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Sit up straight. Shoulders back. Stop hunching.

We have been hearing this our whole lives, and honestly it is excellent advice if the problem is posture. But if your shoulders have been consistently, persistently, stubbornly tight since approximately the mid-2000s and no amount of yoga, massage, hot baths, that foam roller you bought off Amazon and used twice, or stern reminders to sit properly has made the slightest lasting difference, posture is not the problem.

Read more: What Your Shoulders Have Been Carrying (That Has Nothing to Do With Posture)

Right. I need you to stay with me on this one.

Because I am about to tell you something that is going to make you look at your wardrobe, your furniture, your car and possibly your grandmother's jewellery in a completely different way. And your first reaction might be "that cannot possibly be true." And then you will sit with it for a moment and think about the vintage coat you love but always feel slightly strange wearing, or the antique chair that looked perfect in the shop and feels inexplicably uncomfortable in your home, or the gym bag that made you dread Tuesdays for no identifiable reason, and you will go: oh.

Read more: That Vintage Coat You Love Has a History. Here Is What to Do With It.

Think about a song that does it to you every time.

You know the one. It comes on and something in your body changes immediately. Your shoulders drop. Your breathing slows. Or the opposite, something lifts, energy floods in, you find yourself doing something embarrassing in the kitchen involving a spatula that you would absolutely deny if asked.

Read more: Why a Song Can Shift Your Entire Energy in 30 Seconds

Let me tell you about Samosa.

Samosa is my dog. Canadian and four years old, boundless energy, the kind of enthusiasm for life that makes you question whether you have ever really appreciated a Tuesday morning. She has never once had a bad day. She does not understand bad days. Bad days are not a concept Samosa has any time for.

And Kajal, my cat. Six years old. Deeply unimpressed by everything. Judges you for your life choices from a distance and then sits on your face at 3am to remind you who is actually in charge.

Between the two of them, I have a window into something genuinely fascinating about energy. Because animals, unlike humans, do not have the ability to override what they are feeling. They cannot perform fine when they are not fine. They cannot push through. They simply absorb and reflect the energy of whoever they are living with.

And that tells you a great deal.

Read more: Why Your Dog Is Anxious and Your Cat Looks at You Like That