By: Amanda Martinotti December 5, 2022

Most people know the benefits of reiki for humans. But most are oblivious to the magic of animal reiki for our children of the animal kingdom. Animal Reiki is a gentle, energy-healing practice that utilizes traditional reiki techniques to promote overall pet wellness.

Animal reiki is done via distance or remote healing. Of course, the traditional way is through hands-on healing or in-person animal reiki sessions. The Reiki practitioner will channel ancient Chinese symbols into their hands and send energy healing to the animal.

What you may find fascinating is that the animal will decide where the reiki goes in its body. You may also find it intriguing that, just like us, our pets have energy centers that must remain balanced for optimal health.

Where we only have seven main chakras, our pets have eight. The eighth chakra is located between the shoulder blades. This energy holds the connection between you and your pet. The more balanced the chakra is, the stronger the bond between humans and animals can be.

Our pets are very therapeutic. Evidence has proved that animals absorb positive and negative emotions through the atoms in their blood. The particles spin freely when they are in balance and clear. However, the system becomes blocked for an animal who has taken on unpleasant emotions and will become unbalanced.

When this happens, the animal begins to experience emotional disturbances. This includes anxiety, depression, and even a change in temperament. For example, a typically calm animal may become territorially aggressive or isolate and hide.

As these emotional disturbances become stuck, your pet may start to show physical symptoms that are unexplained by a Veterinarian. These can include random pains in the body or yelping for no reason. They may also cling to their beds and toys more.

One of my first clients had a beautiful white pit bull. For the sake of the story, we will call him Baxter.

Baxter was a little too high-strung. Even though his owner knew he was young and full of energy, she was concerned. It seemed that no matter how much she engaged Baxley in playtime with other dogs, took him on scenic walks, or gave him unlimited playtime, it was not enough to reduce his high sprung energy.

But then, one weekend, she noticed her precious Baxter wasn’t himself.

Appearing to be lethargic and only responsive when she took him to go potty, Baxter’s mother brought him to the closest emergency vet. Disappointed and concerned that the Vet had found nothing, she contacted me after hearing me discuss animal reiki on a podcast.

It was delightful to hopefully bring some light on her pup’s unexplained behavior change. At 1 PM that afternoon, Baxter was in for a relaxation retreat.

We booked a distance healing session, and I began to prepare that morning. When I do a distance reiki healing session for a pet, I like to begin by cleansing the office where I have specifically attuned the room to reiki healing.

Since energy does not have a traveling limit, reiki can be done virtually anywhere. I grabbed my stuffed animal, which I used to send the reiki long distance, attuned my crystals, and hopped on the call at 1 PM.

After praying and setting the intention to help Baxter heal and rejuvenate, I began rubbing my hands together and focusing on sending energy to him. I let the animal lead me when I provide the animal reiki session. So starting at the tailbone, I focused on each chakra, intuitively allowing the stuck energy to cleanse and clear.

Within the first few minutes of the session, Baxter circled his red bed and went to sleep. This is a typical reaction from many pets during reiki, as they become so relaxed that they often drift to sleep. I let the owner know there was no reason to be alarmed.

After finishing the session, I briefly gave Baxley’s mom some aftercare instructions and cleaned myself and my space.

Following the session, Baxter was back to his jolly self! I found that he had absorbed the stress of the household and the energy of the other pets he played with. But because it was blocked, poor Baxter was exhausted.

He is now back to his jolly self and is doing excellent.