For several years I had a practice at home for alternative treatments for people, although “practice” wasn’t the right word for it, because I never asked money for treatments at that time and I treated people that asked me for help. My husband and I had a company at home and between my busy work in our company I treated people. At the beginning friends and neighbours came and after a while friends from friends came and friends from neighbours. So more and more people came to me for treatments. At that time I started to take Reiki courses, because I thought it would be wonderful to teach people how to treat each other. Reiki seemed a way to teach people who don’t know about their inborn talent for healing. I myself was born with healing and psychic abilities. As a child I had very special friendships with animals and that was still the same when I grew up. I talked with animals; I felt their emotions and shared my own with them. By touching them with my hands I got information about their mental state, most of the time with people the same things happened.
When I grew up I noticed that it wasn’t common that people had that ability. I did see colours around people and I thought this was normal and that everybody had that, my parents just thought of me as a crazy child. During puberty I noticed that not everybody had those abilities and I wished it would go away, because I didn’t want to be different from other people. But years later it still didn’t go away and I contacted people about it, like for instance a parapsychologist. Then I developed those skills and started to treat people. Although I felt very insecure at the beginning I knew this was an ability I needed to use because it was a tool that was given me by birth. As a Buddhist (I have a lot of interest in Tendai Buddhism) I feel that those ability’s are nothing special, they are just a tool, so I don’t think of myself as a “gifted” person. But this is a way to be compassionate and it is helpful for those who are in need. I tried to use hands-on-healing with my own animals and I noticed the effect of healing on animals. At the same time that I started to experiment with healing on my own animals, people started coming to me with their animals. It was remarkable to see how animals responded to treatments. The unloading reactions for instance that animals show during treatment are quite the same as with people. Dogs that start howling to release emotional pains, cat’s that start to shake and shiver while energy is floating through their meridians, horses that seem to fall asleep when I touch them.
The important thing for people that visit me with their animals is of course the effect of a treatment. Sometimes wonders happen, like for instance a paralysed tail that starts to move after only a few treatments and tumours that get smaller. Many times a sick animal uses the treatment for pain release or feels happier after the treatment. In a lot of cases an energy treatment is the last straw for some animal owners. Sometimes the result are remarkable, sometimes a very sick animal uses the energy to die. Many very sick animals died in my hands, which is very sad but also beautiful because they use the energy for their transmission. I think Reiki is a wonderful way to get in contact with energy, but I don’t believe there is a separate Reiki source. I think that what I call “the source” is a natural force, Reiki is just a way to get in contact with it, but other healing techniques are also a way to contact it. Like you can choose a different way to Rome. Now I have an animal practice. I decided this because so many animals came my way that this was what I should follow. As an animal-friend this also is an obvious choice. Incidentally I still treat people and sometimes when people visit me with their animals I treat the owner also when I am asked to do so. I developed myself with other treatment styles too and combine them sometimes with Reiki, but I also use Reiki as a separate therapy. I am an animal homeopath, Bachflower therapist, Aromatherapist and I am almost finished with my study as a Dogbehaviourtherapist. I think you could say Reiki showed me this way and direction.
She adopted bear when he was age 2. He had a very difficult start in his life; he was underfed and very unhappy. When she started treating him with Reiki he cried every time and could let loose the emotional damage he went trough the first years of his life.
For those of you that treat animals I would like to say that it is important to look at the signs an animal gives during treatment because there are differences between treating animals and humans.
For instance a human lays still when he or she is treated. An animal doesn’t do that, the animal decides how long the treatment needs to be and most animals decide to take a pause when they want to. I always respect those choices animals make, even when it is a small creature like a rabbit. Also animals choose their own position. For example, some animals choose to be treated on the floor, other animals would like to sit on my lap or want to lie down on a sofa. Sometimes they move to put your hands in the right position for them. They also sometimes take my hand in their mouth and put it in the right position. Big animals like horses and cows I treat on location in their own stable. Look at the signs they give and trust on your intuition. But also respect the animal and its behaviour. If you don’t know anything about dogs it is important you learn about dog behaviour, if you don’t know anything about horses deepen yourself into the specific behaviour. A mistake people make is to think that an animal is a human being in a hairy coat. Sometimes this is sad because it is a lack of respect for the animal and its behaviour. Also this can cause accidents for you as a therapist. Because for instance when you put your hands on the head of a dominant dog, you give that dog a dominant signal, and it could respond in a way you don’t want. A treatment should be a safe action and for that you need to learn more about the subject you treat.
A last comment I would like to make is that I love to work with animals and that they are great teachers themselves. I don’t have an anthropomorphic view on them but I do believe animals have a soul. A soul that can develop during different lives. A soul that is on earth to learn things. During treatments I have a way to connect my soul to their soul. Our baggage is gone when I connect to the energy source and there is just soul-soul contact. Try to listen to the animals, the people that are experienced in working with animals know what I mean by that. You can read more about my practice on my Internet homepage. This page is located at: http://home.wanadoo.nl/praktijkparcival/ when you use the “enter” button and after that click on the English flag you can see some pictures of me treating animals. Because I am Dutch my site is mainly Dutch orientated.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
Be well with Gassho, Monique Hendriks Reiki Master in the Usui System of Natural Healing
