Dog Shaman

Once a week Cassie Sawyer and I work with an elderly black lab named Max, who used to be quite athletic, but advancing years have slowed him down and made him stiff. Cassie does massage and acupressure with him, and I do Reiki, shamanism and animal communication. The purpose of the sessions is to give him better quality of life through increased mobility, good energy balance and flow, and reduced pain. He has gotten quite used to our sessions, now as soon as we approach he lies down and obligingly presents one side for us to begin his session. His walking and vitality have improved as well.

That particular week the lab’s person had to leave early and it was her mother that spoke with us at the end of the session. She shared that she and her daughter had taken a walk the other day in my neighborhood and that she was very inspired by my garden with its Certified Wildlife Habitat sign. She was curious about how she might be able to do that for herself even though she lived in a condo, so I told her about the campaign that the National Wildlife Federation is running nationwide to make every backyard a certified wildlife habitat. So many habitats have been certified in the Pacific Northwest that we may become the first certified region, which I think is wonderful.

Then she dropped the line that made me smile, she said that as they walked past her daughter pointed out my home office and told her that that was where her dog’s shaman lived. The phrase just struck me as humorous, it is not every dog who can say they have their own personal shaman!