Val Heart, renowned animal communication expert, and Kathleen Prasad, president of Shelter Animal Reiki Association (SARA) and animal Reiki expert, will present a 75-minute teleclass entitled “3 Easy Ways to Improve Your Animal’s Health and Behavior” this Saturday, June 19th, 2010, at 11:30AM Eastern time. Tuition for the class is $20 half of which will be donated to SARA for their important work with shelter animals.

This is a wonderful opportunity to hear two of the most important practitioners in the field of animal care. Val Heart is well known as an animal communicator, hosting “The Real Dr. Doolittle” podcast among her many other activities.

Kathleen Prasad is a pioneer in the practice of Reiki with animals and is the co-author of “Animal Reiki: Using Energy To Heal The Animals In Your Life”. SARA is Kathleen’s latest project, the mission of which is to bring Reiki to animal shelters and refuges all over the world.

Don’t miss this important event! Register now at:

http://www.valheart.com/healing_animals_class.html

Your registration includes a free download of Val’s podcast interview with Kathleen on “The Real Dr. Doolittle”. See you on the call!

John

As many of you know, I am a member of the Shelter Animal Reiki Association (SARA). The mission of the SARA is to improve the lives of animals living in shelters, to increase adoption of those animals and to bring relief to shelter staff who are suffering from burnout and compassion fatigue. Our goal is to boost adoption rates in shelters nationwide by reducing stress and supporting healing in shelter animals and their caretakers. Reiki, a Japanese meditative healing modality, is successfully used in hospitals, cancer centers, hospice programs and AIDS clinics worldwide and it is now used to bring healing to animals.

SARA has taken on the daunting task of bringing Reiki to shelters and setting up shelter Reiki programs in order to not only bring Reiki to the animals but also teach Reiki to the volunteers and staff of these animal organizations. SARA currently has 22 participating shelters across the United States and in England who are dedicated to spreading the word of the success of Reiki with animals.

The president and co-founder of SARA, Kathleen Prasad, will be an official speaker at this year’s American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) conference in October. Kathleen will be presenting three 1-hour educational lectures about the benefits of Reiki for animals.

We believe partnering with the veterinary community will play a key role in SARA’s success. As part of the conference agenda, the conference has an exhibit hall just outside the lecture classrooms, and between lectures, participant vets and vet techs will be walking through and learning more about the variety of holistic therapies and products represented. We intend to have a booth in the exhibit hall representing SARA. Volunteers manning the booth will offer sample Reiki treatments as well as educational information to help build a bridge of understanding between Reiki and the holistic veterinary community.

Needless to say, this is a tremendous opportunity to get SARA’s message out. Of course, such an effort will require a substantial financial commitment. To that end, SARA is appealing to its friends, members and supporters to help raise the necessary funds.

Here are some of the many ways you can help:

• make a tax-deductible donation through our website homepage: www.shelteranimalreikiassociation.org
• make a tax-deductible donation by check, payable to:
  
  SARA/MarinLink
  369B Third St., #156
  San Rafael, CA 94901
  
• donate miles for flight or hotel
• buy our Animal Reiki Handbook
• pass this message along to friends you think would be interested in our cause
• tweet this post!

One of my Reiki students told me today that she’d been very upset by the recent loss of a dog whom she had cared for. This was not the usual emotional upheaval we all experience at the transition of a beloved animal, although there was certainly plenty of that. She was bothered by the fact that during the crisis of the dog’s last couple of days, she had forgotten about Reiki.

I asked her “Why do you think that bugged you so much?” She replied “Because maybe I could have done more.”

She put her finger right on an issue that many of us face as Reiki practitioners when an animal we’re working with makes their transition. She has been Level 1 Reiki for a couple of years and was attuned to Reiki 2 a few months ago. Her Reiki 2 attunement was a big step for her in that her energy level went up considerably and she had a number of very positive experiences shortly thereafter.

I’m sure many Reiki practitioners have experienced the high that comes with flowing increased amounts of energy and seeing positive results from it. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you had a part in the healing of an animal’s physical condition. The trap, of course, is beginning to think that it’s something we have control of and that every encounter will turn out as we wish it to.

So, it was inevitable that she would have an experience like this where things didn’t turn out quite as she’d have wished them to. I had explained to her during her Reiki 2 training that we can only offer Reiki to the animals. It’s up to them what they do with it.

Animals have their own paths through this life just as we do and we have to honor that. That means trusting Reiki to assist them on whatever level is right for them, whether that results in a physical healing or not.

This particular dog was diabetic and had “crashed” earlier in the week due to a drop in her blood sugar. She was taken to the vet and seemed to recover nicely. I saw her two days later and had a lovely Reiki session with her. Two days later, she went into cardiac arrest at the vet and was not able to be revived. No one saw it coming, so it was all the more surprising.

I explained to my student that even though she was not conscious of it at the time, she is Reiki and the dog took from her what she needed. At this stage, it’s not as though she turns her Reiki on or off so that she’s either flowing it or not. While she can consciously cause Reiki to flow, it’s not necessary as it will flow to any being on her vibrational wavelength who wants it.

We all want our offer of Reiki to result in a positive outcome for the recipient. We wouldn’t be involved with Reiki if we didn’t. What’s important is to trust Reiki to provide healing on whatever level is needed, even if we can’t perceive it with our physical senses. We also need to trust the animals to know their path and to appreciate that we were called to participate in that path for however brief a time.

John

The Shelter Animal Reiki Association (SARA) has just announced its new blog. The SARA blog will feature articles and stories from Reiki practitioners working with animals and staff in shelters, preserves and refuges.

SARA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing Reiki to shelter animals through visiting practitioners and training of shelter staff and volunteers. SARA members may be practitioners or teachers of Reiki. Kathleen Prasad, co-founder of SARA and co-author of “Animal Reiki”, has a vision for SARA which includes standardized training for shelter personnel and standards for practitioners offering Reiki to the animals.

Visit the SARA website for more information:

http://shelteranimalreikiassociation.org

John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d79ArrL8VRg

Some animal rescuers actually do have wings. A group of private pilots donate their time and talents to transporting rescued animals to the promise of better lives.

Pilots N Paws is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to assisting in the transport of animals from overcrowded shelters to areas where they have a much better chance of being adopted into a forever home. This week, September 12-20, 2009, PNP’s goal is to transport 5000 animals. The purpose of the campaign, aside from saving these animals, is to call attention to PNP’s mission and make more people aware of their service.

If you’ve ever been involved with traditional rescue transports, you know how difficult it can be to coordinate multiple drivers covering multiple legs of a long journey to get one or two animals from point A to point B. PNP is able to transport many more animals in one hop, saving a great deal of time and resources.

PNP does not charge for transports. Pilots donate their time and fuel costs. Tax-deductible donations are accepted on their web site.

Anyone may request and view transports by visiting PNP’s web site and logging in to their forum. Requests only require that an agreement already be in place between the sending and receiving parties before posting to the forum.

It’s wonderful to hear of organizations such as PNP willing to help rescued animals! You may visit their web site at:

http://pilotsnpaws.org

John

There’s a reason why many of the classic replays of the old Johnny Carson show involved animals. Here are a couple of daytime TV news folks trying to do a good thing and find homes for animals in need. This is probably best filed under “It seemed like a great idea at the time!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDpEyuWVVQ4

CritterReiki.com

Charlie lives on the second floor of an apartment building in the UK. He got tired of waiting around the single entrance door for someone to let him in each time he went out, so he devised his own way of getting back into his home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIWwOXrHqas

John

This wonderful video tells the story of Thelma and Louise, two very unlikely best friends. The video is great, but there’s more to the story. Thelma and Louise have been adopted by a family with a similar pair of attached-at-the-heart animals.

Watch the video first, then click the link at the bottom of this post for the “rest of the story.” Enjoy!

Thelma and Louise have been adopted!

John