I learned of Reiki about five years ago. I didn’t know exactly what it was or how it worked, but it sounded interesting! My goal was to some time in the distant future to become a practitioner.
Fast forward years later, I finally felt like I was ready to move to the next step in my life. I found two wonderful Reiki Masters who taught me. They will always be there if I have questions or need to talk.
I’ll explain what Reiki is for those who are unfamiliar with it. Reiki is a natural, gentle way to balance someone’s energy. Once your energy is balanced, you will feel calm, less stress, sleep better, minor aches and pains will be gone, your body can heal itself easier and you will feel more connected with your physical, emotional and spiritual body.
After practicing on myself and family members, I was itching to try it out on my animals. My two horses were my main targets!
Brandy is 37 years old (which is about 100 years old in people years) and she’s a Morgan. She has a lot of “old horse” problems such as arthritis, weight loss and slight hearing loss. I think she’s also losing her mind a little because she’s had some “moments”.
Rosie is my 20 year old Quarter Horse. She is starting to get up there in age but is doing well. She tends to get a sore back and hindquarters, even when she’s had lengthy time off. Her soreness makes her moody. At times, she’s just plain unpleasant! Nevertheless, I don’t hold that against her. I just try to help her in any way I can. She was actually a big reason why I decided to do Reiki.
Horses are really fun to do any kind of body work on, whether it’s Reiki, massage, acupressure or acupuncture. They will definitely let you know what hurts and what feels good. They will “release” the blocks out by yawning, licking and chewing, sneezing, snorting, blinking or even coughing. You know you hit a “hot spot” when they shake their heads or move away from your hand.
As soon as I began to channel Reiki, Brandy immediately started to yawn continuously. I wasn’t even touching her yet! Once I actually started to work on her, she was releasing like crazy! She was loving it!
Rosie, on the other hand, was not so impressed. I knew she was sore and was taking it easy. I started out on her good spots, saving the sore ones for last so she could get used to the energy.
She wasn’t showing me signs of release, which I expected. I’ve done other body work with her before and she holds it all in when I’m present. I’ve spied her releasing it once I turned her out. Some animals like their privacy and don’t want to show any weakness.
Then, when I slowly worked my way to her sore spots, she tried to bite me! My own horse! I’ve had her since she was 3 years old and she knows better!
You have to understand that the power of Reiki can be intense when you have an issue, especially for a horse. Horses are so much more sensitive to this than people or even other animals are. It was just too much for her to handle.
She taught me real quick how far I can push it before it’s too much for her. We were able to get in sync with each other and over the next few weeks, she stopped being aggressive. Actually, she started to love it!
Today, she asks me for it and I normally give her a few sessions throughout the week. They are only about 20 minutes, sometimes less. Sometimes she only wants a certain part done and then she’ll walk away from me. I have noticed she’s not so sore anymore and her attitude is more pleasant.
Brandy, on the other hand, does not want me to touch her when my hands are “on”. I was so confused by this because she loved it for the first few weeks!
I asked her what changed and she said it’s too strong now. When I got my Level 2 Attunement, it made my Reiki channel stronger. It’s now just too much for her to handle. However, I have noticed that she takes in indirectly from me. Sometimes when I’m giving it to Rosie, I will notice Brandy yawning. She will even yawn if I’m just cleaning stalls and not even thinking of Reiki! That is how sensitive horses are! When you are attuned to Reiki, it’s “on” all the time, just waiting for you to call on it. My animals sense it all the time with me, it’s just part of who I am now.
I will continue to let my horses teach me to become a better channel for everyone. After all, the famous saying is that animals are the best teachers! I feel like I have two of the best.