It was our final Reiki meditation of the day and a storm was brewing. Gretchen and I settled in, offering Reiki to both her dogs. Bindi wandered around a bit, stopped, and offered Gretchen her front paw. It was beautiful to see Bindi stand there with her paw in Gretchen’s hand…so beautiful I could not interrupt the moment to snap a picture though I wanted to. The love between them radiated. Bindi sat back and put both paws in Gretchen’s hands. Gretchen sat teary eyed, holding her best friend’s paws.
SARA Teacher Articles
The Year End Gift of the Bison
As 2020 comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the good that came to me during the difficult past months. What we focus on grows stronger so I have been choosing to turn my attention to my blessings instead of what I always felt that I lacked.
From Growls to Belly Rubs – Reiki to the Rescue
Bruno is loving walks and belly rubs these days. And he took his freedom ride to his foster home this past weekend! For months, Bruno cowered in the back of his kennel at the shelter, growling at staff. He had been there almost six months, surrendered for killing a chicken and a goat. Terrified, he would not let anyone touch him and it was difficult to clean his run. Leah, a shelter worker, knew they couldn’t keep him much longer if he couldn’t be handled, cleaned up and vetted. In a last-ditch effort, she reached out to me to share Reiki with him. I also asked Animal Reiki Source’s Animal Reiki Healing Circle to share Reiki with Bruno.
Deaf and Food Aggressive – Romanian Rescue Dog Finds Peace and Safety
This beautiful deaf boxer girl had come over to the UK from Romania at approximately 6 months old, her history not clear, and was first fostered by a couple with a handful of other dogs. It quickly became very obvious and worrying that she was a very anxious girl around dinner times, guarding her food and showing aggression towards the other dogs and the humans in her foster home. It became so severe that the couple had to take the heart breaking decision of handing her back to the rehoming organisation and, due to her aggressive behaviour, sadly she had to be looked after at a rescue boarding kennel while the organisation began the responsible and stressful task of finding the next right home for her. Prospects were unclear… who would take on a deaf dog who literally might bite the hand that feeds her?
Kitten & Fawn; Love & Compassion
Hermione is a premature fawn left by her mother. Mulan was a sickly, newborn kitten dumped at the animal shelter. Both are being loved and rehabbed at Forevermore Farm, a peaceful, quaint little farm where I teach Reiki & Kathleen Prasad’s Let Animals Lead® method of Animal Reiki.
Reiki Meditation While Horse Riding
Sharing Reiki with an animal doesn’t have to mean sitting in mediation with them. Experience the wonder of moving meditation with your animals. Here I am in the Lolo Forest in Montana with peaceful horses and dogs. A true Zen moment!
How to Support a Shelter Dog
The Let Animals Lead® Method of Animal Reiki created by Kathleen Prasad is ideal for working with recent rescues-I work mostly with recently rescued canines.
Buffalo Energy
I meditate with animals. That’s right. Every opportunity I get. Whenever I know I will be in the presence of animals, wild or domestic, I commit myself to being open to whatever experience arises and I set an intention that Reiki flows for the good of all.
Letting Go of Control to Find Peace
When we are peaceful, we can let go of the need to control.
As my county in Pennsylvania began to relax the Shelter In Place orders from COVID-19, we moved into the yellow phase. However, pet groomers are still not allowed to open. It has been several months since I was able to get my two cats groomed. One is part Persian and one is part Angora. I do the best that I can with brushing but they are both timid and anxious rescues. I am not embarrassed to say that my skills are lacking and I appreciate my groomers even more. My attempts to care for my cats have left me with cuts from their claws and teeth as they let me know when they have had enough of my tugging on them with a brush. As expected, my one cat Lulu developed a large mat on her back. This added to my stress over caring for them knowing that it would still be many weeks or months before I can have a grooming appointment. I decided to try reiki.
Calming the Stress of Coronavirus
Need peace and balance during this chaotic time?
SARA Co-Founder Leah D’Ambrosio leads a beautiful meditation using the 5 Reiki Precepts to relieve stress and bring you strength!
Mandy’s Reiki Session…Her Way
Meet Mandy. She is an elder canine. She was recently welcomed into her forever home. Today was her Reiki session.
With Mandy, I practiced the Let Animals Lead® approach created by Kathleen Prasad of the Shelter Animal Reiki Association (SARA).
Recognizing Differences Between Animal Communication and Animal Reiki
Many animal communicators are trained in the system of Reiki and find the two go hand-in-hand, but too often the lines get blurred. What is the difference between an Animal Communication (AC) session and an Animal Reiki (AR) session, and why does this matter in a professional context?
My Year of Discovery after Becoming a SARA Teacher
September 2019 is here and I’m ready to put down my thoughts, feelings and examples of personal growth I experienced attending Kathleen’s Reiki Level III and Animal Reiki Teachers Certification course in Sacramento, CA, in October 2018 and want to share my insights with you. It was a profound experience, and like a homecoming has been hard to articulate up to now. My reiki awareness has continued to evolve over time but now after many months it feels like it is bursting out of me!
That Chicken Is Choking!
Distraction can make us miss beautiful moments. We find peace and feel grounded when we take time to listen to animals and the sounds of nature. If we don’t devote quiet time with ourselves and animals, we won’t hear their lessons of loyalty, acceptance, or love. By being too busy, we may also miss their pleas for help.
Animal Reiki with the Teacher’s Pet
From the time I was a toddler, I’ve been horse-crazy. I started riding when I was six and was blessed to have a pony in my backyard when I was nine-years-old. Being around horses, especially sharing Reiki with them, opens my heart and heals my soul.
But That’s Not Reiki! Oh Yes, It Is!
But that’s not Reiki! A colleague recently mentioned someone said this about the Let Animals Lead® method of Animal Reiki by Kathleen Prasad that we practice. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but the conversation has nagged me since.
A Cat Named ‘Cart’
Reiki pronounced as ‘ray key’ is a complementary holistic therapy which can be used alongside conventional veterinary medicine. Reiki is an ancient Japanese system of healing, not cure. Rei meaning ‘spirit’ and Ki meaning ‘energy’. As quantum physics tells us, all matter is energy. This energy flows through all living beings.
Welcome to Cotton Branch Farm Animal Sanctuary, SARA’s first South Carolina member organization!
I would like to welcome Cotton Branch Farm Animal Sanctuary to the SARA family! Cotton Branch has whole heartedly embraced the SARA way to support and heal their animal family. Cotton Branch is a safe haven for farm animals in South Carolina. Founded in 2004, the sanctuary is currently home to around 350 rescued farm animals.
Reiki & Pet Sitting: The Perfect Combination
As pet sitters, we often encounter animals who are afraid, timid, confused or stressed because they are alone with a stranger in their home. We face emergencies with sick or injured animals when their people are away. We sometimes care for animals who are transitioning while their family is gone. These things are stressful for the animal and for us as pet sitters. There is an amazing balm for these situations: Animal Reiki – specifically the Let Animals Lead® method developed by Kathleen Prasad. This practice has made my job as a pet sitter easier and has decreased stress and anxiety in my animal clients.
A Precept Lesson from Butte
A friend of mine owns a small guest ranch here in Montana and, in the spring when their horses are brought in from winter pasture, she has asked me to help evaluate them prior to the season beginning. A couple of years ago she had a new horse that she named Butte (after her hometown here in Montana). She asked me to work with him as he had a habit of tossing his head and not being attentive. So I undertook the task.
The Let Animals Lead® Method & Equine Massage Therapy
How can equine massage therapists benefit from and incorporate the Let Animals Lead® method of Animal Reiki (developed by Kathleen Prasad) into their practices?
Talking about Reiki and Making Connections
A friend who is starting her Animal Reiki business asked how I explain Reiki in a way to pique someone’s interest and share what we do, while staying away from the “woo-woo”. After I shared my thoughts, she suggested I write an article to help others starting out.
3 Days at Remus, UK
I had the great pleasure this year of attending a Reiki III and Animal Reiki Teacher Training course set within Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary in Essex. Remus isn’t just for horses, the residents are also rescued Shetland Ponies, Donkeys, Sheep and Goats. And not forgetting the cats whom roam the land and kept us company during our 3 days at Remus, together with Ollie the dog.
Reptilian Wisdom
Every February SARA president Kathleen Prasad teaches Reiki III and Animal Reiki Training at the CARE Foundation in Apopka, FL. I enjoy seeing all the pictures from the classes and especially reading about the experiences the students share with the animals.
Finding Perfection in Imperfection: My Zen Garden Meditation
Today I gardened in my Zen garden, and pondered on how my gardening was actually a meditation practice in itself. As I gardened, I thought, the symbolism in my garden provides for an amazing reflection on life in general; but still, how does this relate to Animal Reiki?