Why Reiki is ideal for healing animals
Although Reiki traditionally has been used primarily for humans, it has many qualities that make it an ideal complementary therapy for animals. First and foremost, it is gentle, painless, non-invasive and stress-free for animals. Reiki heals at all levels of an animal's being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It is one of only a few therapies that brings no harm to any living thing—plant or ani-mal—to produce its healing prop-erties. It goes to those issues most in need of healing, even those unknown to the practitioner.
Reiki is always safe and comfortable for both animal and healer. It can be given at a distance and adapted to any problem that affects animals, so it can be used under any circumstances.
•There is virtually no problem or circumstance that cannot be treated effectively with Reiki.
Although it is powerful and always goes to the source of health problems, Reiki can do no harm to the recipient or the practitioner. Reiki is a simple method that can heal complex problems. There is a deep sense of gratitude on both sides after treatment.
•Creating a powerful healing partnership
With Reiki, animals do not have to be confined or restrained to be treated. The Reiki practitioner works with the animal to determine how the treatment will be given. The animal retains a large degree of control over his own process of healing, including how much Reiki he will take and under what circumstances, so that he becomes an active and willing partner in the healing process.
Reiki is a vibrational "frequency" that is readily understood and appreciated by an animal, allowing him to deepen his relationship with the practitioner as he joins in a healing partner-ship. With repeated treatments, animals come to seek Reiki out on their own when they need relaxation or healing.
•What is Reiki and what does it do?
The term "Reiki" is usually translated as "universal life energy." It is a holistic healing system, meaning that it treats the whole being, addressing problems and healing at all levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Along with other therapies, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, Qi Gong and flower essence therapy, Reiki is part of the emerging field of energetic healing, rediscovered from the wisdom and knowledge of ancient cultures for use in modern times. Everything in the universe is made up of and connected by energy. By transmitting the healing energy of the universe along energetic pathways and through the practitioner's hands to the client, Reiki heals as deeply as needed within a being to create a shift towards health.
A Reiki treatment can be given in person, with the hands of the practitioner placed on or at a short distance from the client; or, since Reiki is energetic in essence, it can be sent across a distance, across a room, a yard or even to another geographic location.
Reiki can be used to maintain health and energetic balance in a healthy being, to heal illness, injuries, emotional and spiritual problems, and to ease the transition between life and death.
Reiki goes directly to the source of the problem, even if it's unknown to practitioner and client, and heals at a level and intensity that a being is open to receive. If the healing that's most necessary involves some aspect of his situation, Reiki will go beyond the being's physical and emotional body and bring the healing that's needed to the situation.
•Can Reiki replace the need for a veterinarian?
Reiki is not a substitute for professional veterinary treatment. It is a non-medical therapy that complements and supports all other healing therapies, including veterinary medicine, and is a valuable component of an integrative approach to healing and health maintenance.
• What happens during a
treatment?
The duration of a Reiki treatment varies by situation, client and practitioner. Most commonly, hands-on or other in-person treatments for (people and) animals last about 40 minutes to one hour.. When receiving a Reiki treatment, (people and) animals commonly enter a state of deep relaxation and peace. They may feel heat, tingling or pulsing.
They may sigh, yawn, doze, fall asleep or even enter a deep state of meditation. Some (people and) animals may sense the energetic ebb and flow of the healing energy while others feel little. Some continue to (converse or) interact with the practitioner throughout the treatment. Regardless of their experience during the treatment, most (people and) animals notice health improvements afterwards.
Animals are much more sensitive than humans to energy in general and feel Reiki energy immediately and strongly. Many animals will startle or stop in their tracks when they first feel Reiki energy. They will usually look very intensely at you; domestic animals often will come over and sniff your hands.
How animals react to this new sensation depends upon their temperament and previous experience with humans. They may recognize the healing potential of Reiki immediately, sigh gratefully and settle quickly into a relaxed position to absorb the energy, or, if their experiences with humans have not been positive, they may initially seek to avoid this energy coming towards them.
There are many ways to adapt treatments in order to accommodate the sensitivities of animals. When approached without coercion and with sensitivity and flexibility, most animals, domestic and wild, will accept and appreciate a Reiki treatment.
Even the most sensitive and wary animals will generally accept a from a distant treatment if a hands-on treatment is too difficult for them.
Animals should have access to fresh water and may consume an increased amount of water following a treatment. Both you and your client, animal or human, can also experience increased elimination for a brief period after a Reiki treatment.
For some people and animals, a Reiki treatment will affect the emotions more than the physical being. This is because Reiki finds the issues that are most in need of healing, and these may not be the issues we think need healing.
Often physical problems have emotional root causes. Reiki will often go first to the deepest issues and then work "outward" through associated issues over a series of treatments.
During a treatment, Reiki is usually associated with feelings such as peace or even euphoria. However, some people and animals may experience strong emotions or cry during a treatment.
This response is usually an emotional release. Reiki treatments can bring up and help release unresolved emotional issues that have been buried for many years.
Animals, like humans, can become ill when emotional matters have not been resolved and released. Reiki helps animals to let go of unresolved emotional issues and move into the present and future with a lighter heart.
For this reason Reiki can be tremendously helpful for animals who have behavioral problems, abandonment issues or have suffered abuse/neglect.
Healing reactions can also occur on an emotional level and, in rare instances, can result in a brief period of worsening of behavioral problems before they are resolved. ** A healing
reaction is said to occur when the client's body temporarily produces new symptoms or intensifies old ones as it clears away infection or other injurious influ-ences, during or after a treatment.** If a healing reaction occurs, continued Reiki treatments will help it to pass as quickly as possible. Reiki can bring with it healing challenges, but in a lov-ing, compassionate way. A healing reaction is a welcome development because it's a sign that healing is taking place.
•Results of a treatment
The results of a Reiki treatment can be seen in the improved health of an animal or human on any level-physical, emotional or spiritual-or on a combination of levels. Because Reiki goes to the areas that are most in need of healing, sometimes it goes beyond the being's physical or emotional body to an aspect of the being's situation. For an animal, a treatment may result in a shift in the relationship with his human companion, within his human and animal "family unit," or in his overall situation. For in-stance, a Reiki treatment for an animal in a shelter environment may result in the animal being adopted, if that's what the animal needs most; or, if the animal is experiencing some difficulty in his relationship with his person, Reiki will often help to resolve the problem.
The results of a Reiki treatment are generally felt during the treatment, directly after, or over the following several days. It may become clear that there has been a physical improvement, a significant issue has shifted, an old emotional pattern has been released, or an aspect of the situation has healed. Reiki can only bring about healing and can never do harm to any being.
Regular treatments facilitate the ability of the animal to deal with and eventually let go of whatever issues need healing.
Reiki can ease the transition between life and death, but if it's an animal's time to leave this world, Reiki will not prevent this transition. However, Reiki frequently acts by enhancing the quality of the remaining life, by shifting the situation so that all concerned can accept the transition and let go with greater ease, and by enabling the transition to be easier and accompanied by less pain, fear and suffering.
•The healing timeline
In general, Reiki brings about rapid and significant health improvement. One treatment can bring about dramatic changes and sometimes be all that is needed, but more often healing is a process, and one treatment is not enough to effect complete healing.
The time it takes to heal a condition can be related to the seriousness of the condition and to the length of time it has been mani-fest. For many conditions, a healing shift is usually apparent after one or two treatments. Chronic or long-standing conditions can require several treatments to produce significant healing results, and regular treat. ments for a period may be needed to continue the process. Reiki is also an excellent tool for pain management; regular treatments maintain the pain relief, and over time pain is sometimes eliminated altogether. We have seen remarkable results with conditions such as arthritic joints in both humans and animals. Additionally, when Reiki is used with other appropriate healing modalities(doctors/veterinarians), it often supports and enhances the effects of their combined action. Healing from surgery often occurs more rapidly with the addition of Reiki to the treatment program. Reiki works well in conjunction with antibiotics and other medications to speed the healing of illnesses and injuries of all kinds.
•What a Treatment Looks Like.
Animals, like humans, prefer to be in control of what happens to them, especially when being introduced to a new experience. When I give an animal a treatment, my goal is to give the animal as much freedom of movement as possible and to allow him to experience and assess the healing energy in his own way, showing me how best to offer him a treatment to meet his individual needs. This approach allows animals to become acquainted with the energetic sensation of Reiki without feeling coerced. Giving animals this freedom reassures them that Reiki is beneficial and non-invasive, and builds trusting relationships with the animals.
In no time at all, they usually understand the benefits Reiki offers and seek it out when they feel that they need it. Many animals, especially horses and dogs, will want to come up to me and smell my hands to help them assess this new sensation of energy. It's always preferable to allow the animal to come to me during a treatment, rather than me approaching him; in the long run I feel this builds trust more rapidly.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
When giving a Reiki treatment to an animal, I allow him as much freedom of movement as possible within the limits of the situation.
Allowing the animal to have as much control as possible over the treatment builds the animal's confidence in me and in Reiki and allows him to become an active participant in the healing process.
Generally, animals will continue to move around the room (or enclosure) after I begin, some even move as far away as possible. However, as they get used to the feeling of Reiki and trust that it is their choice about whether and how much to accept, animals relax and appreciate the treatment. Often, they end up positioning themselves close by or even under my hands and taking quite a lot of energy in.
Sometimes it will take a good 30 to 45 minutes for animals to settle into the first treatment, but in subsequent treatments they usually will settle into a relaxed state more quickly. There is no need for owner to worry about whether their animals are getting Reiki while they are wandering around before settling into the treatment. They will take just the amount of Reiki that they want and need during the treatment, even while moving around the enclosure.
Often I am asked to do a treatment for a specific health issue and so may have an intention for Reiki to heal this specific prob-lem. However, it is important for owners to remember that I am merely a channel for the healing energy to flow through, which has its own innate wisdom about what needs to be healed. I try to remind them that our understanding of the "big picture" is quite limited; we want to leave the door wide open for Reiki to provide the healing the animal needs most, and it may not be what we expect. For example, physical and behavioral problems are sometimes related to an emotional issue or trauma, and sometimes what an animal needs most is a shift in his situation.
One of the great things about Reiki is that we do not need to know what the source of the problem is and yet the healing will take place where it is needed most. In my experience simply asking for the highest good for the animal on all levels, knowing that the healing intelligence of Reiki is always superior to human limited notions of what is needed. Many times the outcome of a treatment has been much greater than anything we could have anticipated.
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