QUICK LINKS:

• General Information about Treating Animals with Reiki
• Approaching Animals with Reiki
• In-person Treatments
• Distant Treatments
• Suggested Treatment Programs
• Animal Communication and Reiki
• Animal Reiki Misconceptions

 

Reiki is ideal for use with animals because it is gentle and noninvasive. It doesn't cause stress, discomfort, or pain, and yet yields powerful results. Animals respond intuitively to Reiki's power to heal emotional, behavioral, and physical illnesses and injuries.

For animals who are healthy, Reiki helps to maintain their health, enhances relaxation and provides an emotional sense of peace and contentment.

For animals who are ill, Reiki is a wonderful healing method as well as a safe complement to Western Medicine, Chinese Medicine, homeopathy, flower essences, and all other forms of healing. For example, Reiki can reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, support an acupuncture treatment, and enhance the effects of flower essences. Click here for the story of Ariel, a feline client of Kathleen's who found success with an integrative approach using Reiki and other healing methods, both holistic and allopathic.

For dying animals, Reiki is a powerful yet gentle way to provide comfort, relief from pain, fear, and anxiety, and to ease the transition to death.

Click here to find an Animal Reiki Practitioner near you.

The approach is key when working with animals and Reiki. Animals appreciate being given control of the treatment: in other words, being allowed to say "yes" or "no" to the treatment as well as determining the way the treatment will unfold. This means the practitioner needs to follow a few basic rules to be successful in the treatment:

1. Always begin by asking permission of the animal directly OR by setting your intention that you are open to facilitate the healing process for the animal for as much energy as they are open to receive, or none at all (this is a form of permission).
   
   
2. It's best not to initiate hands-on contact when working with an animal. Always allow the animal to be the one to initiate contact.
   
   
3. Allow the animal to move freely in the treatment space. Pay attention to what your animal is telling you by their behavior about how he or she wants you to give the treatment
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4. Animals appreciate a passive and open approach.Do not "beam" or "send" energy to the animal or to a specific health issue the animal has that you "think" needs healing. Instead, try "offering" the energy in a non-assertive manner. Imagine you are creating a Reiki bubble around yourself which the animal can move into and out of freely, or build an imaginary "Reiki bridge" which the animal can cross if he or she wants to participate in the healing treatment. In this same vein, your body language should match this passive intention: in other words, don't initiate and hold eye contact, don't make yourself "big" and dominant in your body position. For example, try to stay on the same physical level with the animal and remain in a non-threatening pose -ideally, don't stand up over a small animal on ground level or have your hands up and palms facing out like a predator about to pounce.
   
   
5. Let go of your expectations about how an animal should behave during the treatment (they usually do not behave like humans, lying down motionless for 60 minutes). The typical treatment consists of an ebb and flow of hands-on/short distance Reiki as well as short periods of movement and relaxation. Also, let go of your expectations about what healing result the animal should manifest.
   
   
6. After you finish the treatment, always thank the animal for participation in the treatment.

In Person Reiki Treatments:

Kathleen recommends that Reiki treatments given in person are best given while in the home or barn where the animal lives. She has found that animals are able to relax and receive these treatments much more successfully when they are comfortable and in their own environments. Notice that she does not call these "hands-on" treatments. This is because Kathleen always asks permission of the animal first, and allows the animal to determine the course of the treatment. Many animals enjoy hands-on treatments, and in these cases, Kathleen recommends using the hand positions the animal guides you to. For other animals, treatments are much more comfortable from a few feet away, or even from across the room or paddock. Whether given directly hands-on or from across the room, treatments are equally effective. Most importantly, treatments should always be adjusted to fit each animal's preference.

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Distant Treatments

Distant Healing is very effective and can be preferable to hands-on treatments in some instances.

Some animals may live too far away for hands-on treatments. Others may be extremely small, fearful of strangers, old and fragile, or close to death and may be better able to relax and absorb Reiki distantly. For people with very busy schedules, alternating distant Reiki treatments and in-person treatments are a great way to be able to give your animal the benefits of Reiki more conveniently; distant treatments are quite cost-effective and can help to stretch available resources for treatments. Distant treatments are also quick to schedule: in emergency situations, we can usually offer a distant treatment within a day of being contacted. Similarly, if an animal seems to be coming down with something or needs additional support between treatments, distant healing will provide what is needed.

Distant Reiki offers the same benefits as hands-on Reiki: physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. For example, a distant Reiki treatment can provide pain relief for various illnesses and injuries, accelerated healing from surgery, emotional healing, including healing for behavioral issues, prevention of illness or accelerated healing of an illness, and can greatly ease the transition to death. Distant Reiki is also helpful in healing family situations that may involve your animal and in helping human companions with the process of an animal's death. A distant treatment can also be sent to heal a traumatic event in your animal's past.

After a distant treatment, results can usually be seen in the next 24-48 hours. Although some conditions may require regular treatments to complete the healing process, dramatic shifts in healing often occur almost immediately.

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Although sometimes healing can be seen in one or two treatments, for continued health and well-being, all animals benefit most from a regularly scheduled program of Reiki. Kathleen encourages her clients' people to learn Reiki themselves to ensure this continuity of treatment. Below are listed the programs that Kathleen has found most beneficial for her horse, cat, dog, small animal, and bird clients. Note: While Reiki is a powerful healing system on its own, it is also a wonderful complement to other therapies that may be helping the animal recover. It is not meant as a substitute for veterinary care. Always consult your veterinarian about the best course of medical treatment for your animal.

EQUINE, CANINE, AND FELINE REIKI:

• For horses in full training (endurance, dressage, etc.), working, agility, or show dogs, and show cats: Begin with a series of four treatments on consecutive days, then once a week or every other week for maintenance. Daily treatments suggested on the most demanding of days.
  
  
• For horses in rehab and dogs and cats recovering from injury/illness: Begin with a series of at least four treatments on consecutive days, followed by once or twice a week until recovery.
  
  
• For horses in retirement, and senior dogs and cats: Begin with a series of four treatments on consecutive days, followed by once a week or every other week for maintenance.
  
  
• For horses, dogs, and cats nearing their transition: Begin with a series of treatments on consecutive days, followed by a few times a week or as needed for support in this process.

SMALL ANIMAL/AVIAN REIKI:

• Health Maintenance: Begin with a series of four treatments on consecutive days, followed by once a week or every other week for maintenance.
  
  
• Recovery from illness/injury: Daily treatment or as often as needed until recovery.
  
  
• Senior animals: Begin with a series of four treatments on consecutive days, followed by once a week or as needed for maintenance.
  
  
• Nearing their transition: Daily treatments or as needed for support with this process.

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These days, many animal communicators have their training in the system of Reiki and find the two go hand-in-hand. So, you may ask: what is the difference between Animal Communication and the system of Reiki?

Animal Communication and the system of Reiki, for many people, intertwine and interconnect, and many say that Reiki enhances their communication work with animals and vice versa. Although complementary in many ways, the two techniques are not identical: they have different aims. It's good to remember this if you decide to incorporate animal communication into your Reiki practice, or vice versa, so that you can have a stronger and more clear intention in your work with the animals.

With Animal Communication, the goal is to create a dialog between the communicator and the animal: to listen to what the animal has to say as well as sharing information with the animal. Communicators also often provide feedback, if possible, to the animal's human companion about issues that may be going on. In other words, communication is about connecting with what is going on and then interpreting that information verbally. Animal communicators advocate for the animal, as well as giving support to the human companions by clarifying issues that are confusing or unknown (for example surrounding unknown behavior problems, the dying process, or lost animals).

With the system of Reiki, the practitioner's goal is to become as clear and empty as possible so that the energy (Reiki) can flow strongly for the highest good of the animal. You do not need to know what the animal's problem is, Reiki will always go to the source of health issues, bringing balance and healing on all levels. You may or may not receive intuitive information as a result of the deep energetic connection created during the treatment: such information, when received, is merely a by-product of the Reiki experience, but is not the goal or purpose of the treatment. The goal and purpose is to be a vessel through which the energy can flow-- to let go and allow Reiki to do its work, without expectation or attachment to outcome.

For many people, the deeper they go into the Reiki space, the clearer and easier it is for their intuitive information to flow. For others, the energetic connection of the Reiki treatment may not bring many intuitive messages. Either way, this is not an indicator of whether or not the Reiki treatment was successful. Indicators such as relaxation and stress-relief behaviors from the animal as well as the practitioner's own feelings of the flow of energy will indicate a successful Reiki treatment.

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