They are always with us

Today, I had the honor of giving a reiki treatment to the guardian of a former animal client of mine. She has been dealing with a lot of grief since her beloved Lacy made her transition four months ago and she thought a reiki treatment might be what she needed to help her move forward.

Lacy always came to my house when she got her reiki treatments, so they decided that the wife should receive a treatment at my house as well, and we picked the same time of day that Lacy always got her treatments, 2pm. As I was getting ready for them to arrive, I wondered if Lacy would show up in spirit.

I got my first clue that she was here when I took my massage table out of it's carrying case. When I went back to retrieve something else from the case, I found a tennis ball in there, that was NOT there before. Sure, the case was sitting next to Lucky's toy basket that still has a home in the laundry room, but I couldn't explain how a ball jumped out of the basket and landed in my carrying case.

During the reiki treatment with Lacy's mom, I could sense Lacy was here, although, I wasn't sure if I should say anything or not, as her mom was already feeling pretty raw and I wasn't sure if she'd think I said it because it was what I thought she wanted to hear.

Through out the treatment, I could feel Lacy sitting on the left side of the table and then at one point, I could sense her going under the table. I was so glad that she was here and in all honesty, I wasn't surprised. The love our animals have for us doesn't change when they go to the other side, and knowing how deeply Lacy loved her parents, I had a feeling she's make sure she was here today when they came.

Lacy's dad came along to support his wife and he was relaxing on the couch reading a book during the reiki treatment. A couple times he fell asleep, still holding the book he was reading but at one point, the book fell out of his hands and it startled all of us, as it hit the coffee table and then landed on the floor. He quietly apologized, as we all giggled for a minute . . . and the reiki treatment resumed.

When the treatment was over, I asked Lacy's mom how she was feeling . . . still unsure of whether I should tell her that Lacy had been here. Much to my delight, the first thing she said was, "Lacy was here, I could feel her!"

She went on to tell me where Lacy had been sitting, first on the left side of the table, then she felt her go under the table and then she settled on the right side of the table for a while. I was so thrilled to hear that she had felt Lacy's presence and also happy to know that what she felt had matched what I had picked up, although, at some point, I wasn't focused on Lacy anymore because I was focused on her mom and what I was sensing from her body during the session.

As she continued to share what she had experienced during the reiki treatment, she, her husband and I all teared up . . . she said that at one point, she felt Lacy get up and start moving around the room and in her head she thought "It must be about half way through the treatment"

The reason she thought that was because when Lacy got her reiki treatments, like clockwork, she would get up half way through, walk around a bit, go to her mom to get a treat and then settle back down for the second half of her reiki treatment. Even when I sent reiki to Lacy at a distance (which I did towards the end of her life when it was too difficult for them to make the trip down to my house), Lacy's guardians said that Lacy would still get up half way through, walk around a bit and then settle back down. It was just how she received reiki and we were so touched that she did the same thing when she was here in spirit, watching her mom get a reiki treatment.

As we were talking about Lacy's presence during the treatment, all of the sudden it occurred to me that maybe it was Lacy that knocked the book out of her dad's hands. When I shared that with him, he said it made sense because that time, he hadn't quite fallen asleep yet and he said he couldn't offer any other explanation for why the book had slipped from his hands that way. It made sense to me as well, since Lacy's dad doesn't feel energy the way her mom and I do and she probably wanted to find a way to let him feel her presence as well.

It was such a treat, for all of us, to know Lacy had come to be with them today . . . It was clear to me that Lacy wanted to share in her mom's healing process and lend her support.

As I have said many times before, I continue to be in awe of these mystical, magical creatures that we are lucky enough to share a part of our lives with. I am grateful to witness the love that continues to exist, regardless of whether the animals are here, or on the other side.

The Bees came back

A month or more ago, I wrote a blog about the strange incident I had, where on one particular day I kept finding bees in the house. In the previous 15 years I have lived here, never once did a single bee come into the house, so I found it extremely odd that so many bees would find their way into my house on that one day.

Well, it happened again this Wednesday, only this time it was different. From the first bee I found, I knew they weren't here to deliver the same message as the previous bees, because the energy of these bees was so different.

Last time, the bees that I was rescuing from indoors were somewhat docile, seemingly appreciative of my help in transporting them outside, but this time, the bees were feisty and on edge. I couldn't believe how hard they made me work to get them into a cup, for their trip out to the yard. One bee insisted on walking on the ceiling, where I couldn't reach him, so I went and got a chair and as soon as I stepped up on the chair, he flew to another spot a couple feet away and began walking on that part of the ceiling. I worked harder at getting the first two bees out of the house than I did getting the previous seven out of the house. I couldn't figure out what in the heck was going on.

After I got the first three bees out of the house, I pulled out my Animal Speak book (Ted Andrews) and looked up bees to see what they could possibly be trying to tell me. There are many different things a bee can be trying to tell you when they "show up" so I read through all the possibilities. One line in particular kept grabbing my attention, and it was NOT the line that grabbed my attention the last time I was visited by so many bees. This time, the line that jumped out at me was, "Are you keeping your desires in check so they can be more productive?"

I have to admit, while I knew that was the message I was supposed to get, I had no idea what it really meant. As I was sitting there trying to open up my heart to better understand the message, I started to hear the familiar buzz again and looked up to see two more feisty bees in the front window of my family room. I can't tell you how long it took me to finally get the two of them in the "transport cup" but I had worked up quite a sweat by the time they were finally relocated to the backyard.

I sat down again to try and figure out what that line really meant, and could feel irritation in my body. I just couldn't believe how difficult they had all been. All five of them made me really work to get them out of the house and it made me mad. I missed the previous set of bees that came to visit, as they were so much easier to work with. As I sat there, realizing how edgy I was feeling, the message finally came through clearly . . . I had been having a tough couple of days and I realized in that moment that I had been focusing for days on what I DIDN'T want in my life.

I happen to believe that our thoughts manifest our reality, and given where I had been focusing my attention, it was clear I was on the verge of bringing a whole lot more of what I didn't want into my life. The bees were trying to give me a wake up call.

Just then, I heard the buzzing sound again. I was dumbfounded. After I got the last bee out of the house, I checked every window in the house to ensure there were no more bees and I made sure the backdoor was closed so no one else could come in. I have no idea how he got in, but there he was.

As I was chasing him around with the "transport cup," I explained to him that I had finally gotten the message and asked him to let all his friends know that I finally got it. I asked him to let them know I appreciated them all for making such a big effort to get through to me. I promised him that I would keep my thoughts focused on what I DID want in my life (keeping my desires in check) so that I could bring in more of what I wanted.

Interestingly enough, not a single bee has come into the house since then. Over the last three days, I have had the back door wide opened (I think I mentioned before that I don't use my screen door, since Lucky was kind enough to make german shepherd size holes in it for me) and still, not a single bee has come into the house. Clearly, they knew their message had been received and they didn't have to try to communicate with me anymore.

I am determined to keep focusing on what I DO want in my life, so they won't have a reason to come back and give me another wake up call. :-)

Learning from our animals

A couple weeks ago, I was having dinner with an old boyfriend of mine. We haven't been in touch much in the last 15+ years, so there was a lot to catch up on. As we talked, I kept noticing this puzzled look on his face when I would speak about the work I do now, and what I believe about animals. It made me laugh when I realized why he was so confused.

He knew me back in the early 90's, when I was working in the corporate world and had not yet reacquainted myself with my intuitive abilities or studied energy healing, therefore, the things I am doing now are quite foreign to him. On top of that, he is now a biology professor, so in many ways, he can't quite wrap his mind around the things that I believe, because he is used to having a lot of "proof" and a lot of scientific evidence to support his beliefs.

Through out dinner, he would occasionally ask me questions about his dog and when I would answer, he would look at me with confusion and mild disbelief. Such as, when he asked me what I sensed about his dog Oscar, and I said that I felt he was insecure at times and seemed unsure in moments that he was loved. He seemed surprised that I knew that, but admitted that he felt that too.

Then he asked what he could do about it. I told him it would help if he could give Oscar reassurance, let him know that he is loved, that he will always be loved. He stared at me blankly for a few minutes and then said, "But how do I do that?" and I said, "You just tell him that" and he said, "But he's a dog, he won't understand what I am saying."

He was very serious, so I gently explained to him that animals learn our language the same way babies learn our language . . . . by hearing it. I told him that the more exposure babies have to people talking, the more words they pick up, and that animals are no different. He sat there, staring at me, trying to wrap his mind around what I had just said.

While I was explaining this to him, Oscar came and sat next to me, and kept looking up at me with appreciation. My friend asked, "What is he telling you?" and I said, "He's really happy that I am educating you about this, because he wants you to know that he can understand everything you say." There was dead silence for a while, as Oscar continued to wag his tail and lean into me.

After a while, my friend said, "You said before that animals come into our lives for a reason, so what is the reason Oscar came into in my life?" I told him that animals often help us learn by mirroring the same things that we need to learn, and that by helping them, we discover we can help ourselves too. He looked really puzzled, so I gave him a few examples, such as by finding ways to help Lucky heal from her emotional wounds, I found I too could heal my own emotional wounds, or a client of mine whose dog was anxious all the time and when she found ways to help ease her dog's anxiety, she realized that she too was anxious all the time and used the same things to help herself be less anxious.

He still looked really puzzled, so I said, "Do you see any of yourself in Oscar?" and he said, "Well, we were just talking about how Oscar is insecure sometimes and worries that he isn't always loved" and then he was silent. I waited for a while, and then I said, "Is that something you see in yourself?" and I saw all the color go out of his face and he looked really uncomfortable. After a few more minutes he said, "I guess I have a lot to think about."

I didn't want to make him anymore uncomfortable, so I decided to change the subject. I said, "You said earlier you were thinking of repainting a couple of rooms, do you want to show me the colors you are considering?" and it was obvious by how quickly he jumped up and grabbed the paint samples that he was really relieved we had moved on to a different topic. :-)

My hope is that some day, both he and Oscar will no longer feel any insecurity and that they will both know, every minute of every day, that they are loved. After all, isn't that what we all deserve?

Animal Apologies

Earlier this week, when I was giving reiki to one of my cat clients, we had a little mishap that allowed me the witness the depth with which animals feel.

It happened when we had just gotten started. I was sitting on the floor cross legged and the cat had settled down in my lap, stretched across my left thigh. His guardian was seated on the couch in front of me and his dog sibling was sitting on the floor next to us, waiting for her turn. I was just tuning into his body, getting a sense of how he was feeling physically, when the dog got a tickle in her ear and shook her head. The sound of her ears flapping against the sides of her head startled the cat with such intensity that his fight or flight instinct kicked in. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but in some ways, it felt like it was happening in slow motion.

In a few rapid seconds, I felt claws simultaneously digging into various parts of my body, as he attempted to spring off my lap to safety . . . a couple of swear words sprung from my lips as I felt a searing pain from one of his claws puncturing one of my fingers . . . the dog jumped to her feet, in a panic . . . and the guardian yelled "Oh no!"

We went from peacefulness to total chaos in a split second. My first thought was to apologize for the stream of swear words that flew out of my mouth, I was really embarrassed about that, but the guardian interrupted me with a wave of her hand and said "I would have said worse."

Then she said, "We've got to get your cleaned up and you should check your clothes, it sounded like they got ripped somewhere." As she walked towards the bathroom to get bandaids and neosporin, I looked down at my hand and realized that there was blood everywhere. I think every one of his claws must have made contact with my hand as he was making his get away. I checked my pants and didn't see any rips, which surprised both of us.

I went into the bathroom and started cleaning up my hand, when I felt a tickle on my ankle. I pulled up my pant leg to look and realized it was blood running down my leg from cuts on my shin. We laughed when we realized the 'ripping' sound we heard was probably my skin ripping, not my clothing. It took a few minutes, but eventually we got everything bandaged up and went back in the front room to resume the reiki treatment.

I sat back down on the floor, the dog sat down next to me, the guardian sat back on the couch, but the cat was afraid to come back on my lap. It surprised me at first. In all the chaos, we were so focused on just stopping the bleeding, I wasn't thinking about how the cat felt. Once I tuned into him, I could tell how bad he felt about what happened. I assured him that I wasn't mad at him at all, that I knew it was an accident and that I was sure I was going to be fine. He walked across my lap a few times but seemed afraid to sit back down. I admitted to him that I was a little nervous too and suggested he sit in between my legs, rather than on them. He liked that idea and immediately settled into the space between my legs.

He asked me a few times if I was sure I wasn't upset with him and each time, I assured him that I wasn't. Finally, I realized that each time he asked, it was right after I had been thinking about how that one finger was still throbbing, so I explained to him that while I was aware of how my finger felt, I wasn't concerned with how it had happened. I told him I could never be mad at him, that I adored him too much.

Several hours passed, as I worked with his dog sibling and then his guardian. I had forgotten about it completely by the time I was getting ready to leave the house. As I was standing by the front door, fishing my keys out of my purse, and saying goodbye to the guardian, I felt paws against my knee, and I'll confess, I did tense a bit when I felt a couple little faint pricks of a cats claw coming through my pants, but when I looked down and saw his sweet face, all the tension faded immediately.

His guardian looked at me with a surprised look on her face and said, "He never does that," and I had to admit, I had never seen him do that either, but he was intent on getting my attention. He stretched his little body up as high as he could, inching his paws up over my knee and it made me think that if he could have, he would have found a way to look me in the eye. I looked down at him and made eye contact, and he told me again how sorry he was that I had gotten injured. It was the sweetest gesture. He really didn't want me to leave until he was sure that I wasn't upset with him. I assured him again that I was not upset at all and told him how touched I was that he wanted to make sure everything was OK before I left.

On the drive home, I kept thinking about him and how touching it was that he wanted me to know how sorry he was and that he wanted to make sure we were OK. I know humans who would be less concerned if they hurt me. :-) So once again, I was given the opportunity to savor the sweetness that exists in our relationships with animal companions and to be in awe of them, for their depth of feelings and their capacity to express themselves. I believe we really are lucky to be able to experience animals and the breadth of their compassion. I also believe they have a lot to teach us if we're willing to listen.