Reiki is a gentle, effective energy healing method, which treats the whole animal, not just the symptoms of a disease. With Reiki the practitioner acts as a conduit for the healing energy to flow through her hands to the animal , causing a shift toward health at the deepest levels. It restores balance and harmony to an animal's entire being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
The name “Reiki” (pronounced Ray-key) comes from the Japanese words “rei” meaning spirit and “ki” meaning energy. It is usually translated as “universal life energy.” The beauty of Reiki as a healing system is that it is simple, non-invasive, and stress-free, yet highly effective. Reiki is practiced throughout the world, including at over 300 major hospitals and medical centers in the U.S. Until recently, Reiki healing was available only to humans, but increasing numbers of Reiki practitioners are establishing practices devoted exclusively to animals.
Five Principles of Reiki
There are five principles for living and practicing Reiki. Each of these principles may seem more important at some times in the life and practice of the Reiki practitioner than at others. Each principle can be used in many ways, including as a meditation, an affirmation, or a guide for living. Over time practitioners develop a deeper understanding of the relevance of the principles to all areas of life and practice. Like the healing system of Reiki, the principles are simple at first meeting but hold deeper meanings with further practice and contemplation. The five principles are as follows:
Animals and Reiki
Animals, including wild animals, intuitively recognize and appreciate Reiki's ability to heal. They often quickly learn to seek it out on their own. Reiki does not cause stress, discomfort, or pain, and yet yields effective results. It heals at all levels of an animal's being and can be used for any issue that arises for animals. Reiki is one of only a few healing methods that involve no harm to any living thing in order to bring about healing.
For healthy animals, Reiki treatments help to maintain the state of health, enhancing peace and overall well-being. Giving Reiki treatments to your animal companion deepens the bond and understanding between you.
For animals who are ill, Reiki assists healing at the deepest levels and is a safe complement to conventional Western medicine, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, flower essences, and all other forms of healing. Reiki helps to reduce the side effects of other treatmets as well.
For dying animals, Reiki is a higly effective yet gentle way to provide comfort, relieve pain, fear, and anxiety, and ease the transition from this life. It provides support and help with grief and fear for the human companion as well. Reiki helps all concerned to complete unfinished matters and experience the transition with greater peace and illumination.
Animals often respond more quickly to Reiki than people do, and positive results are often seen in a short period of time.
When giving a Reiki treatment in person, I would begin the treatment at a short distance from the animal, rather than with my hands directly on him, to give him a chance to experience the energy and evaluate it in his own way and in his own time. Animals are more sensitive to energy than people and quickly understand what Reiki is and its healing potential. During a treatment animals may come close to my hands and move away several times and often end up lying close by or under my hands, showing me which areas are most in need of healing.
After an animal becomes acquainted with the feeling of Reiki, he usually becomes very relaxed and often falls asleep for some period of the treatment. Animals frequently show their gratitude for a Reiki treatment by licking my face or hands, nuzzling me, or making happy, satisfied sounds after the treatment is finished.
People often ask me what Reiki feels like for an animal. With people Reiki is most often associated with feelings of peace and deep relaxation, and this is true for animals as well. The results of a treatment are usually noticed soon after a treatment or over the following several days to a week. It may become clear that a physical injury or illness has healed more rapidly than expected or that an emotional or behavioral challenge has shifted or released. Deeper or longer-standing challenges may take several treatments to begin to shift and regular treatments for a period of time to facilitate the process of working through and letting go of the issues that need healing.
Reiki finds the matters that are most in need of healing, and these matters may not be what is expected. Physical issues can have emotional root causes, and, when it is in the best interest of the animal, Reiki can help him to resolve and release these matters and return to more robust emotional and physical health.
DEALING WITH A DYING PET
The time around an animal's transition can be a period of greater closeness for the animal and his/her person (owner)as well as a time of growth and transformation; for this reason working with people and their animals during this period is very rewarding.
When an animal is approaching their transition, communication is reassuring for both the animal and their owner. The owner is concerned with several matters that can involve their animal's physical comfort, the effects of treatments and/or medications, eating issues, and important emotional and spiritual matters.
Working with an animal assists people in understanding how to help their companion be comfortable at the end of his life and, along with Reiki, helps the transition to be as easy and peaceful as possible for everyone. Most importantly, communication (Reiki) helps the animal and the person to share their hearts with each other so that each can have comfort and a sense of completion as their time together in a physical form draws to an end.
_______________________________________________