Shamanism & Animals
Animals make such incredible life-teachers as well as beautiful clients for shamanic healing. They absolutely DO have a soul and can receive healing with such openness and wisdom. I wish humans would be willing to take a page out of their book sometimes!
Animals Make the Best Clients
While my Swedish teachers, Zara & Jonathan, don’t discuss working with animals so much, I was very fortunate that Sandra allowed up to 50% of my case studies to be on animals. Animals cannot have a placebo effect, they cannot buy into a rationale. They are incredibly open once you have their trust, and there is nothing blocking them from receiving like the complex human mind can. I worked remotely over Zoom with a dog in France who could not settle, hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in months. After the session, she slept through the rest of the day and overnight. I worked with a horse in-person who couldn’t be groomed without becoming avoidant or aggressive. During the session, her soul told me that she needed to sniff and approve each tool first. I held out her brush for her to sniff, which she turned her head to do, and when she looked away, I was able to brush her without issue, as was her new owner when she followed this protocol.
I’ve been singing & stroking in a soothing capacity to horses, dogs, wild animals, and my cat since I was a very little girl. It’s part of why I became a horse trainer and eventually a dog trainer. I didn’t know it was a shamanic practice I was using to relate to animals so well, it’s just something that came to me instinctually and intuitively. I actually assumed everyone could do it until I was an adult and had several folks inform me they couldn’t/didn't. Learning more techniques for working with animals in this healing capacity was a very natural evolution for me as part of my training and professional practice.
What animals do I work with?
I have worked primarily with horses, cats, dogs, but I've also worked with even more exotic pets like bunny rabbits, hamsters, and ball python snakes. I have done work for domestic animals such as cattle, various fowl species such as geese, chicken, turkeys, peacocks & peahens. I have also done some negotiation work with wild animals including ant invasions, as well as predators such as wolves and mountain lions.
How do I work?
I employ shamanic journeying as a way to deepen my innate and intuitive animal communication skills. I have a master's degree in animal behavior, so my spiritual insights are supported by the practical scientific methods of positive behavior work. I can help deepen human and animal relationships through mutual understanding and provide realistic steps to improve daily life together.
Animals can receive all the same types of healing that humans need. The beauty of working with animals comes from how readily they receive it. There is far less integration work to be done like there is with my human clients. Animals generally feel very complete after a healing ceremony once you have their permission to perform the work. I take a lot of time building a relationship, sense of trust, and honoring them as a sovereign being before doing any work, regardless of my human client's wishes.
Would you like to work with animals shamanically, too?
As part of my 1-year training program, I do include an entire segment on how I work with animals, both in-person and long-distance. Many of my colleagues report having difficulty applying shamanic methods to animals, so I am very happy to provide my own insights and that of my Animal Healing Teacher helping Spirit to enable greater reciprocity in humanity's relationship to the animal world.