When offering Reiki to animals it is essential to respect them and their differences to humans. Animals read energy much more effectively than us and they naturally communicate using body language rather than speaking words. Where, why and how Reiki is offered to animals can vary enormously. We also need to be aware that some suffer from animal specific issues and their background history may be unknown.
Reiki is requested for many animals because they are suffering emotionally or mentally – perhaps physically too. My Animal Reiki work has largely been with rescue animals, having been asked to help vast numbers of anxious, frightened and timid animals. However, whether working with rescue animals or any others, a vital aspect of Animal Reiki is a general understanding of animals and sadly this is not always included within Animal Reiki training.
To help animals optimally they need to feel safe and in control. For this we need to earn their trust to enable them to build/ feel confidence. Going straight up to nervous animals and trying to offer Reiki hands-on is likely to be the worst possible approach. The animal may react with a display of fear aggression or run away, which could impact negatively on the practitioner, distress the animal further, and leave the animal’s owner/ carer unimpressed.
Unless able to use animal communication competently, we cannot explain to animals what Reiki is, what happens in a session and what might be felt or experienced. It is therefore vital to offer Reiki in a way that is appropriate for the animal’s situation and emotional state. This means, allowing animals to take the lead and choose if they wish to receive Reiki (or not), and if so; when, where (including how far away), how, and for how long. We may also not know exactly how the animal feels but noting their bodily signals can tell us a lot and responding appropriately can show the animal that they are understood and their feelings are respected.
I should mention here that animal communication is not Reiki but it can naturally occur when unconditional love flows and it can be very helpful used in conjunction with Reiki if you are suitably trained/ qualified.
What do I mean by ‘Understanding Animals’?
So that Reiki can be offered safely, proficiently and in a way to gain the animal’s trust and confidence it is necessary to:
- Understand, recognise and respond appropriately to body language that shows the animal’s emotional state or feeling such as relaxed, happy, distressed, anxious, defensive, aggressive or frustrated. This can be done by noting what their eyes, ears, mouth, nose/ nostrils, face, fur, body posture, body position and tail are doing.
It is a misconception that a wagging dog’s tail is always a happy tail. There are different types of wags. - Recognise signals that show the animal is feeling uncomfortable.
A dog yawning could be one of many signals. What is the rest of the body language saying? What has…
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