Deserve Your Pet: 5 Ways Animal Reiki Healing Can Help You Repay Their Love
As an International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT) Certified Reiki Practitioner, I’ve seen animal Reiki continue to gain mainstream attention and acceptance, especially in the past few years after pet ownership spiked during the pandemic. The American Kennel Club now recommends Reiki as a complementary therapeutic method, and cited distance healing as incredibly effective in cats and other animals fearful of introductions to new people. Let’s explore some of the top ways an animal Reiki session can help your furry (or feathered, scaled, or spiked) friends!
“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” – James Herriot
The above quote from the late great British Veterinary Surgeon James Herriot could be simply paraphrased as “we don’t deserve animals,” a claim no loving pet owner would ever refute. Animals are devoid of negative human-centric traits such as spitefulness and greed; Machiavellian type maliciousness simply doesn’t exist in the animal realm.
Multiple peer-reviewed scientific studies have proven the physical and emotional benefits of adding an animal to our family. Whether by helping the disabled navigate the world or giving comfort to the distressed, they bring us unparalleled love and loyalty and ask for nothing in return (unless, of course, you have a dog and open a cheese wrapper within a 20-mile radius- then there will be some definite asking, but I digress. )
Regardless of your animal companion’s species, the universal energy that flows thru all living things, referred to as Universal Life Force, Prana , Qi /Chi, Ki , Mana , Chu’lel and many others (cue Mr. Shakespeare’s ‘a rose by any other name’ reference) circulates thru them similarly as it does in humans. As such, animals unfortunately are not immune to energy blockages or to the build up of what the Japanese refer to as “byoki” caused by physical or emotional trauma.
The good news is that Reiki is just as effective in animals, arguably even more so because they are so sensitive, meaning animals often feel impactful healing in much less time than people. Animal Reiki sessions are generally shorter, but the process is the same.
As with human clients, consent and free will is always respected. Reiki only works towards the greatest good, and cannot be imposed where not accepted. Even though an animal cannot vocalize their consent and acceptance of Reiki like humans, I always ask permission energetically for them to be receptive of Reiki healing.
1. Animal Reiki Healing to Help Adapt to New Home
Secure shelter is the primary basic need of all living beings. Opening your home to provide that security is an extremely rewarding experience for you, but can be stressful for your new family member. If they are a baby, they have never been away from their mother, who they instinctively recognized as their protector. If they are a rescue, they may not understand how or why they became homeless to begin with, and oftentimes may have experienced significant neglect or abuse at the hands of the people who were supposed to care for them.
Regardless of how your pathways crossed, the animal may be afraid and insecure, unsure of their new surroundings and your role in their life. An animal Reiki session can help calm your new addition and clear out any energetic blockages or fear that may have accumulated in their past encounters with humans, helping them understand they are safe and loved and speeding up the process of acclimation to their new home .
2. Animal Reiki Healing for Anxiety Due to Separation or Loud Noises
The root emotion of anxiety, whether it be separation or from loud noises such as fireworks and thunderstorms, is fear. Animals look to their humans as their family, their protectors and providers of their fundamental needs. Some species, such as dogs, are social creatures that have a strong instinctual need to be near their family. When you’re gone, they may fear they are suddenly alone in the world and go into survival mode.
To put this in perspective, imagine every person on the planet disappeared and you were the last person standing- imagine the sadness you’d feel over losing everyone you love and the fear you’d feel wondering if you would be able to survive on your own. I know it may sound extreme, but that’s what they are feeling. Imagine feeling that every. single. day. It’s going to take it’s toll.
Now imagine that feeling of realizing a loved one was actually spared, only to have them greet you with yelling and scolding over damage that you don’t even remember doing. Separation anxiety can be a cycle of stress for both pet and owner. Reiki can help calm both your pet and you to approach these fears with peace and understanding, helping them realize they have not lost you when they can’t see you.
Everyone, regardless of species, jumps at loud noises. Why? Because it’s been ingrained in all of us that loud booms are most often associated with danger, a sign we are unsafe. Humans have the luxury of cognizance to understand loud bangs near holidays are likely fireworks or during a rainstorm is thunder that will pass. Some of our animal family do not, and so these noises trigger a need to immediately take action to find safety and security. Reiki healing can clear out past held associations of fear, building up their resiliency and ability to feel calm during times they face fearful experiences.
3. Animal Reiki Healing for Illness or Medical Procedures
Seeing our animals hurt or sick can be heartbreaking. Since they can’t verbalize their feelings the way other family members can, illnesses oftentimes go unnoticed until it’s advanced to the point of needing a trip to the vet’s office. Reiki sessions for well being can balance their energy to allow their immune system to operate at it’s optimum level. And since Reiki transcends time and space, you can schedule distance Reiki to send for a future time, easing your pet’s anxiety before annual check ups or other medical procedures!
Reiki has proven impact on pain relief, and as such, can give ease your animal’s pain as a complementary therapy modality. Just as in humans, relaxation allows the body to most effectively tap into it’s self healing abilities, shortening the overall healing time.
4. Animal Reiki Healing for Aggression/Reactivity
I prefer to use the term “reactive” in place of aggressive because the overwhelming majority of behavior we deem as aggressive is really just the animal exhibiting their natural built-in defense mechanisms; a reaction designed to keep them safe from some external stimuli they have interpreted as a threat.
An animal Reiki session can help clear any built up byoki or blockages caused by past trauma, helping to eliminate associations that cause the animal’s perception of situations as a threat, thereby lessoning the severity of the response.
5. Animal Reiki Healing for End of Life Preparation
The unavoidable downside to pet ownership is knowing we will likely have to say good-bye one day, as our life expectancy exceeds most animals (though it may be a close race for me and my daughter’s snake that I will inevitably, yet begrudgingly inherit when she goes away to college.)
A small comfort is that animals seem to have an easier time with that transition than people. Since animals are not hindered by the ego tying us humans to our current lives, it makes sense that they are more readily able to accept death as a part of life. If anything, the hardest part keeping them here is us, the owner. Sometimes it’s the fear of leaving us or our sadness that keeps pets fighting to stay. An animal Reiki session can provide pain relief to make their transition comfortable and ease anxiety over leaving their owners.
Sometimes the greatest gift we give our animal family is to trust them to know when it’s their time to leave this realm, and give them our permission to go.
Schedule an Animal Reiki Session Today!
Animal Reiki sessions can be done virtually by Zoom, Skype, Whatsapp, Facebook, or Instagram messenger. Distance sessions are recommended for animals that aren’t comfortable sitting still for more than a couple minutes, and can be completed with just a photo and name of the animal. The energy transmits the same regardless of modality!
For session scheduling, pricing and availability, click HERE
