Remus Healing Group

Over the last year and a half, I have been lucky enough to meet other Reiki practitioners. It was through these various meetings that I decided to set up a healing group following the SARA principles. My group meets once every two months; due to some of the practitioners having to travel from a far. We are all of differing experience and backgrounds, but we all have a deep love of animals and we all want to give something back to these wonderful creatures.

As was usual we met at Remus last Saturday afternoon, armed with coats jumpers and scarves,  it was  very cold! We like to, meet at this time as it is just after the animals have been fed and watered. Normally they are all settled in their fields or shelters by this point. We like to have a chat  before we start offering Reiki, as it is a good time to catch up on what each of us has been up to. If we are lucky and have time, we have a cup of tea and sit with Timmy the cat who likes to be stroked and loves affection. I feel this is a time for us to become grounded and to release any stresses that we may have, at this point we set off to help the animals.  As Sue was on holiday this week, she had already texted me a  list of the animals she would like us to work on, so I knew which animals to offer Reiki to without interrupting the staff, these are  usually the animals who are most in need.

There were five of us altogether, however the total number in the group was eight. We decided that we would start with Billy  a horse who was almost starved to death by his previous owners.  He has food issues and is usually outside during the day, but due to stomach problems he had to rest in the stable. We decided to offer reiki as a group as we all felt he was in need of a lot of energy, and so we asked for his permission.  At the start Billy 3 was very calm and watched us  intently as we stood outside his stable offering Reiki. After a while he started to breath heavilly, it was almost as if he was releasing built up emotions and feelings. I felt that he did not like spending so much time in the stable, and would rather be outside eating the grass. He eventually settled and became calm, I have found that the healing time in a group is a lot less than if reiki is being offered by an individual. It is important to ask the animal for permission as group healing can be quite intense, in some cases the animal will move far away as the energy is too strong. It is so important for the animal to be in charge of their healing.

We then offered reiki to Apollo who is a beautiful grey mare. She had been kicked by a horse and had a lot of stitches to her bottom. Again we stayed as a group and offered her healing. She immediately turned her bottom to us and stood there for a while, taking in the wonderful reiki energy. She then turned to face us and started to ‘weave’ above the fence post. This surprised me as two other horses had shown stereotypical behaviours during a healing earlier. It was a little distressing to watch but we all felt that because she was having a group healing  her deep rooted issues were coming to the surface quicker. To our surprise when we all turned around to leave, a group of goats in the opposite field had glazed eyes and were resting their heads against the fence, all completely chilled, obviously taking in the reiki too. It was a very funny sight to see and made us all laugh.

Our third Reiki session was with Bugs, a horse who has chronic arthritis and is in a lot of pain. I have offered her reiki many times before and was not surprised to see that as soon as we offered reiki she came over from the middle of a group of horses and moved up right against the fence to where we were standing.  She soaked the reiki up like a sponge and became dreamy and chilled. During her Reiki session she drank quite a lot of water, Nicky who is a qualified crystal therapist decided to ‘charge’ the drinking water with the crystal fluorite which is good for bones. Bugs drank even more water and at one point almost put her hoof in the water tank.

During the afternoon we split into smaller groups and offered reiki to as many animals as possible which included Cocoa the cat and Bimbo, Star, Casey and Marley the horses. It was a good time to walk around in the energy of Remus to see where the horses were being put to bed and how immaculate, warm and cosy each stable was. The tireless work which never ends at Remus is amazing to see, the love and attention given to each animal is a blessing.

The thing about offering reiki in a group is that inevitably each person takes on some of the wonderful healing energy. We finished offering reiki and said our goodbyes. We were all chilled, calm and a little tired. We agreed to meet again on the 12th of December, before the Remus’s Carol Service starts, it will be a time to meet, offer reiki and to eat mince pies!

by Caroline Thomas © 2010

I met Missy during my first month as a volunteer at Horse Haven of Tennessee. Following my volunteer shifts, I am able to do Reiki work with the horses that our barn manager feels would benefit. I had been primarily working with a Hackney pony, Napoleon, who had a severe mistrust of most people with the exception of our barn manager. He had been coming along nicely, so when a new group of rescue horses arrived, I began to work with them as well. The first horse I chose to work with was Missy. As I entered her stall, I realized that this was the type of moment I had most feared experiencing since starting my work at Horse Haven: she was severely emaciated, weak and blind in one eye. She openly welcomed me into her space. She had been munching on a large pile of hay, deeply contented. You could see some relief in her face to have clean water and probably what seemed to be a never ending supply of hay.

I began to let the Reiki flow from the corner of her stall. She stopped her munching to shift her stance in my direction, and as the minutes rolled by she began to lower her head into a relaxed position. After some time, she approached me and put her head right into my hands. This was a new experience for me, because Napoleon had exclusively preferred to experience Reiki without contact. Missy directed my hands to her blind side, clearly wanting to feel the Reiki near her blind eye and on this side of her head. After a while, she stepped forward and leaned into me so I could place my hands on her chest and shoulder. She gradually repositioned herself, even actually turning around, so I could place my hands on the sharp prominent bones of her spine and hind quarters. It was in this very moment, while working with such a trusting and beautiful though severely neglected soul, that I realized that the Reiki was lifting me up and far away from my fear and sorrow. The Reiki was allowing me to hold the light for Missy, creating the healing space that she desperately needed. It was even more amazing in that I felt almost a forgiveness pouring out of her heart toward human kind and to those that had abused her. She could see so far beyond this, even in her weakened condition, to allow another human to share her space, remaining fully open to the experience that unfolded between us.

I thanked Missy for giving me the privilege to create a healing space for her with Reiki and for the healing that I received as well. As I said good bye to her, I was already looking forward to our next session the following week. I did distant Reiki work with her on the following two days and felt a connection with her and acceptance of the Reiki treatments. The following Sunday when I arrived for my weekly shift, my heart dropped when I saw that her stall was empty. I frantically sought out my shift leader, who sadly informed me that Missy had colicked on Thursday night and despite all efforts to save her, she died around midnight that night. She was surrounded by the volunteers on duty that night that stayed on to assist the veterinary team. She died peacefully, surrounded with the love and caring that had been absent from her life for far too long. I still think of Missy to this day and feel so blessed to have known this beautiful spirit, even for such a short time. Her memory will remain with me always.

Carrie Dorsey-Higdon

During the time I was taking an Animal Reiki Correspondence Course with Kathleen one of the options for a homework assignment was to work on an insect. Since most of my time is spent working with dogs, cats, and birds I set my intention to work with a butterfly. Not only did I want to work with a butterfly I wanted to work with a beautiful, large, yellow butterfly.

So for two days I set my intention and it seemed as if butterflies were appearing all around me, yet not one of them was yellow nor would any of them come close to me. On the evening of the second day as I was relaxing on my back patio with my three dogs to my delight an exquisite large yellow butterfly appeared in the distance and began to come closer to me.

I communicated to the butterfly that I would like to offer her a Reiki treatment if she would like for me to and she only needed to take what she was comfortable with or none at all. The butterfly started circling around my body and flying within arms distance and finally came to rest on the patio floor about 3 feet from me. I took this as a yes that she indeed wanted Reiki. So I kept my distance and proceeded.

She stayed in that position for 20 minutes only moving to inch closer to me, eventually ending up about a foot from me. One of my dogs, Tony, became very curious and he came and sat down by my side. I asked him if would also like to send her Reiki and he began to also give the butterfly Reiki. This was such a wonderful experience to be in that moment of giving Reiki to the butterfly with my dog working at my side. I knew, in essence, they were actually teaching me. I felt very honored to be in their presence.

It was such a beautiful circle of unconditional love that I knew I was really the one receiving healing on such a higher level. Our time together came to an end when children in the neighborhood began to play and frolic outside arousing the attention of my dogs. The butterfly took to flight, but not before flying around me and actually brushing the side of my face with her wing. I knew she was thanking me and I was overwhelmed with such joy and gratitude for being allowed to experience this. She then flew to a branch on a tree and remained there for the next twenty minutes without moving. I felt certain she was resting after her Reiki session.

I thanked her for allowing me the gift of giving her Reiki and I also thanked my dog, Tony, for all his work. It was so amazing to be able to work with a butterfly and to also work with my dog at my side. The both were showing me and guiding me to go even deeper in my work. I was truly blessed by this time of healing.

Felecia Calaman Childress

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

…posted by John Sawyer

It seems that Animals in Distress has a never-ending supply of teachers to show up and give me my lessons. Every animal I work with has something to teach me. Sometimes it takes me a while to get the idea, but that’s never the fault of the teacher. It just means I wasn’t paying attention!

My latest “mentor” is a senior black Chow dog named Tulip. She arrived at AID a few weeks ago badly matted with some physical injuries that needed tending to. She is now sporting a lion cut, but her coat is growing out and will soon be back to its full glory.

Tulip is very shy around people she doesn’t know. That would be me. When I first met her, we decided I would take her for a walk. Tulip went outside with me, but made it clear she was not going for a walk with just anybody! She did her best to get around behind me and stay there while eyeing me suspiciously.

We went back inside and she reluctantly stayed with me as far away as the leash would allow her. I knew she would not like being closed in the introduction room with me, so we stayed in the hospitality area near the front desk. She was quite happy to see Lori and other kennel staff as they came by, but kept her distance from me. After a short while, I turned her back over to Lori.

I know not to take it personally when an animal reacts this way at first. They are not sure what I’m all about and given the history some of them have, it’s not surprising that they’d be leery of anyone new. Typically, it takes a few sessions in cases like this for the animal to decide I’m harmless and possibly even beneficial!

We had a couple sessions that went pretty much the same way until last week. I realized that I was trying to get Tulip to accept Reiki, which is exactly the opposite of what I should be doing. It’s all about creating a healing space and inviting the animal in, as opposed to continually offering Reiki like a treat they don’t want to accept.

Last week I sat in the hospitality area with Tulip and simply focused on creating a healing space, a Reiki bubble, if you will. My attention was on Reiki flowing into the bubble instead of on Tulip and what she was or was not doing.

Tulip stopped trying to be elsewhere and sat down at the end of the leash. Over the next 15 minutes or so I got a half dozen hearty yawns out of her, which was a clear indication that she was relaxing and accepting Reiki. She even lay down once or twice for a minute or two.

Lesson learned! Going forward, I will create the space and let Tulip decide what she wants to do with it.