Sitting in the quiet, sacred space of my Reiki treatment room, I proceeded to offer Caesar The Cat Reiki. Being somewhat new at offering Reiki from a distance (Caesar lives in Texas, I’m in California), I have a tendency to “beam” the energy directly at my subject. Usually the person/animal drinks in the Reiki energy, but today with Caesar, the energy feels like it is hitting a brick wall—it’s just not going anywhere.

So of course I try harder. Nothing. Try harder still…nothing. Then an idea comes to me as if it’s coming directly from Caesar: imagine the Reiki energy as a watering hole. A watering hole? Okay. I take my direct focus off of Caesar and put my attention to a space a few feet away. I imagine a shallow hole in the ground, about 3 feet in diameter. I proceed to let the Reiki energy pour into the hole, filling it to the brim. In my mind’s eye, I see Caesar casually walking over to the watering hole and drinking from it. The Reiki energy fills his body and his spirit. He takes just as much as he needs and walks away. After a minute or two, he walks back over to the watering hole and takes in more Reiki. This goes on for the entire 30-minute treatment and the Reiki energy is flowing strongly.

Caesar taught me a valuable lesson that day: offer Reiki, do not “beam” Reiki. Put the energy in a place where the animal can come to it. This way they can maintain their own space, take their own time, and take as much as they need when they need it. To this day, whenever I do a distance animal Reiki treatment, I utilize the image of Caesar’s watering hole. Of course, I’m having much more success in terms of the animals accepting Reiki’s healing energy!

Joyce Leonard is the founder of Santa Cruz Reiki Works and is a Reiki practitioner and teacher. Contact her at www.santacruzreikiworks.com or 831-336-8073

©2010 Joyce Leonard