to be their family, but they don't really feel that comfortable being around them or they don't feel that happy being around them.
Speaker A:And they're certainly not looking forward to it.
Speaker A:So let's talk about that a little bit first.
Speaker A:I'm going to share with you a little bit about my story and hopefully that will help you identify similarities within your story.
Speaker A:And then I'm going to share a frequency from the canine spirit guides designed to eliminate that stress and temporarily to help you get through this holiday season.
Speaker A:So there is relief in sight for you if you should fall into this category.
Speaker A:Does that sound good?
Speaker A:So how many of you feel like you would rather be with your dogs than to be with your own family?
Speaker A:And if you could pick your family, your family would be full of dogs and not people.
Speaker A:You know, if you read my book, you know how I feel about that.
Speaker A:You already know the answer to that question for me, because my life story talks about how I would rather be with dogs than with people in general, but especially with my own family.
Speaker A:I was a duck out of water with my family, for sure.
Speaker A:But let's talk about this holiday connection when November turns the calendar.
Speaker A:I always tended to have this buildup of anxiety, this buildup of stress that I couldn't explain and I really didn't fully understand for a long time.
Speaker A:The holidays would come creeping in, even though I could see them coming on the calendar.
Speaker A:I could see that November was coming, December was coming, and this buildup event anxiety would just.
Speaker A:Just kind of hit me.
Speaker A:And I wasn't really aware of it except later in life.
Speaker A:I started to kind of track it and pay more attention to it.
Speaker A:And especially as I went through my awakening and my healing, I really understood it.
Speaker A:But what would happen was as November came around the corner, I would start having more fights with my husband, coming up with these really ridiculous topics of discussion that ended in a fight.
Speaker A:And I knew that they would, and they were really ridiculous things just to get the agitation out.
Speaker A:So I was feeling agitated on the inside because the holidays were coming, all this anxiety was building up.
Speaker A:So in order to try and diffuse it, I would try and make him feel as agitated as I did.
Speaker A:And it just would go on and on and on throughout the entire holiday period until finally the holidays were over and I could take a deep breath, step down from that antagonistic pedestal, and just be done with it.
Speaker A:And it took me a long time to understand, number one, that I was doing this, also why it was happening and also what to do about it.
Speaker A:So that's what we're going to talk about here tonight.
Speaker A:But those of us who did not have a happy upbringing or a happy childhood are full of turmoil.
Speaker A:Sometimes, especially if it was around the holidays, this turmoil, even if we're not aware of it, can tend to come out around this holiday period because this is when happy families get together.
Speaker A:And if you're not from a happy family, then it tends to trigger you a little bit and you get agitated and you don't even know why you're agitated.
Speaker A:It's triggering those memories inside of you that you may not even know are uncomfortable or painful or.
Speaker A:Or sad.
Speaker A:You may not even understand that cognitively, but your subconscious, your ego and your soul is trying to get your attention around it and get you to heal it so that you don't feel this way anymore.
Speaker A:But we don't typically understand that.
Speaker A:When it comes out to me, I describe it as an eczema on the inside of my skin.
Speaker A:Doesn't that sound awful?
Speaker A:That's what it kind of felt like.
Speaker A:Like you could.
Speaker A:You can't scratch it, but it's got to be scratched because that's the only way that makes it stop itching.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So it was this, this constant digging from the inside that made me feel so awful that it had to come out.
Speaker A:And, and, and it wasn't happy unless it made other people around me feel just as uncomfortable.
Speaker A:And I know there's some family members that would agree with that, and my husband would probably agree with that, maybe even some friends of mine that would agree with that because they had been the target of this purge on one occasion or more.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But the reason this happened, the.
Speaker A:The reason this was so deeply ingrained in me was because of my childhood.
Speaker A:So I'm share a little bit about that.
Speaker A:So you understand, because sometimes our childhoods are not something that we remember clearly, Especially those who try and remember only the good parts.
Speaker A:Like, I didn't have that luxury.
Speaker A:I remembered all of it.
Speaker A:But some of us have.
Speaker A:Are really good at blocking out those parts of our memory that we don't like.
Speaker A:And so this can really sneak up on you.
Speaker A:And you may have this, this sense of overall anxiety around the holidays, but you may not understand why.
Speaker A:So this might be helpful for you to understand.
Speaker A:But my childhood was very strange.
Speaker A:And if you've read my book, you already know this, but my father was a preacher, yet we had no holiday tradition whatsoever.
Speaker A:We went to everyone else's house for the holidays.
Speaker A:So for Thanksgiving, we went to my mother's mother, my mother's family.
Speaker A:For Christmas, we went to my dad's family.
Speaker A:So we didn't have our own tradition at all for the holidays because we never spent time with us over the holidays.
Speaker A:And the other complicating factor to that was that for some reason, my father didn't want me to be focused on receiving gifts.
Speaker A:So he wouldn't let me give any gifts, and he wouldn't let me receive gifts.
Speaker A:So if I went to other people's Christmas, I had to watch them open their Christmas presents, and I didn't get any.
Speaker A:And I had to see how joyous and excited and happy they were and embracing in each other's joy.
Speaker A:And I just had to sit there and watch.
Speaker A:So that was very traumatic for a child.
Speaker A:And I guess I didn't actually realize how deeply traumatic that was until I was writing my book.
Speaker A:And I really didn't understand why that was his approach because that made no sense to me.
Speaker A:I didn't learn how to give and I didn't learn how to receive.
Speaker A:So it's quite harmful for a child to not know how to do that.
Speaker A:So it.
Speaker A:That's what created so much angst in me having to go forward into my adulthood around the holidays, because that made me feel so uncomfortable, number one, not having the skills and the tools that I needed to fully experience the holidays with giving and receiving, but also having.
Speaker A:Oh, shoot, was my other point.
Speaker A:I just lost it.
Speaker A:There was two points there.
Speaker A:Maybe it'll come back.
Speaker A:But anyway, so that.
Speaker A:That was kind of my story.
Speaker A:And it took me a long time to understand that I didn't get to experience joy.
Speaker A:I had to watch everyone else experience their joy.
Speaker A:So that set up a lot of resentment for my family.
Speaker A:And so naturally, I didn't want to be with them for the holidays.
Speaker A:And when I got older, I began to avoid the holidays.
Speaker A:So I didn't even want to hang out with them.
Speaker A:If I had a choice, I would just take off or I would go be with my friends and.
Speaker A:And watch them have a beautiful holiday.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like I always wanted to, you know, Kind of just made me a little bit jealous, too.
Speaker A:But I began to rely on my dogs when I could.
Speaker A:You know, if.
Speaker A:If I could use them as an excuse to not interact during the holidays, then that's what I did.
Speaker A:That's what they're good for, right?
Speaker A:I mean, because they love us no matter what.
Speaker A:In one year, I especially remember, I think I was 19, I was in college, and I was supposed to spend Thanksgiving with my dad and my stepmother and my stepsisters.
Speaker A:And I was going to make a piece of pump apple pie and I messed it, the crust up horribly.
Speaker A:And I was so frustrated with myself that having this frustration on top of the normal angst of the holiday was just a little too much.
Speaker A:And I just exploded.
Speaker A:I decided I didn't want to be there at all for the holiday.
Speaker A:I packed up all.
Speaker A:All my things and I packed up my dog.
Speaker A:And actually it was Christmas.
Speaker A:I don't know what holiday.
Speaker A:I said it was Christmas.
Speaker A:So it was really cold, and my dog and I went to the Ozark National Forest and We spent three days there, camping in a tent in the cold, and I woke up every night being covered in frost, and my dog was covered in frost, and he must have thought I was crazy.
Speaker A:But I would rather be that uncomfortable than to spend the holiday with my family.
Speaker A:That's how bad it was.
Speaker A:So that's what I want to try and avoid for you guys.
Speaker A:And what's.
Speaker A:What's important to understand behind this is that there's always a deeper meaning behind our discomfort, our anger, our bitterness, or our disgust.
Speaker A:You know, there's always a deeper meaning behind it, and that's what I learned through my healing and through my transition, my transformation that the canine guides helped me with.
Speaker A:And when you feel these emotions, what they are, are invitations to heal.
Speaker A:The emotions are attracting you.
Speaker A:They're showing you what needs to be healed so that you can feel that joy.
Speaker A:And it's just a trigger.
Speaker A:All of these activities, the holidays, whatever it may be, it may be a birthday, might be something completely, completely different from a celebration.
Speaker A:Whatever triggers you and brings up these emotions, these lower vibrational emotions, the.
Speaker A:The fear, the anger, the bitterness, the anxiety, anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, anything that makes you feel anything other than love and joy is a lower vibrational frequency.
Speaker A:So anytime these frequencies are activated in you, agitated, in you, then it's an invitation to heal.
Speaker A:And once I figured that out and I began to heal everything that triggered that response, I didn't have that response anymore, and I didn't feel that way anymore.
Speaker A:And all of those memories were healed, and it didn't matter.
Speaker A:I could go to the holidays, and I could feel joy, and I could give and I could receive.
Speaker A:Despite my training in childhood, I was able to do it now as an adult.
Speaker A:So there is hope, There is an ability for you to reclaim your holidays.
Speaker A:And that's what the canine guides want to teach you tonight.
Speaker A:That's what they want to offer you tonight.
Speaker A:Anybody interested in participating in receiving.
Speaker B:A.
Speaker A:Downloaded frequency that will help you let all that go, not feel it anymore, and just be able to tune in to that higher frequency of joy.
Speaker A:How's that sound?
Speaker A:So the biggest part for me through my transition was being able to understand the bigger picture.
Speaker A:And now I understand why I felt the way I felt.
Speaker A:I understand where I understood where it came from, and I understood what to do about it.
Speaker A:And that's what I got out of the healing with the canine spirit guides.
Speaker A:And if you're interested in doing your own healing, I'll give you some information in a little bit.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:But this because this is a group event, we're going to be channeling in a.
Speaker A:What they call a patchwork.
Speaker A:That's what they called it.
Speaker A:Some.
Speaker A:We're going to do some patchwork because we're not going to be full on healing you tonight because there's just not enough opportunity with this being a group event.
Speaker A:What the guides are going to do is a.
Speaker A:Is a patchwork to help you rise above it and forget about it and just enjoy sharing the space with your family.
Speaker A:Regardless of the history, regardless of what you have to learn from it, regardless of what you need to heal, they're going to give you a patch so that you can experience just the joy of the holiday, despite all the other stuff.
Speaker A:Okay, so it's kind of like last time we offered a hall pass.
Speaker A:Well, this time they're going to give you a patch, so that's kind of cool.
Speaker A:So this is what they're saying.
Speaker A:This, this.
Speaker A:They're going to gift you a shield that will temporarily prevent you from being affected by others or hurt by other people's presence, memories, comments, or actions.
Speaker A:Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?
Speaker A:And it will allow you to feel more joy about the holidays and show you how you would feel if you are.
Speaker A:If you healed this part of yourself.
Speaker A:So if you actually healed the parts of you that are calling to you through these negative experiences or negative emotions, then this is how you would feel.
Speaker A:So it's kind of like giving you a preview.
Speaker A:Yeah, like a.
Speaker A:Like letting you taste the dessert before you have your meal.
Speaker A:That would be kind of cool, wouldn't it?
Speaker A:That's pretty exciting, isn't it?
Speaker A:Anybody here have issues with their family that they would love to just leapfrog over and just like it never even existed and just have like a perfect family scenario for the holidays?
Speaker A:That would be pretty exciting, wouldn't it?
Speaker A:I know a couple years ago that would have been exciting for me.
Speaker A:And just remember that this is a group event.
Speaker A:So this isn't.
Speaker A:This isn't geared specifically to anyone in the group.
Speaker A:It's kind of a.
Speaker A:An overall effect.
Speaker A:If we were doing this one on one, obviously it would be more specific to.
Speaker A:In your individual needs.
Speaker A:So if you're interested in that type of healing, then that would be something that we could do in a private session.
Speaker A:But we can talk about that after on the other side.
Speaker B:Thank you for joining me today.
Speaker B:The healing session for this episode with the canine spirit guides is now available exclusively through my subscriber portal on substack.
Speaker B:These energetic downloads are sacred transmissions.
Speaker B:And by Moving them to a dedicated space, I can connect more intentionally with those of you who feel called to receive them.
Speaker B:It also helps helps me get to know you a little better so that I can more effectively serve and support this growing community.
Speaker B:If you'd like to access the healing frequencies of this episode's Canine Spirit Guide and future transmissions, just head over to my substack@heatherleestrom.substack.com and become a subscriber.
Speaker B:Whether you join us there or simply tune in here, the Canine Spirit Guides and I are so grateful to share this path with you.
Speaker B:And be sure to stay put because there might be more coming on this podcast.
Speaker A:That was quick and easy.
Speaker A:Wow, that was really cool.
Speaker A:Did anybody feel that?
Speaker A:Can anybody see their shields?
Speaker A:That's really cool.
Speaker A:How they went downward.
Speaker A:And the reasoning behind that was to drive your own inner thoughts, your own negativity downward into Mother Earth.
Speaker A:She's going to hold that for you.
Speaker A:Isn't that nice?
Speaker A:That's really cool.
Speaker A:Oh, I forgot to show you a picture of my dog that I escaped to the Ozark National Forest with.
Speaker A:This is Nick.
Speaker A:He's in my book.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:Oscar worked with him to try and help me through many, many, many years of my life.
Speaker A:He has a very long and complicated story, so if you've read my book, you know what his story is.
Speaker A:But he is just such a special dog.
Speaker A:I could not have done it without him.
Speaker A:No way.
Speaker A:You'll have to see what kind of impact that shield serves you.
Speaker A:If you don't have issues with your family, it might help you in other ways.
Speaker A:Like the whole mass transit thing that, that they just told me right before we got done.
Speaker A:That was really cool.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:It's been wonderful.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining me and Canine Spirit Guides.
Speaker C:The Healing Power of Man's Best Friend by Heather Lee Strom.
Speaker C:We've always suspected dogs are magical angels from from God.
Speaker C:In this groundbreaking book, you'll discover the specific divine gifts our canine companions really possess as they facilitate our healing, elevate our awareness and expand our consciousness.
Speaker C:Man's Best Friend has their own spirit guides, which is why they appear in our lives just when we need them most.
Speaker C:This award winning book, Canine Spirit Guides the Healing Power of Man's Best Friend by Heather Lee Strom is available on Amazon.com and heatherleestrom.com get your copy today and begin your journey.
