I would like to talk about how our bond with animals can be so much more. Anyone who has pets or even horses has felt a bond with them, a connection that somehow ties you together. It’s a bit like the bond you have with a friend. However, there is something I recently discovered that can take this bond with animals to the next level.

I love giving reiki healing to animals. Whether they are sick, have a physical or emotional issue, or whether their human companions just want to help keep them healthy, it’s a lovely way to help another creature. And the great thing is they seem to love it!

Unlike us humans, animals don’t have so many physical and emotional guards up. When they feel the reiki flowing they just open up and let it in. Sometimes us humans tend to let it in a bit but not fully, somehow not willing to let our guard down fully.

This allows the dog, cat, horse, rabbit or whatever animal is in session, to enjoy the reiki energy as much as possible. They just let go when they feel the warmth and pick up on the light that is being sent their way.

I love to read about how Kathleen Prasad works with animals in her reiki practice. She is one of the most well-known promoters of offering reiki to animals, especially in shelters where they often need it most.

What I learnt very early on from reading one of her books and reading the blog, is that the most effective way to offer reiki healing to an animal is to just open up that reiki space and invite them in. No demands. No expectations. Just peaceful reiki love.

This is what they want, and it is a great way to offer reiki if the animal is nervous or has any anxiety issues. You’re not pushing the healing session onto them, just opening the space for them to join in.

So, back that bond I mentioned. What I have found is that when I meet a new animal for a reiki treatment, I get all the usual licks and waggy tails but then when the reiki session has finished there is something else. It’s like they come out of that peaceful space and they look at you in a different way.

To me, it feels like they are looking into your eyes — no, your soul. And there is now a deeper connection that certainly wasn’t there before. This is where sometimes I pick up on feelings, images and words. Animals want to be heard and they want to be healed.

I think it is related to how your energetic fields merged and became one. During reiki animal healing the connection allows you to get closer to an animal than ever before. I love the connection that feels like it is on a soul level. It’s so rewarding and to know you have helped them in whatever way they needed is very humbling.

Often people mention how their animal seems so different after a reiki treatment, and this can be after just one session! Sometimes, just like us humans, they will need a course of treatments, but this I don’t mind, as this means I get to see them and help them even more :)