Building Bridges with Animal Reiki

Recently I was one of several practitioners offering mini Reiki sessions at an annual retreat for women and girls. Everyone was receptive and appreciative, except for one teenager. I was in the initial stages of a Reiki session with a woman when the door burst open and this teenage girl rushes up to my client and bursts out, "Mom! How could you have signed me up for Reiki! I mean, massage is just fine, that I get, but Reiki!? It's just too weird having someone lean over you with their hands on you and then declare, ‘You're all better now!’” The girl then turns to me and says, "No offense."

If I had not been aware that the mother was mortified by her daughter's actions I would have laughed out loud. Far from taking offense I could certainly see the daughter’s viewpoint since many people are not as aware of healing energy as animals. I thanked my many years of doing my own personal clearing work which now enabled me to look beyond myself in order to see what the real issue was.

After the daughter had departed, secure in the knowledge that she did not have to participate in a Reiki session, I reassured her mother that I took no offense. I added that it was good to see her daughter so vibrant and healthy, and apparently not in need of a Reiki session. Mom’s response was, "Well, I really thought she could use a session, she needs it." At this point, now having a clear indication from the mother that she was seeking help in some form, I stepped back and took a "look" shamanically. Was there something that could benefit both of them?

I asked if her daughter liked animals. Mom’s face lit up, and her energy expanded and she told me her daughter was crazy about them (it turned out that Mom was, too).

So I began to tell her my own personal stories about Reiki and animals. Reiki is a really cool way to connect with animals—it increases one's "animal magnetism." What that means is that all animals perceive and respond to good, positive energy and an open heart. Animals are drawn to the practitioner through the love embodied in Reiki energy. A student of Reiki facilitates self-healing through daily personal Reiki treatments, promoting energetic balance and healing emotional issues of trust which then increases the student’s openness and re-connection to the natural world, something the animals really appreciate.

In my career as a Reiki healer I am often approached by animals who take one look into my energy field and want the brand of energy I have on tap, namely Reiki. A classic case was Gracie, a cat who lived across the street from me, and who used to show up on my doorstep whenever she did not feel well. I would open the door, and there she would be, looking for her personal Reiki healer (read the full story at Gracie the Cat and Fireworks). And she never failed to get her session, who could turn down such a trusting compliment?

It was not my intention to use stories about animals to entice either mother or daughter into taking a Reiki class, although that is a possible outcome, but rather to promote the commonality they shared—a love for animals. Perhaps the animal stories might bring them closer together, building bridges across the sometime too-wide gap between generations during the teen years, something I sensed that both desired.

By gently steering mother and daughter to my articles or book, perhaps they might feel validated in their own perceptions, which in turn might encourage them individually to follow their own intuition in taking further steps on their paths toward wholeness and happiness. And most likely along the way they will be encouraged and supported by their own domestic animals, who love us unconditionally, and who are so perceptive in reading our emotional and physical needs, and so very willing to offer us their own healing assistance and guidance.

One of the most important intentions in any healing modality is to support your clients in achieving healing for THEIR highest healing good. This means that the practitioner must let go of attachment to a certain outcome; the client should receive what they need, not what the practitioner thinks might benefit them the most. Allied with that is the intention to empower the client so that they may be an active participant in their own healing. So, once I told my animal Reiki stories I let go of attachment to the possible outcome, trusting that the universe knew best. But I’m still very human, I can’t completely disengage from personal attachment—I still hope that mother and daughter at least enjoyed reading my articles, which is the fervent hope of every writer!