🐱 What if the secret to better self-care was as simple as being more cat?

In this special International Cat Day episode of the Feel Better Every Day Podcast, Eve Menezes Cunningham shares how her rescue cat, Rainbow MagnifiCat transformed not just her life, but her entire approach to trauma-informed self-care and nervous system healing.

Whether you love cats or just need permission to prioritise what feels good, this episode will help you reconnect with your innate wisdom and give yourself more of the curiosity, love and care you deserve.

You'll discover:

• Some of the connections between Polyvagal Theory and Feline Better Every Day
• How speaking gently to your cat can heal your inner critic
• The "Purr! Hiss! Freeze!" method for mapping your nervous system states
• How cats can help humans improve self-worth and boundary setting
• Practical ways to find ventral vagal (Purr!) moments of safety and connection
• How to break free from conditioning that works against your natural instincts

Purrfect for you if:

✓ You struggle with harsh self-talk or inner criticism

✓ You're interested in trauma-informed, ADHD-friendly self-care

✓ You want to understand your nervous system better

✓ You're ready to embrace your authentic self (like cats do naturally!)

✓ You love cats and want to learn from their unapologetic confidence

Eve has been using rescue cats to help people befriend their nervous systems for over 13 years. In this episode, she shares how imagining yourself as a beloved cat can help you heal your nervous system.

Key takeaways:

• Cats know their worth without needing external validation
• Gentle tone of voice impacts how safe we feel (with ourselves and others)
• Micro-moments of feeling good build up to heal your nervous system
• You can map your own nervous system

Feel Better Every Day!

Learn from the self and Self* care practices the professionals depend on. With a mixture of solo and interview episodes, your host, Eve Menezes Cunningham (author of 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing) shares trauma-informed and VAST / ADHD-friendly self and Self* care ideas to help you:

• Feel... regulate your nervous system and do the things that help you create a life you don’t need to retreat from

• Love... accept yourself completely with love, compassion and kindness – you don’t need to do a thing and

• Heal... turn what hurts your heart into action to support your family, organisations, communities and the world at large.

Thanks for watching. New episodes come out every Tuesday morning (Ireland time) and if you subscribe (via your favourite podcasting app or by joining the Sole to Soul Circle), you’ll be notified about each new episode. Sole to Soul Circle members get deeper dives each week.

WANT TO WORK WITH ME?

• There’s the book – 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing – and all the book bonus videos.

• All the free resources (for trauma, ADHD, menopause, solopreneurs, anxiety, sleep, confidence, resilience, finding purpose, meaning and joy and more) across my platforms and the library of self-care ideas and practices at https://selfcarecoaching.net

• You can join the Sole to Soul Circle on Substack https://evemc.substack.com and get bonus interviews and content specially designed to help you dive deeper into each week’s theme.

• If you want to support my work but don’t want to commit to a membership, even for a month, you can choose any amount at https://ko-fi.com/evemc

• Find out more about my private practice for one to one work. If you’re based in Ireland or the UK, it’s worth completing the short form at https://selfcarecoaching.net/contact to book your free telephone consultation in the hope that we can find a mutually convenient time to work together (trauma-informed and ADHD-friendly therapies, Self care coaching, clinical supervision and supervisor’s supervision).

WANT TO CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

You can find me almost everywhere – please say "Hi" and share your questions or comments: YouTube @evemenezescunningham Substack @evemc Bluesky @eveimc TikTok @evemenezescunningham Insta @evemenezescunningham Facebook @FeelBetterEveryDay

If you’d like to leave a review and/or rate this and other episodes you’ve enjoyed, your feedback and support helps me help more people (of all genders) with trauma histories and/or ADHD take better care of their whole selves and create lives they don’t need to retreat from.

CHAPT-PURRS

(0:00 - 1:26) Talking kindly to cats (and ourselves)

(1:27 - 5:19) Introducing the episode and Be More Cat

(5:20 - 9:18) Map your nervous system with your equivalent of Purr! Hiss! Freeze!

(9:18 - 13:17) Conditioning, connection and ventral vagal moments

(13:18 - 14:29) Bringing that glorious cat energy into the world

(14:29 - 16:57) Media training your nervous system and self-expression

(16:58 - 17:26) Final thoughts and next week’s episode for Black Cat Appreciation Day: SHARKS!

RESOURCES

• Full show notes and exclusive content: https://selfcarecoaching.net/blog  
• Deeper dive content: Join the Sole to Soul Circle https://evemc.substack.com
• Book: "365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing"
• More on cats and the nervous system (including Purr! Hiss! Freeze! and Smelly Cat episodes) at https://selfcarecoaching.net/feline

DISCLAIMER

The content I share is not a replacement for one to one trauma therapy (etc). While you can do an enormous amount to support yourself, please always seek appropriate medical advice. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe / follow and share with someone who you think will benefit from this episode.

#BeMoreCat #TraumaInformed #SelfCare #PolyvagalTheory #NervousSystem #ADHD #RescueCats #SelfCompassion #Mindfulness #Healing #PurrHissFreeze

Be More Cat, Trauma Informed, Self Care, Polyvagal Theory, Nervous System, ADHD, Rescue Cats, Self Compassion, Mindfulness, Healing, Purr! Hiss! Freeze!