Thursday, May 27, 2010

Energy Healing - No Experience Necessary

I believe we all have the ability to heal. It's not a gift or an ability someone else gives us. We are born with this ability. Some of us are aware from a very early age that we have this innate gift, some of us find it later in life. Reiki is a beautiful system of working with this gift we all have, and when fully embraced will change your life forever. However, one does not need to know Reiki to heal with energy. A wonderful group of people, ranging in age from teenagers to adults, recently experienced just this.

Each month I host an Animal Reiki Share at a Luv Shack Ranch Horse Rescue. This is an opportunity for Reiki practitioners of all levels and experience to volunteer time working with the animals. While most attendees have a Reiki background the group is always open to anyone who wants to attend. From time to time people come just to see what Reiki and Energy Healing is all about. This month's Animal Reiki share was unique because nobody attending this particular day had any previous Reiki experience. In fact, none had even ever received a Reiki treatment. Some had seen me work with the animals at the rescue and were curious about it, and others simply wanted to see what energy healing is all about.

We had a great discussion about what energy is, did an exercise to introduce everyone to what energy feels like, relaxed and grounded ourselves in a guided meditation, and worked directly with the horses.
These "first timers" to energy healing were an open-minded and adventurous group. At first it might have seemed a bit silly to be placing your hands near an animal trying to figure out if you or the animal were feeling anything, but each and everyone tried it. And I think across the board everyone had an experience of either feeling the energy or feeling a "connection" was made. Sometimes feeling the energy or connection was difficult to describe or put into words, but it was felt and experienced by each of them.

By the end of our afternoon each had experienced a connection with one or more animals and changes within the herd itself were noticed. The herd is comprised of horses and donkeys from yearlings on up, with a wide range of personalities. However, within a short time the entire herd settled down and mellowed out. The youngsters that don't typically stand still for long eagerly stood and connected with the person working with them. The playful ones also relaxed and enjoyed the personal attention they were receiving. The shy and hesitant members came close, and some even directly approached one of us for attention.

When volunteers come to clean and feed, the typical routine is to feed and then clean. For whatever reason, that night they cleaned first and then fed. Typically they would have been meet with eager hungry horses wondering why they were not getting fed first. However, on this day each horse remained part of the calm energy of the herd and didn't seem to notice the change in the routine.

The afternoon could be described as magical as each person experienced something new. For some, beliefs were challenged, uncertainty was felt, and some may have felt a little silly at first. But each worked past whatever doubts or discomfort they experienced and shared a magical moment connecting with a herd of horses. Now what could be more healing than that?