Category: Healing In Hospitals

 Animal Reiki is also healing for people.

The day after I completed Kathleen Prasad’s Reiki III and Animal Reiki Teacher Training, one of my regular clients ended up in one of the nearby hospitals with an acute case of sepsis.

She had a cyst removed as an outpatient at the doctor’s office. A few hours later she had a life-threatening infection. Her friend, who is also one of my clients, had called to let me know where she was.

The universe had lined everything up for me to be able to go to the hospital in the middle of the afternoon. I had two back-to-back cancellations the day before and had a four-hour spot in the middle of my day.

This type of sudden opening in my schedule has happened several times before, when  I need to be somewhere else besides in my healing space. I am always still astounded at the synchronicity. You would think I would get used to it.

When I got to the hospital, it was obvious how serious the situation was. I did a Healing Touch session, which balanced her energy and allowed her to fall into a deeply relaxed state.

There was no one in the room except the two of us after the session was over. I did not want to leave her alone until her next family member arrived, so I sat by her bed. I realized I had started doing the Joshin Kokyu Ho meditation that I learned in Animal Reiki.

So I went with it. I was breathing into my hara or lower belly, and on the exhale, expanding the energy out all around me and into the room, creating a healing space.

This is a simple meditation technique that is in Kathleen’s book Reiki For Dogs. You can open to page 31 and do it for yourself right after you finish reading this post. 

The room changed in a matter of three breaths. There was SO MUCH energy, and in that energy everything was alive. The room was very bright, almost white. My client started having gentle muscle spasms and appeared to be in communication with someone, or something. I often see this state in my healing practice at the office, but usually during the healing. It felt like a spontaneous crack between worlds.

It was powerful. I felt like a bystander. I just held the space, stayed grounded and kept breathing. It was just crazy. 

Finally, the energy subsided. I really don’t remember how long it lasted. When I left I knew she was going to be ok.

When I checked in with my client a week after, she said she remembered me coming to the hospital and that the healing was the point where “everything turned around.” She completely recovered.

I emailed my client this post to ask permission to tell her story. I had not shared my experience of the session with her before this. She added:

“Wonderful to read your thoughts and description of what was for me an incomprehensible experience that just left me with an overall sense of well-being… I just know that I remember little fleeting things– like you coming into the room– your hands above me in the bed— a nurse poking her head into the room and your glance at her after which she simply nodded, turned, and left, .. closing the door.  I felt utterly and totally relaxed and I distinctly remember ‘calming down’.  I distinctly remember feeling that you were in control of the room (why the nurse left?!)” 

Let me say right away I was not in control of anything and in these kinds of sessions, the less control I have, the more profound the healing.

The nurse saw what I was doing and gave me the space to do it. My first rule in going into hospitals as an energy practitioner is that I work around the medical staff and their schedule. I have been in a lot of hospitals over the years, and so far the nurses have always been very supportive of healing work.

So the bottom line is: Animal Reiki is good for people, too.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632