3 Ways to Honor Your Departed Animal with Reiki – Kathleen Prasad\’s Animal Reiki Blog

3 Ways to Honor Your Departed Animal with Reiki

Losing an animal we love is never easy. But did you know that it’s possible to honor them each and every day with some very simple meditation practices? Anytime we practice Reiki meditation, it’s an opportunity to reconnect with our infinite true nature, remembering that the energy of our loved one goes on in a different form, and love never dies. Here is a special meditation we can practice to honor our animals for the joy they brought to our lives, and it can help us release grief so our hearts can begin to heal.

Honoring Practice 1: Healing Your Grief Meditation

Sit comfortably, or alternatively, find a quiet place in nature to go for a walk. Begin by focusing on Reiki breathing for a few moments. Imagine your breath as a beautiful healing light, filling your body as you inhale, and expanding out of your body as you exhale. Feel yourself encompassed by this beautiful light as you breathe. When you feel your mind and heart quieting a bit, and your energy becoming more present, allow your breath to return to normal. Bring the animal who has passed to your mind and heart. Acknowledge your grief, your sadness. Just allow yourself to be with this feeling for a few moments. Don’t push it away. Surrender to it with compassion for yourself. Now take a moment to contemplate anything that feels unresolved with your animal. If they could hear you right now, what would you say to them? Allow yourself to speak to your animal from your heart. Say everything that you need to say. Now bring your focus to the joy they brought to your life. Immerse your mind and heart with joyful memories. Focus on the times that made you smile, laugh and feel inner happiness. As you do so, allow your grief to release like small dark clouds floating by in the expansive sky of your joyful memories. When you are ready, spend a few moments of Reiki breathing, and slowly bring your meditation to a close.

Honoring Practice 2: Breathing Gratitude and Love

I encourage you to do this next practice anytime that sorrow overtakes your heart, or anytime sadness begins to weigh heavily upon your spirit. This is a practice that observes the Reiki precept, “be grateful,” and will help you step out of that sorrow, and instead, honor your departed animal.

When you start to feel that sadness coming in, bring to your mind and heart a memory with your animals for which you’re very grateful. Bring that to your mind and heart and say, “Thank you.”

As you say, “Thank you,” I want you to inhale that gratitude, just like a beautiful light that fills your whole physical being. Simply inhale, “Thank you”, and fill your whole body with this beautiful light. Feel yourself infused with gratitude. As you breathe out, breathe out the pure light of love: image all of the love that you shared with your animal can radiate out infinitely into the universe. Breathe in gratitude and breathe out love, not just with your mind, but also with your emotions. Breathe in gratitude and out love with your whole heart.

Realize that as you practice this breath with all of your being, your sorrow and grief will simply dissolve into the light, because there is nothing more powerful than love. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. No matter how heavy grief and sadness may be, it will dissolve in the presence of love. Wherever you are when that sadness sneaks in, when that sorrow comes over you, remember this breath: breathing in, “Thank you,” and breathing out love. Just feel your heart open to healing possibility.

Your animal will be with you, absolutely, in that moment and in that breath. You will be together with your animal as you do this practice. It’s a wonderful thing about our spiritual practice of Reiki with animals, that we remember that we are truly always connected in our hearts, and nothing can ever change that. Not death, not distance, because love lives forever.

Honoring Practice 3: Animal Reiki in Shelters and Sanctuaries

I have one other way for you to honor your departed animals with Reiki, and this you will practice when you volunteer for rescued animals. When you go there and you spend time with these beautiful rescues, do this:

In that moment when you’re with an animal who has come from a difficult past, just imagine all of the love that you shared through the years with the animals you have lost. See all this love from a lifetime of shared experiences as if it’s a beautiful bubble of light spreading all around you. Simply invite this rescued animal to step into that healing space. Maybe this rescued animal has never known love or kindness from a person. Maybe they’ve never had a safe space to call home. Maybe this is the first time they have felt such overwhelming beauty and kindness. This can be very powerful to assist in their transformation of mind, body and spirit.

This Reiki bubble of light is a way for you to share the love that you have for your departed animals, and all of your gratitude for the difference they made in your life, acknowledging how much you loved them. It is so powerful for you to bring all of this love into this very moment, to your heart, and radiate it outward for the benefit of animals in need. Without expectation, without the need to do or fix, without pity and without worry, simply hold this space for the benefit of the rescued animals you are with. For within love, the power to heal is limitless.

All of these practices will grow and expand your heart, unfold the petals of your healing potential and radiate the light of love to help all the animals around you.

I wish all of you who are going through grief and loss, peace and blessings for your heart in this moment. And in going forward, I hope that these practices will be helpful and comforting for you and healing for your own heart and for the hearts of others.

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Kathleen Prasad is an entrepreneur, author, educator, spiritual seeker and animal advocate living in beautiful Marin County, California, with her husband, daughter, dog and two horses. She loves being with animals, listening to hip-hop, eating out at vegan restaurants, riding dressage, hiking in the redwoods and traveling the world to meet animal people.
You can learn more about Kathleen here.

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