Welcome to Canine Connections
Holistic health and reiki healing for dogs
What is Reiki?
Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing practice involving the channeling of a natural healing energy into a subject. Rei means spirit and ki means energy, translated as “spiritual energy”. Reiki is all about light, love, harmony, balance, compassion and peace. Reiki can be used on every living thing for healing, personal development, deep relaxation and stress relief.
Laying the hands on a specific location can help focus the Reiki on that particular part of the body. Reiki is intelligent energy and goes exactly where it’s needed. It can travel over great distances across the world or small bounds across the room.
It can even go into the past or future to help heal previous trauma or pave the way for tomorrow’s endeavours.
Reiki is also smart enough to know how much energy. It’s impossible to overdose on energy or otherwise cause harm.
Reiki can be beneficial to a huge variety of dogs. Whether it’s calming them because they are nervous or anxious, relieving their stiffness due to old age or helping them release bad experiences, it can help them in many ways.
Animals use energy all of the time, they know how you are feeling as soon as you walk into the room. They can tell if you are sad or angry, even if you are smiling, as they are reading your energy. Therefore, when Reiki is offered to them it is something they are already familiar with.
Animal Reiki is a gentle, yet effective complementary therapy that promotes deep relaxation and natural healing. It works by using energy to heal the animal on many levels - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It is non invasive and uses no pressure or manipulation. It is a holistic therapy treating the cause of the problem and not just the presenting condition. Reiki is suitable for all dogs and it works safely alongside veterinary medicine.
Reiki works with the concept of chakras, which are the energy centres in the body, and focuses on balancing and clearing these energy centres to promote healing. Their purpose is to regulate the flow of energy through the energy system and transform information between the different levels of the body - physical, spiritual, mental and emotional.
Animals and humans have 7 major chakras, however animals have one more called the Brachial chakra. The first chakra starts at the base of the spine with the last chakra at the top of the head. Each chakra is linked to an area of the body or organ or gland.
A chakra can be overactive, underactive or in balance. If a chakra is blocked or closed, energy is unable to move through it properly and this can lead to pain, illness, emotional and behavioural problems. Reiki opens blocked chakras, allowing energy to flow and create balance in the body.
How can I help with your pet?
Reiki is a valuable therapy that activates the parasympathetic nervous system to support healing the body and mind. Animal Reiki is beneficial alongside behavioural training and modification, veterinary treatment for chronic health conditions, injury, and even postoperative recovery, and as a daily life practice for maintaining wholehearted wellness. Animal Reiki supports both animals and their human caretakers.
As a qualified behaviourist I can work with you to make a plan that works just for you and your pet. It could even be a combination of behavioural therapy and reiki, depending on the situation.
Typically, when a Reiki practitioner uses Reiki on an animal, the animal will become very relaxed and sometimes will even fall asleep. Treatment can be short (about 5 or 10 minutes) or long (up to an hour) depending on how much healing the animal feels it needs.
After the session, their overall energy will be better and they will often have an increased appetite. Reiki is never harmful and never painful.
Once the animal has absorbed all of the energy it feels it needs, it will slowly awaken and walk away.
Please keep in mind that Reiki is typically used as a complementary therapy and is not a substitute for veterinary care. It can also be used in combination with veterinary care to support the animal’s healing.
What are the benefits?
There are many benefits, including:
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Relieving anxiety and separation anxiety
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Creating a stronger sense of calmness
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Relieving pain
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Strengthening of the immune system
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Supporting healing physically and emotionally
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Helping with behavioural issues by promoting relaxation and stress reduction
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Promoting overall health and wellness
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Accelerating the healing process after surgery or illness
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Helping an animal who is sick when the veterinarian hasn’t been able to pinpoint a specific cause — Reiki energy can pinpoint the source of the problem within the animal’s body.
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Calming and assisting an animal who is transitioning (dying), allowing for a less traumatic and peaceful transition.
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Clearing and opening an animal’s energy (chakras) to remove any energetic blockages.
What happens during a treatment?
All dogs are treated in the comfort of their own home and each appointment includes a chat before and after the treatment to discuss progress and findings. Before we begin, you'll be required to complete an intake form to provide me with detailed information about your pet. Include any concerns, physical conditions, emotional conditions, or behavioural challenges.
To give Reiki to a dog is a simple process. They will guide me as to whether they want to receive the healing sitting on my lap, laying next to me or moving freely around the room as they wish during the treatment. The great thing about using Reiki on animals is that you can “see” it working. Your pet will most likely relax and some will lie down and go into a deep sleep next to me. If they are having a release of some kind they maybe fidgety and unsettled for a while. Dogs can react in different ways and some may not show any obvious signs of relaxation during their treatment. They will wait until they are alone and then go to sleep to enjoy the healing energies. No matter how your pet responds, Reiki is giving them what they need.
Treatments lengths vary depending on the individual dog. Some will only need a short session of healing energy while others enjoy longer treatments of around 35 minutes. Your dog will decide how much they have and it what circumstances.
Following a treatment it is best to leave them for a couple of hours to fully absorb the energies and allow the healing to continue. They will feel calm and relaxed or they could be energised as every dog responds in their own way. They may be hungry or drink more water than usual. This is normal as Reiki helps the body to re balance and release what is not needed.
How does Distance Reiki work and how are sessions scheduled?
Distance Reiki sessions are conducted long distance, not in person. Once you’ve invested in the service, you’ll be asked to provide information about your animal(s) by email before I can begin the work. You’re welcome to include any special requests at that time.
I will do my best to start the work that same day or night once I've received the information that I need from you. You and your dog do not have to do anything in particular during the session; lie down and relax, go for a walk, or whatever feels right for you.
I'll respond to you by email about my findings and what I noticed in your session, what I encountered, along with suggestions, and so on.
The sessions are best performed in the evening when the animal is more peaceful and has fewer distractions to deal with.
After the session is finished (usually the next business day), I'll contact you via e-mail to request updates as to what you are seeing with your animal, let you know how the session went, and what energy blockages, if any, were found and cleared and to discuss next steps.
Reiki Sessions
65 euros- 35 euros
About Me.
It's often said that Reiki finds people at a time when they need it - I believe that's true. Reiki found me at a time when I really needed it and helped me to deal with the grief and trauma of losing my mother unexpectedly, and then my dog a few weeks later.
I was struggling to focus on anything and my life was spinning in a way that I couldn't cope with. I looked for a way to ground myself and find a balance in my life again, and somehow was guided to Reiki and it changed my life.
I had a distance session which made me feel good for the first time since my mum passed away. I began to do some research and signed up for an online course. My attunement was an affirmation that I was on the right track, so I completed levels 2 and 3, making me a Reiki teacher/master, and as I'm passionate about helping animals it made sense that I practiced on pets to make their lives better.
I've always had a deep connection with animals since childhood and often brought home sick, injured and stray animals; dogs in particular. Being with animals and helping them is a way of life for me. Having been a professional dog trainer and behaviourist for almost 15 years, it made sense that I could use Reiki on animals so I became an Animal Reiki Practitioner and can offer another more holistic approach to my clients as well as the more traditional training and behavioural therapy.
My Reiki journey
I am an accredited Reiki practitioner and became attuned in June 2024 by Lisa Powers, a fantastic Reiki practitioner in Canada. Once I was attuned, I then learned how to adapt Reiki to work with animals and completed a course with Reiki Master and Healer, Ali Haider and became a Usui Animal Reiki Practitioner in August 2024.
