From the time I was a toddler, I’ve been horse-crazy. I started riding when I was six and was blessed to have a pony in my backyard when I was nine years old. Being around horses, especially sharing Reiki with them, opens my heart and heals my soul.

When animal Reiki pioneer Kathleen Prasad offered her Equine Reiki Day at Cadence Farm, I knew I wanted to attend. I find sharing Reiki with horses to be nurturing and healing for them and me.

Reiki (pronounced “ray-key”) comes from the Japanese words “rei,” meaning spirit, and “ki” meaning energy. Reiki is also referred to as the “universal life energy.” Reiki for horses and animals is about learning to meditate with them, which creates a healing space of peace, harmony, and compassion.  

Kathleen Prasad with her horse, Kodiak

Equine Reiki Day was held at Cadence Farm located in the picturesque hills of Sonoma, California. Cadence is home to Kathleen’s beautiful Paint horse, Kodiak. He is a Reiki master familiar with the Let Animals Lead® method developed by his human, Kathleen. The Let Animals Lead® method allows the animal to be in charge of how much or how little Reiki the wish to receive.

The highlight of my day came when Kathleen asked the group to share Reiki with any horse that called to us. I decided to head toward the horses who were in the shade, given it was getting hot out. I first stopped outside Beamer’s stall, which was well shaded.

As I asked Beamer if he wanted Reiki, I was interrupted by a loud nicker coming from behind me. I immediately turned around and saw it was Kodiak calling to me from his sunny pasture. He whinnied at me again, just to make sure I heard his request to share Reiki. Without hesitation, I left Beamer’s shaded stall and accepted Kodi’s invitation.

Once we greeted each other, I began focusing inward as I started meditating with Kodiak using the Let Animals Lead® method. At first, Kodi did his best to distract me from focusing inward. He nibbled at me through the gate to his paddock and tried to rub up against me with his head. I sensed he was testing me to stay grounded and focused on my meditation.

Kodiak schooling me on the Let Animals Lead® Method of Reiki

Kodiak clearly communicated that he was in charge. Once I passed his test, Kodiak’s lips and jaw began to relax. He closed his eyelids and he lowered his head as he went into deep relaxation.

After spending about ten minutes in a peaceful and harmonious space together, Kodiak decided to show me that his tail was bothering him. He turned around and presented his tail to me. Then he did something I didn’t expect; he started leaning against the gate with his full weight like he wanted to sit in my lap! I wanted to oblige Kodiak’s request but felt that no good would come from him sitting on my lap.

After discouraging Kodiak from leaning against the gate that separated us, he walked away from me and started to graze. He communicated that he had enough Reiki and he felt complete. I thanked Kodiak for helping me work on my focus and grounding and schooling me in the art of Reiki. I felt honored and humbled he wanted to be my teacher and guide for the Reiki exercise.

When I shared with Kathleen my experience sharing Reiki with Kodi, she confirmed Kodiak knows just how much Reiki he needs and wants. She said that when he’s done receiving the Reiki, he clearly lets you know. Kodiak is a wise and gifted teacher.

Feeling Blissful After Sharing Reiki

Sharing Reiki with the magnificent horses at Cadence helped them feel better. However, I believe the real teachers and healers were the horses as I left Equine Reiki Day feeling peaceful, joyous, and balanced! I’m grateful to the horses at Cadence for opening my heart and filling it with compassion and love.

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The workshops were held at Lily’s Legacy Senior Dog Sanctuary, which is dedicated to the care and rescue of large senior dogs. It’s a special place located amid the picturesque rolling hills of Sonoma County in California.

Based in Petaluma, this unique Senior Dog Sanctuary was founded by executive director Alice Mayn in memory of Lily, a 14-year-old golden retriever she had fostered for only four months. It’s Lily’s Legacy’s mission to provide safe and loving homes for large breed senior dogs who have been displaced from their homes and/or abandoned for any reason, until they are adopted or to remain at the sanctuary until they pass on.

Throughout the first day of the Animal Reiki 1 workshop, a large male Canadian Goose sat closeby to our group. The longer he sat near us, the more connected I felt with him. I sensed he was there because he enjoyed sharing Reiki with us.

The Canadian Goose made such a big impression on me, I wrote a Haiku about our encounter.

Rebecca enthusiastically responded, “I know Lily’s Legacy! That’s where my father, Richard, adopted his last dog from before he passed on.”

Cruz

Sadly, my Uncle Richard died a few short months after adopting Cruz. My three cousins knew they couldn’t give Cruz the life he deserved. With a heavy heart, they returned Cruz to Lily’s Legacy. Rebecca said it was a hard decision, but they knew it was best for Cruz.

Lily’s Legacy was supportive and kind about taking Cruz back, which came as no surprise. Thankfully, Cruz was quickly adopted into his forever home with a loving couple who adored him.

But the story didn’t end there and in many ways gets more intertwined.

When it was time to find Richard’s final resting place, my cousins decided the best place to scatter his cremains was among dogs. He was a huge dog lover and happiest when he was with his dog.

Unbeknownst to me, my cousins decided Lily’s Legacy was the right place to scatter Richard’s ashes. With permission, they spread his ashes throughout the property: in the pond and in the fields so Richard would rest eternally with the dogs.

As Rebecca relayed Richard’s and Cruz’s story to me, I got goosebumps and chills. I then realized what Lily communicated to me on that cold rainy day in May. Lily wanted me to know my Uncle was with her and “hanging out” at the Sanctuary.

It also became clear that the Canadian Goose was a sign from my Uncle to let me know that he was happy with his Eternal Resting place and was resting peacefully at Lily’s Legacy. 

A few weeks after my conversation with Rebecca, I decided to visit Lily’s Legacy’s Facebook page. To my surprise, there was a picture of Cruz and a post that said he died on Father’s Day.

This is what Lily’s Legacy wrote about Cruz;

“Dear Team Lily… Jason and Suzanne adopted CRUZ from Lily’s after this poor dog lost two owners. No one expects the owner to go first. Cruz was the FIRST dog to set paw on Lily’s new permanent home. They gave him the most wonderful life a dog could imagine. Sadly, CRUZ lost his battle with pancreatitis. Run free CRUZ.. you will be missed.”

Now Cruz and my Uncle Richard are reunited across the Rainbow Bridge. It’s my belief the two of them are hanging out at Lily’s Legacy together, helping senior dogs in needs.

My Uncle Richard and Cruz

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Kathleen Prasad and me at Lily’s Legacy

I first studied with Kathleen in 2007 and became an Animal Reiki Teacher and Practitioner in 2008. It was nice to reconnect with her, learn more about her Let Animals Lead® Method (LALM), and share Reiki with the dogs and humans at Lily’s Legacy.

One of the many things I’ve learned from my twelve years of practicing Reiki is animals absolutely understand and recognize Reiki, which means Spiritual Energy in Japanese. In my experience, animals welcome receiving Reiki as long as the animal can choose how they participate in the Reiki session.

LALM empowers animals by allowing the animal to be in charge of how they want their Reiki session to unfold. Practicing this Method creates a powerful healing partnership between the Reiki practitioner and animal. From what animals have communicated with me, LALM is in perfect alignment with how animals wish to be treated by humans.

I’ve studied other energy healing methods for animals including Healing Touch for Animals (HTA), TTouch, and acupressure. These energy systems require physical touch including a vast array of hand positions. When I practiced these methods, animals showed me how uncomfortable they were by quickly moving away from my hands and hand positions.

I admit I felt overwhelmed and confused by the different hand positions as well. Instinctively, something didn’t feel right about forcing my touch onto animals.

A senior Australian Shepherd named Duke was my first teacher in the importance of allowing animals to be in control of their healing space. Duke’s person, Barbara asked me if I could help Duke after I became an HTA Level II practitioner.

When I tried to touch Duke, he responded by snarling and even tried to bite me when I didn’t heed his warning growls. Duke made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with my hands, my presence, or my looking at him.

To help Duke, I let go of my expectations including touching him. To take the pressure off of Duke, I intuitively went to the opposite side of the room and turned my back to him. I began offering Duke distant healing energy. Remarkably, within a few minutes, Duke settled down next to Barbara and fell asleep. He continued to sleep for the next 45 minutes as I meditated with him.

Barbara was thrilled with Duke’s response and requested more sessions. Given Duke’s discomfort with my physical presence, we agreed distant HTA sessions were the best approach. I did remote energy sessions with Duke until he departed his body over a year later.

I practiced HTA for only a few months. I stopped because my animal clients consistently showed me how uncomfortable and overwhelmed they felt when I insisted I touch them. I quickly learned that using human hands with animals doesn’t always work well together. I knew there had to be a different way to help animals.

When I was guided to Kathleen’s work doing Reiki for animals, I was intrigued. Her awareness of how animals feel about human hands and being pressured to receive healing energy resonated deeply with me. I decided to become an Animal Reiki Teacher and Practitioner in large part because I appreciated how animal Reiki was practiced and saw how animals responded and recognized Reiki energy.

I’m in agreement with the Animal Reiki Code of Ethics that Kathleen developed. In working with animals, I adhere to Kathleen’s guidelines:

• I work in partnership with the animal.   

• I always ask permission of the animal before beginning a Reiki session and respect the animal’s decision to accept or refuse any treatment. I listen intuitively and observe the animal’s body language in determining their response. 

• I allow each animal to choose how to receive their treatment; thus, each treatment can be a combination of hands-on, short distance and/or distant healing, depending on the animal’s preference. 

• I let go of my expectations about how the treatment should progress and/or how the animal should behave during the treatment, and simply trust Reiki. 

• I accept the results of the treatment without judgment and with gratitude toward Reiki and the animal’s openness and participation in the process.

I’m grateful to Kathleen for her keen insight into how to best to offer animals Reiki. Her LALM truly honors animals as wise, compassionate, and loving Spiritual Beings and masterful teachers.

I’m inspired by LALM because it works in harmony with how animals want and need to be treated when they participate in sharing Reiki and in their relationships with humans. Animals respond positively and organically when we allow them to have a “voice” in their lives and when we work in partnership with them.

I look forward to sharing more with you about how Animal Reiki works and how it can help the animals in your life during my online class, Introduction to Animal Reiki.

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This holiday season give your animals the gift of love, peace, and joy by opening your heart chakra, which is where Animal Communication and Reiki originate.

The heart chakra* is the pathway that connects you with your true spiritual nature and all living beings in the web of life. It’s through the heart, located in the middle of your chest that the physical and spiritual merge and connect us with our intuitive self, nature, and animals instead of in your logic and rational mind.

The fourth chakra, called Anahata is the center of love, empathy, and compassion. When you are in your heart-center, you transmit calm, loving and peaceful energy. Plus you are more grounded and centered because you are in the Universal life energy flow of love that supports and nurtures all living beings.

Animals respond positively when humans come from their heart center, not in our thinking mind. Unfortunately, logic and thoughts are valued over heart energy. When we are up in our heads, it disconnects us from our true spiritual nature, others, specifically our animal families. 

Your pets feel the energy you’re experiencing at any given moment. It’s like casting a stone in a pond that ripples outward because all our thoughts and feelings go off on energetic waves to those around us.

Both people and animals naturally absorb these energies. That’s why animals instinctually move away from disturbing energies like stress, anger, anxiety, and fear whenever possible because this type of energy tells them to go into fight or flight mode to avoid danger.

When you radiate love and compassion, you become a magnet to animals.

Animal Reiki pioneer, Kathleen Prasad from the Animal Reiki Source created this excellent animated video that clearly illustrates how animals perceive and respond when we connect with our heart chakra and the spiritual life force energy known as Reiki.

Kathleen does a masterful job showing how animals, whether they are domestic, wild, farm, or caged respond to the calm and loving energy of love and Reiki.

An excellent way to access your heart chakra is by practicing Animal Communication and Reiki which are heart-centered and connects us to animals on a deep Spiritual level. When you communicate telepathically and become Reiki with animals, you naturally transmit peaceful and loving energy that all animals need and desire.

Living a heartfelt life is a gift that keeps on giving. Just breathe through your heart center, feel all the love you have for your animal family, and you will naturally radiate love, peace, and compassion.

*Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk. Each chakra is a swirling vortex of power which represent specific frequencies and colors. There are seven wheels of spiritual power throughout human and animals’ bodies which connect us to the web of life and the Universal life energy force also known as Reiki. The fourth chakra is located in the center of the chest.

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Me offering Reiki to Bodhi

Energy healing techniques, like Animal Reiki, work by releasing energetic blockages in an animal’s entire being.

Blocked energy creates imbalances, which can lead to illness and disease. 

By definition, Reiki is holistic in nature as it can effect an animal’s
entire being: mind, body, emotions and spirit. However, it is not a massage because you
don’t need to touch or be physically present with an animal to offer them Reiki.

Animal Reiki brings about a deep relaxation response which allows the body to gently release blocked energy. When an animal’s energy is unblocked and balanced, it leads to increased wellness and happiness for your pet and you!

Reiki unblocks stagnate energy to bring about balance or homeostasis in your pet.

In my experience, animals are intuitively drawn to the peaceful and calm energy that Reiki creates. Animals consistently communicate to me that this loving, compassionate energy is one of the main reasons they love receiving Reiki.

Animals instinctively know and understand Reiki’s ability to help them heal themselves. 

Me with Kathleen Prasad

According to my Animal Reiki Teacher, Kathleen Prasad:

“Animal Reiki is a spiritual practice of compassion for all beings. In a
nutshell, “doing” Reiki for animals simply means learning to meditate
with your animals. The practices of Reiki help us navigate our life’s
challenges with grace and surrender while we to learn to listen to and
be present for others in a compassionate space. Compassion is the
ultimate healer.”

The more I practice Reiki, the
more I feel at peace and balanced within myself. My daily practice
continues to change me in ways I never thought possible including
transforming how I communicate telepathically with all species,
including people!

Through
Reiki, I am able to connect with animals at a deep energetic level,
which increases my intuition and telepathic abilities to hear what’s on their minds and in their hearts.

By opening my heart, my Reiki practice continues to strengthen my bond with myself, my pets, wildlife and the world around me.

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