Animal Reiki Alliance News

Animal Reiki Alliance News
Volume 1, Issue I
"All
beings tremble before violence. All fear
death. All love life." Buddha
January 2011
Reiki as an Instrument of Transition for Animals
By Tracy Houchins
Amongst the many things our
pets are to us, the idea of them
being our teachers may not
immediately come to mind.
The time we share together can
be much deeper and more profound than the concept of a
family pet and ―owner‖ relationship. They become members of
our family and our mutual love
grows deeper with time. As
mirrors to our souls, animals
provide valuable insight to lessons in our everyday life. The
longer we have a pet, the
stronger the energetic bond
becomes. Profound and meaningful lessons become available
to us.
Animals are sentient beings.
The aura, or energy field, of an
animal is generally much bigger
than that of a human, making
them energetically more sensitive to what‘s going on around
them. It is because of this sensitivity and their telepathic style
of communication that is seems
at times our animals are reading our minds. In essence they
are feeling our emotions and
―seeing‖ what‘s on our minds.
If we are feeling fearful or anxious, you may notice that your
four-legged companion also
seems fearful or anxious. When
we are feeling at peace within
our personal life, they too, seem
to be calmer. As animals are
free of a human condition
known as ego, they can have a
clear understanding of our feelings and thoughts. As mirrors
to our souls, they become intimate teachers for us, providing
us with life lessons for our spiritual progress.
Reiki is the perfect instrument
to provide clear communication
to our pets. Anyone attuned to
Reiki is a transformative beacon of healing energy and all
who come into their energy field
are positively affected by them.
The gentle, yet powerful energy
of Reiki is continuously flowing
and can become even more
powerful with intention. Most
animals immediately enjoy
Reiki, although some may be a
little more apprehensive about
this new energy in their aura.
As our pets become more accustomed to Reiki, you will find
they become quite comfortable
with the concept of Universal
Life Force Energy flowing to
them from their companion.
As our pets grow older, health
issues can begin to surface and
we are faced with many critical
decisions for our pets. Unless
(continued on page 3)
Inside this issue:
Kathleen Prasad Welcomes the Animal Reiki Alliance
About the Animal Reiki Alliance
2
Upcoming Events
2
Animal Reiki Trainings in 2011
2
ARA Members in the Community
3
Introduction to Alternative Healing
for Animals—A Success!
3
Animal Reiki Alliance Mission &
Goals
4
Maintaining Balance in the Winter
for you and Your Pet
4
It is with great pleasure, that I
welcome the launch of the Animal Reiki Alliance (ARA) in
Maryland. I had the opportunity
to meet Kathleen Lester, Executive Director, ARA, when she
attended my Shinpiden & Animal Reiki Teacher Training in
California. I appreciate her
dedication and passion in creating this professional association to advance education,
knowledge and community in
the field of Animal Reiki.
As an Animal Reiki Practitioner
and Teacher, I envision a world
in which energy healing is a
common tool that can be used
to support the health and wellbeing of all animals. The ARA
supports that vision through
educating animal practitioners
and the public about the benefits of energy healing, bringing
together and supporting alternative healing practitioners in
the Maryland area and giving
back to the community. In addition, all members follow the
highest standards in working
with animals, abiding by the
Animal Reiki Practitioner Code
of Ethics.
I applaud Kathleen and all ARA
members , as they work together to create a better world
for our animal companions.
Kathleen Prasad is an Animal
Reiki Teacher, Founder and
Director of Animal Reiki Source
and President of the Shelter
Animal Reiki Association. She is
also the co-author of The Animal Reiki Handbook and Animal Reiki: Using Energy to Heal
the Animals in Your Life, and
has written many educational
articles on animals and Reiki
for holistic publications around
the world.
Page 2
Animal Reiki Alliance News
About the Animal Reiki Alliance
Althea
My guide and teacher, her lessons
have shown me my true path.
Welcome to our inaugural newsletter, we are very excited to
launch the Animal Reiki Alliance. We are a group of Reiki
Practitioners, Teachers and
other energy healers who‘s
passion is to work with animals
and offer them non-invasive
options to heal the mind, body
and spirit. We promote Reiki
and all forms of energy healing,
including: acupuncture, acupressure, sound healing, color
therapy, reconnective healing,
crystal therapy, massage, aromatherapy, chakra energy balancing, healing touch, Tellington Touch, among others.
“Our task must be to Upcoming Events
free ourselves...by The following events are sponwidening our circle of sored by the Animal Reiki Alliance and are part of our educacompassion to tional series of workshops and
embrace all living highlighting our members .
creatures and the World of Pets Expo
Saturday, January 29, 2011
whole of nature and 5pm to 6pm
its beauty.” Introduction to Vibrational Healing for Animals
- Albert Einstein Kathleen Lester, Shari Sternber-
We are dedicated to bringing
the concept of energy healing to
veterinary practice and to pet
owners, to increase the healing
options for animals and successful recovery from trauma,
injury and illness. We as humans are accustomed to getting massages, acupuncture
and Reiki for ourselves, the
concept that these therapies
may also help our pets is now
starting to catch on. We carefully screen all potential practitioner members, and will only
accept those practitioners who
adhere to the highest standards
in working with animals.
We also encourage everyone to
learn Reiki. It is energy that is
within us and we can all learn
how we can heal ourselves and
help support our own pets‘
body, mind and spirit. We aim
to offer Reiki trainings through
our certified trainers and to
help new practitioners begin
their journey with high quality
tools to begin their practice.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
3pm to 4pm
Introduction to Animal Reiki
Kathleen Lester & Tracy
Houchins
Look for other upcoming
events, including:
Other Events
Animal Reiki Alliance Meeting
March 26, 2011
2pm to 4pm
Location TBA (Baltimore, MD)
May your journey be filled with
love and light.
Kathleen Lester
Executive Director

Alternative Healing for
Animals

Reiki & Acupuncture—
Integrating Alternative
Therapies

Animal Nutrition—Healing
from the Inside Out
ger & Donna West
Animal Reiki Trainings in 2011
Reiki is for Everyone
Animal Reiki Level I
Reiki Level I students receive
their first attunement.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
11am to 7pm
breathe books, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, May 7 & 14, 2011
9am to 1pm (each day)
Downtown Baltimore
Sunday, Sept. 11 & 18, 2011
9am to 1pm (each day)
Downtown Baltimore
Animal Reiki Level II
Reiki Level II students receive
their second attunement.
Animal Reiki Level III
Reiki Level III students receive
their third attunement.
Saturday, April 9 & 16, 2011
1pm to 5pm (each day)
breathe books, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, December 3, 2011
11am to 7pm
breathe books, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, June 4 & 11, 2011
9am to 1pm (each day)
Downtown Baltimore
Registration
Sunday, October 9, 2011
9am to 6pm
Downtown Baltimore
For breathe books events:
410.235.7323
[email protected]
For downtown Baltimore events:
443.986.1516
Page 3
ARA Members in the Community
Kathleen Lester of Zubhaa, LLC
has been volunteering at the
Baltimore Animal Rescue &
Care Shelter (BARCS) since July
2010. Kathleen has volunteered over 50 hours at BARCS
and has offered Reiki to over
25 canine residents (many several times). Reiki has reduced
anxiety and helped many dogs
relax in the shelter environment
and many of the dogs have
been adopted into their forever
homes.
ARA member Tracy Houchins,
Reiki Master Teacher & Practitioner, joined Kathleen at
BARCS and worked with Dracena and Little Mama, both of
whom have been adopted.
Working with shelter animals is
a great way to practice Reiki
with animals. Animals are such
wonderful teachers, and guides,
who greet us with open hearts.
BARCS is a non-profit animal
shelter dedicated to serving the
people and animals of Baltimore. There are approximately
355,000 pets in the city of Baltimore. BARCS receives an estimated 11,000 unwanted,
abused, or stray animals each
year, in addition to managing
32,000 animal welfare enforcement cases. While many people
think of the shelter as just a
place for dogs and cats, BARCS
helps all types of animals.
You can help to support BARCS
by volunteering or by making a
donation.
www.baltimoreanimalshelter.org
If you are interested in joining
Kathleen at BARCS to facilitate
Reiki with shelter animals,
please contact her at klesBARCS—Little Mama—adopted!
[email protected].
Introduction to Alternative Healing for Animals Workshop— A Success
On December 14, 2010, the
Animal Reiki Alliance sponsored
its first workshop—‖Introduction
to Alternative Healing for Animals‖. The workshop was held
at breathe books and was attended by 15 participants. Our
panelists included:
Dr. Johnny Slaughter, DVM,
‗One Medicine‘ Veterinary Practitioner; Kathleen Lester, Reiki
Practitioner & Teacher; Barbara
Kandel, Animal Acupuncturist;
and Terri Diener, Animal Communicator.
The workshop covered integrative Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), including
the use of Chinese herbs, acupressure, acupuncture and
massage in treating animals; a
discussion and demonstration
or animal acupuncture and its
healing capabilities; a discussion of Animal Reiki as a healing tool for animals; and animal
communication as a tool to
enhance our relationship with
our animals and partner with
them in the decisions we make
about our pet‘s health.
If you have questions or would like a
copy of the presentation, contact
Kathleen Lester: [email protected].
Reiki as an Instrument of Transition for Animals (cont..)
our family pet has left us suddenly by an unnatural means,
eventually we will be presented
with the biggest lesson of all the lesson of letting go.
Whether by natural means or
the support of a licensed veterinarian by euthanasia, the end
of life process for our beloved
animal companions can be
gentle and peaceful with the
assistance of Reiki. Of course a
life-long regimen of daily Reiki
would be ideal. If not every day
of their youthful life, Reiki offered during the end of life process on a daily basis is most
beneficial to their peaceful and
complete transition. By clearing
their energy fields and chakras,
your animal companion‗s luminous body is able to lift from
their physical body after they
take their last breath. The
work that you‘ve done together
up to this point will release the
denser, heavier (grounding)
energies, allowing the animal
to completely and easily slip
out of the physical container
that holds the essence of who
they truly are – pure love.
Tracy Houchins is an ICRT Licensed Reiki Master Teacher
and Owner of Sacred Healing
Hands Wellness Studio in Marriottsville, MD.
www.SacredHealingHands.com
“Life is as dear to
a mute creature as
it is to man. Just as
one wants happiness
and fears pain, just
as one wants to live
and not die, so do
other creatures.”
-His Holiness, The
Dalai Lama
Our Mission:
The Animal Reiki Alliance promotes the field of energy
healing with animals to the animal services field,
treating all animals with compassion and kindness.
Our Goals:
Treating all animals with compassion and kindness.

To educate animal health practitioners regarding
the benefits of Reiki and other energy healing
practices.

To develop and maintain a Directory of Animal
Reiki and Energy Healing Practitioners that is recognized by veterinarians and other animal health
care practitioners.

To support Energy Healing Practitioners through
networking, energy healing shares, etc.

To give back to the community through our healing gifts.
Phone: 443.986.1516
E-mail: [email protected]
Follow us on the web, Facebook and Twitter
Maintaining Balance in Winter for You and Your Pet
Winter is our darkest and coldest season, a time for all living
creatures to reset ourselves
and prepare for spring. Here are
some things to remember for
you and your animal companions during the winter months.
be present in the moment. Find
a quiet place in your home ,
invite your pet into the space
and begin to meditate—you will
find your animal companion will
benefit too.
Exercise
Keep Warm & Rejuvenate
During the winter months it is
important for you and your animal companions to keep warm
and take the time to relax. Be
sure to layer your clothing for
maximum warmth and wear a
scarf around your neck, even
indoors to help keep warm. For
animals with a thin coat, be
sure to outfit them with blankets and sweaters before going
outdoors.
To relax, consider finding the
time for you and your companion to meditate together. Meditation is wonderful practice that
helps you quiet your mind and
Exercise is very important all
year round for us and our animal companions. As the temperatures drop and we head
indoors for warmth and rest, we
often forget to continue to exercise our pets or we cut back on
their exercise. For cats, bunnies, and other indoor animals,
it is important to continue their
regular exercise; perhaps finding ways to incorporate them
into your increased indoor activities. For animals that are
indoor/outdoor or outdoor animals, It is important to bundle
up and continue to regularly
exercise our animals. Lack of
exercise results in weight gain,
which can cause many other
health issues that can be
avoided. For dogs walked outdoors, be sure to address their
pads if they become cracked—
Bag Balm is a great moisturizer.
Food & Water
Winter is a dry season and we
and our animals need to ensure proper hydration. Often in
winter, we forget to drink lots of
water, keeping us hydrated and
healthy. Water is best at room
temperature or warm during the
winter months for both you and
your animal companions as it
helps to keep us warm from the
inside.
All living creatures heal from
the inside out and it is important that we feed ourselves and
our animals the best food, free of
hormones, and chemicals, including a diet of free-range meat,
organic fruits, vegetables, and
grains (for your pets too). The
food we eat has the potential to
heal us. Eating warm foods and
serving warm foods to your animals helps keep us all warm and
cozy during the winter.
Love & Friendship
Always remember lots of hugs
and pets during the winter, remembering the love we all share.