Last July, I attended Kathleen Prasad’s Equine Reiki Training.
I first learned about Kathleen’s work via YouTube. I found a video of Kathleen doing Reiki in a shelter full of dogs. Her simple approach to Reiki is a welcome bridge between my studies in non-duality, my healing practice, and my life in general. There are moments on my spiritual path where I can’t tell if my meditation practice is deepening or dissolving. Reiki with animals puts me in a space where all that doesn’t seem to matter.
Since discovering Animal Reiki, I have watched Kathleen’s videos and read most of her books and online articles. I have given her book “Reiki For Dogs” (which is brilliant) to many of my friends and clients. I took her email correspondence course, The Animal Reiki Workshop: Core Curriculum, and during that course, I found and adopted my dog, Berkeley.
So you can imagine how excited I was to attend her Equine Reiki Training.
The class was held at BrightHaven, which is a Sanctuary and Hospice for senior and special needs animals. It is a typical ranch style house in Santa Rosa filed with cats, dogs, chickens, horses, two goldfish, a pig and a goat. There was so much love in that house I felt like I was sitting in a temple. I consider it one of the most sacred spaces that I have ever entered.
Richard Pope is a Director and one of the Founders of BrightHaven, and he was at the workshop sharing his wealth of stories about the animal residents as well as taking groups of us to the horse pastures.
Kathleen donates half of her workshop fees to BrightHaven.
I work with Reiki every day, but sharing Reiki with a 1000 pound animal was an experience that took me completely out of my element. It was more profound than I had anticipated. The first horse’s attraction to the energy was so strong he backed me into a tree; he really liked the Reiki. I was surprised by how emotionally (and physically!) moved I was by interacting with the animals.
The stories Kathleen told throughout the day were educational as well as totally fascinating. She shared the pivotal experiences that taught her how to be Reiki with the animals. Her understanding of animals, healing and life is priceless.
Below is a quote from Kathleen’s blog post: 5 Things You Need To Know about Animal Reiki Today
“Reiki teaches us to be compassionate to ourselves and to others. Ultimately, there is no difference, since all is One. It is this Oneness space that Reiki helps us to tap into with its many tools. When we are with our animals, we can often touch this space, feeling our hearts merge with our animals’ hearts. These moments are so profoundly moving. We can often see a wonderful healing response arising naturally from these compassionate moments.”
I felt this “wonderful healing response” arise in me. The horses appeared to like it too.
Jeri Lawson is available for Healing Touch and Clarity Breathwork sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am through 8 pm, in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California