Let’s face it. You’re obsessed with your dog and you want to know what he is thinking and feeling in every moment.

My very first Reiki “client” was a dog. I’ve been known to offer “Free Reiki for Fur Babies” as an excuse to hold all puppies. Reiki is a Japanese word, which roughly translates as “life energy.” It is commonly administered as a deeply relaxing healing technique, designed to bring about physical, emotional and spiritual balance to its recipient. During a Reiki treatment, the goal of the practitioner is to use her hands as “energy antennae” to sense the energetic body of the client and to direct the flow of energy to encourage optimal balance and health.

Since animals can’t verbally speak to us, the energy body can help to reveal that which remains unsaid. Often sensing prickles, heat or static above the body usually communicates an imbalance or injury of some sort. Sensation then becomes a guide to where the most healing energy is needed. Over the course of my practice, I have utilized Reiki to bring comfort to everything from upset tummies and diarrhea to surgery recovery and canine Lymphoma. The great thing about Reiki is that it treats both the physical and emotional bodies of all living beings.

Clairaudience, clairvoyance and clairsentience sometimes accessed during Reiki sessions can make for an interesting healing experience. My dog’s best dog-friend, Sidney, twisted her ankle on a hike over the summer. After her visit to the vet, I offered Reiki as a supplement to her healing regimen. As I sent her an absent treatment from the next town over, I could feel a buzzing in her paw. I kept my hands there until the sensation subsided. While our session was in progress I couldn’t shake the feeling that Sidney was feeling squirmy. Very clearly I heard a whiney “But… there’s no roomfor you in here.” In my mind’s eye I saw Sidney sprawled out on the couch while looking suspiciously at the door, ready to bark at any “intruders.” “Just me, my mom and my dad. And I need the wholecouch,” I heard.

After the session I was curious and called her mom. I asked if they had people over or if Sidney seemed abnormally protective of their space. “No,” she said, “but we were just talking about getting another puppy!” Silly girl. Sidney was undoubtedly having a “diva moment,” which we joke about often. No, Sidney … you’re not getting a little sister or brother. Not today, anyway. Sidney’s ankle, though, got a kickstart on its way to recovery.

Reiki can offer great comfort to both the pet owner and his or her dog when the animal is ready to pass into spirit form. It’s common to channel intuitive messages of eternal loyalty and love emanating from the animal’s energy body. Energy healing can help to ease some symptoms related to illnesses such as arthritis and cancer, allowing the animal to relax into a restful state. On a physical level, pet owners often report that their fur babies sleep well after a treatment regardless of the reason for seeking this healing modality.

The love of a dog really is simply straightforward and unconditional. My official research has shown that dogs are fluffy balls of love that exhibit uniquely charming personalities. If they could talk, they would tell you officially that every day they spend in the mountains of Colorado with their human(s) is the happiest day of their lives. And they would say, “Thanks for the Reiki, hippie lady. Namaste.”

Originally published in the Winter + Spring 2018 issue. 

Mary Gavin is an experience-junkie creative type, a world-traveler, yoga teacher and Reiki healer. Her passion for healing has led her down various paths of inquiry and exploration. She naturally gravitates toward subtle body energetics and the undeniable relationship between the mind, body and spirit. She aspires to be as “Zen” as her dog, Sammie, someday and hopes to inspire the world by sharing bits of her soul through writing.