Reiki for Animals

By: Sheila Buchanan 

The awareness that an unseen energy flows through all living things and directly affects the quality of a person’s or animal’s health has been part of the wisdom of various cultures since ancient times.  When life energy is low it is more difficult to deal with stress and the body is more susceptible to illness.  When life energy is strong, one can more easily deal with stress and is less likely to get sick.  Reiki is a technique that increases a person or animal’s supply of life energy.

Reiki can be used for physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual rebalancing and wellness. The nature of Reiki supports energetic harmony and balance and always goes to the origin of any problem or dis-ease, working for the highest good to rebalance and clear the energy “flow”.

Reiki is ideal for use with animals because it is gentle and non-invasive and doesn’t require the practitioner to physically contact the pet.  Rather than causing stress, discomfort, or pain, Reiki is calming and soothing to animal and can yield powerful results.  Animals respond intuitively to the power of Reiki to support and promote their own natural state of emotional, behavioral, and physical balance and well-being.

For animals who are healthy, Reiki helps maintain their health, enhances relaxation and provides an emotional sense of peace and contentment.  For animals who are ill, Reiki is a wonderful and safe complement to Western Medicine, Chinese Medicine, and all other forms of wellness enhancement and support.  For example, Reiki has been documented to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, support acupuncture treatment, and complement the effects of flower and gem essences.

For dying animals, Reiki is a powerful yet gentle way to provide comfort, relief from pain, fear, and anxiety, and to ease the transition to death and a compassionate way to support a dying animals’ family.

Sheila Buchanan is a Certified Shamanic Reiki Master.  She completed an Animal Reiki Internship in 2012 with Kathleen Prasad, founder of Animal Reiki Source.  She has worked with and helped countless pets with emotional and physical issues (including her own two dogs and two cats).  She is also an Ordained Minister in the state of Ohio and offers end-of-life sessions to animals that are dying and/or in hospice.  She compassionately offers her services to grieving families to help them heal from their loss and move forward.