It’s not “mental health”… but *emotional health*.

I share this as I'm working on my latest book, "The Human End of the Leash: Dog Training's Missing Link."

How we show up, the energy we're bringing into each space, whether or not we follow through, the words we speak, the thoughts we think, how we move in and occupy our space, etc. ... all is information, and all is information we're sending to our dogs (which impacts our level of relevance and what we begin to represent to them).

As Dr. Joe Dispenza says, "Thoughts are the language of the mind, and emotions are the language of the body."

This is why we've got to pay closer attention to our emotional health.

No one is exempt from trauma.

The impact trauma (and "life experience") has on us can be dark, heavy, and deep.

Trauma rewires us for feeling unsafe, and when we're operating in a chronic state of this- it can, does, and will wreak havoc on our bodies and systems. Everything from our thoughts, the consistent flood of stress hormones, the inflammation in the body it all causes, etc. Left in a chronic state of this, it doesn't matter how much green juice we drink, exercise we give our bodies, or organic foods we eat. Illness, disease, and other problems will occur as a result. It's not a matter of "if" but *when.*

What many are calling "mental health" is not mental health at all.
It's *emotional health.* And one of the reasons we're still not able to effectively address it is because of this misconception.

Addiction, depression, anxiety, OCD, eating disorders, narcissism, cutting, isolation, etc. All are offshoots of trauma and emotional health. I even think in many cases "introversion" is, as well.

Addiction and eating disorders, for example, are both solutions to an emotional health problem. Both are forms of an escape and relief from the emotions the person doesn't want to feel. Whether through gaming, alcohol, smoking, drug use, exercise, sex, shopping, food, etc., all are attempts to numb, silence, suppress, etc. feelings the person doesn't want to feel. We've got to do the deeper digging here if we really want to be at peace and nurture true health and well-being.

In the case of eating disorders, food is used to either starve what people don't want to feel *or* - in other forms- stuff down and numb what they don't want to feel.

We don't have strong emotional health examples to look to, and there's not enough attention being paid to it.

This is the missing link to many people's health and wellness journeys, and why incorporating this into our self-care regimes is of utmost importance.