Reiki For Pets

Yesterday, we gave a warm welcome to the newest addition to our K9 1-ON-1 family, Sharon Cooper. She was kind enough to pass along some valuable information on Reiki For Pets so we could share it with you.

Reiki is a hands-on healing method that originated in Japan.  The practitioner channels healing energy through their hands to the animal through a light touch either directly on the body or from a distance.  The word Reiki (pronounced "ray-key") is a Japanese composite word usually translated as "universal life energy".

It is based on the idea that all living beings have life energy flowing through them. When life energy is high, your pets are healthy and balanced, more relaxed and less likely to get sick. When it is low, they'll often be more easily affected by stress and less resistant to illness. Reiki is a safe complement to conventional Western medicine, Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy and all other forms of healing.

Animals, especially cats and dogs, are naturally receptive to the Reiki energy and tend to gravitate towards it readily.  Some pets may initially prefer to experience the energy from a slight distance, rather than having the practitioner's hands directly on them. 

Reiki sessions for pets typically last 15-30 minutes. The frequency of sessions depends entirely on each individual animal's health status and needs. Some health issues can be resolved in two or three sessions, others may take ongoing sessions on a recurring basis. As with all services Healing Hands provides, frequency of sessions will be tailored to your pet's individual needs.

Benefits of Reiki For Pets...

Enhances overall well-being - Just like people, even healthy pets can have occasional physical, emotional and mental imbalances that, if left untreated, can manifest as illness. Periodic Reiki treatments can help maintain your pet's natural state of well-being and balance.   

Strengthens the immune system for cancer therapies - Cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation present stress to an already compromised immune system.  Reiki strengthens the immune system to better deal with this additional stress.  It helps alleviate or prevent the side effects of conventional cancer treatments and provides pain relief.

Accelerates healing following surgery or illness - Reiki can alleviate and prevent side effects of conventional medications such as pain killers and antibiotics, and provides pain relief and relaxation to facilitate and enhance the body's natural healing response.

Increases trust and bonding between you and your pet - People and pets often mirror each others' physical and emotional states.  Animals are natural healers and sometimes take on their person's problems, often in an attempt to heal them.  This happens because of the deep bond shared between a pet and his or her person.  Because of the shared energy in such a close relationship, energetic imbalances are shared as well.  For optimum healing, joint treatments for people and their pets can often be beneficial.

Can help with behavior issues by promoting relaxation and stress reduction - Many behavior issues are caused by stress.  Reiki has a calming effect on the pet and may help make the pet more receptive to training and behavior modification.  Reiki is extremely beneficial for animals with a history of abuse.  The gentle touch and the energy can help restore trust in animals who have learned to associate touch with being hurt.

Provides comfort and relieves pain, anxiety and fear for terminally ill animals - Reiki is a wonderful way to facilitate the transition for terminally ill animals and their owners.  Often, animals will not allow themselves to transition because they intuitively feel that their person is not ready to let them go.  Joint Reiki treatments for the pet and his or her person can help both through this difficult time by enhancing the bond and allowing a gentle transition.

Thank you, Sharon for the info!